Last week Robert Cringely explained how to start your own wireless ISP. This week he details one guy who took his advice and and ran:
First to Dave Hurley, who brings new meaning to the admonition that real estate is all about location, location, location. In Dave’s case, location means having line-of-sight to a few hundred thousand San Franciscans who previously could only watch him walk around in his underwear, but soon will be able to have Dave as their ISP.Robert let’s Dave explain:
“I was blown away by your WiFi article and in fact, had only a couple weeks before resolved to get into the mini-ISP game here in my ultra-dense SF neighborhood,” wrote Dave. “I just hadn’t seen the light on the future possibilities, and wasn’t even aware of the Sveasoft firmware for the Linksys router. My eyes went big and I got right on it.
“I ordered the router and then went about lining up the bandwidth. In the Slashdot post-mortem on your story (which happened twice, as I assume you noted), people raised the reselling legality, TOS issue, but I got around it by using Speakeasy.
“I ordered a 6-up/700-down line to my house (I’m a mere 5k feet from the CO) and am going to use their interesting “Netshare” product.
“Via Netshare, they will handle all the billing, provide mailboxes, news, back-up dialup coverage, etc. and I act as SysAdmin, marketer and troubleshooter. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a fair deal because they’re providing exactly the kind of features and service that will sell my neighbors on the concept. It’s not just “Dave selling bandwidth,” but Dave retailing the services of a top-notch provider. I am removed from the ugly pecuniary issues (whew) and I can take advantage of the public’s general ill-will toward the incumbents (SBC, Earthlink, et al).
“The beauty comes in when you consider my special situation: I live near the top of Telegraph Hill with astonishing line of sight and household density. I am also already the neighborhood’s “Cringely,” so to speak (I’m the go-to geek). I plan to get some major antenna action going on my roof and I believe I can easily serve hundreds of customers — I’ll fatten the pipe as needed. I can literally see thousands of windows from the very desk I’m sitting at now. My neighborhood is also fiercely independent and slightly snobby (i.e., they may relish buying from a “Telegraph Hill local”), and I can actually (I believe) offer far better service, both in terms of bandwidth performance and personalization. I already work at home as a motion graphics designer and general video grunt (also do some teaching), so it’s a perfect fit for me.”
Dave Hurley has started a wireless internet service provider that has the potential of serving thousands of people, all from his own home!
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