[UFO Chicago] Re: [LUNI] Softroad (fwd)

[Nate Riffe]

I sent this message several days ago, but apparently it got lost in my
postfix uninstall/reinstall.  There will be another immediately following
it.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 19:03:47 -0500 (CDT)
From: Nate Riffe <inkblot@geocities.com>
To: Peter A. Peterson II <pedro@tastytronic.net>
Cc: luni@luni.org, ufo@tastytronic.net
Subject: Re: [UFO Chicago] Re: [LUNI] Softroad

On Mon, 25 Jun 2001, Peter A. Peterson II wrote:

> I suppose pretty soon we'll start a mailing list for this project, and
> then we'll need people's street addresses and/or what they're willing to
> put into the project so we can start doing some physical mapping of
> distances and locations.

Bear in mind that 802.11b point-to-point "long-distance" links have a
practical limit of a mile or two under realistic conditions and require a
direct line of sight with no or negligible obstructions in the fresnel
zone, especially obstructions with high concentrations of h2o like tree
leaves.  Longer links would require higher gain (and harder to aim / more
expensive) directional antennas and probably some way to mount them really
high (like an antenna mast) and are more expensive.

I've heard that somebody somewhere actually had a 59.8 mile 802.11b link,
but it was probably in violation of FCC rules.  O'Reilly is working on
building a 20.1 mile link from their office in the valley up into the
mountains (i.e. a _perfect_ line of sight).

For us, certain high-rise apartment and condominium buildings along the
lake are prime candidates, as are the buildings further inland that stick
out like sore thumbs.  With an antenna in the right place by the lake we
could have a contiuous network using a point-to-multipoint setup.  Uptown
National Bank at Lawrence and Broadway and that triangular black high rise
on Sheridan near Berwyn come to mind.  Church bell towers and steeples
also tend to rise above the roofline quite a bit.  I think one of our more
interesting possibilities would be to try and sell the CTA on having free
Internet access at any train station in exchange for antenna placement
along the rail lines.  How many of us live near the El?

-Nate

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