[125938] in North American Network Operators' Group
RE: Starting up a WiMAX ISP
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Henson, Adam J. (ARC-IO)[PEROT SYS)
Tue Apr 27 11:17:50 2010
From: "Henson, Adam J. (ARC-IO)[PEROT SYSTEMS]" <adam@nasa.gov>
To: Charles Bronson <packetgeek@yahoo.com>, "nanog@nanog.org" <nanog@nanog.org>
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2010 10:16:59 -0500
In-Reply-To: <787457.18090.qm@web33403.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces+nanog.discuss=bloom-picayune.mit.edu@nanog.org
Firstly, there's a lot of "WiMAX specific information" to learn, so don't s=
kimp on that. Beyond the basics of the protocol, you need to be familiar wi=
th RF engineering, installation and troubleshooting, along with FCC rules a=
nd regs.=A0 I'm a WiFi engineer by day, and I've found that my understandin=
g of it has greatly eased my introduction to WiMAX, so you may want to chec=
k out the CWNA primer if you're unfamiliar with things like EIRP, dB math a=
nd/or modulation/coding schemes.=A0 As for equipment suppliers, we're curre=
ntly evaluating a product from PureWave. Two other vendors would be Alvario=
n and Huawei.=A0 As for towers, you may want to look at collapsible winch-b=
ased towers or similiar, if finding a climber in the sticks proves difficul=
t.=20
Running an ISP is a little different from an enterprise net. You need to th=
ink about things like billing, CALEA compliance, your support model, and th=
e basics of running a business. WISP margins tend to be rather low, so you =
may find yourself wearing many hats. If you're not comfortable running a bu=
siness, you can try finding a local entrepreneur, preferably who can fund y=
ou, to run that side of the house.=20
The core network of your WISP should be as simple as possible while remaini=
ng robust. Think carefully about your needs and how to elegantly address th=
em. This is critical to financial success.=20
If you're in an environment with hills and nice lines of sight to many cust=
omers, you really should look at WiFi-based PTMP systems instead. They offe=
r you a significant throughput enhancement at much-reduced cost, but do req=
uire LOS. Ubiquiti Networks makes some very low-cost gear that works amazin=
gly, and they have some knowledgeable people in their forums. Alvarion also=
has an offering in this sector (BreezeAccess VL) but it's older, rather cu=
mbersome and quite 'spensive.=A0 You are more susceptible to interference w=
ith these systems, but you also have more channels to choose from.=20
Finally, if you're out in the sticks and dialup's really the only option, y=
ou need to know about the Rural Utilities Service - USDA.gov/rus/
=A0
Adam Henson
adam@nasa.gov
________________________________________
From: Charles Bronson [packetgeek@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 7:00 AM
To: nanog@nanog.org
Subject: Starting up a WiMAX ISP
Looking for advice...
I live in central / western New York state (think villages and farms). Ther=
e are a good number of hills but no mountains. I have solid LAN experience =
and experience facing a smaller network to
the Internet. I was network admin for a medium size enterprise network (I.e=
. design and implementation including LAN, Internet connectivity, VPN, rout=
ers, DNS, mail, webservers, physical servers, etc). I would like to build a=
local ISP that can serve high speed internet access to the more rural area=
s whose only option is dial up access, well away from the CO. It would also=
be nice to compete with the cable company and DSL for customers in the vil=
lages.
I have been researching information for design / implementation of WiMAX, e=
quipment suppliers, contractors to help with installation of tower equipmen=
t and acquiring tower space, but have been coming up empty handed.
What resources are available to help me bridge the gap from where I am to w=
hat I need to know to get started and what specific technologies would you =
recommend I bone up on? I know beyond the WiMAX specific information, I wil=
l probably need to cozy up to BGP, maybe MPLS for traffic between the core =
and towers? Also do you have any suggestions on where I can find suppliers =
and service vendors in this field? Networks are my passion and am willing t=
o dig in, but I need some direction.
Thanks for you help an insight.
Charles Bronson
