RE: Fw: Wireless LAN on Denali


Subject: RE: Fw: Wireless LAN on Denali
From: Christopher Erickson (cerickson@gci.net)
Date: Fri Apr 26 2002 - 06:14:23 AKDT


Raylink is the exclusive distributor of Raytheon 802.11 2.4Ghz FHSS
equipment. They are actually a subsidiary of ACDC Memory, which is a
privately-held OEM manufacturer located in California.

WISP is the catch-all term for "Wireless ISP" and does not indicate any
particular wireless technology.

The more popular 2.4Ghz wireless standard is 802.11b. It uses DSSS instead
of FHSS. It's faster than 802.11 but is much more vulnerable to
interference and hacking. No free lunch.

Both 802.11 and 802.11b can shoot up to 25 miles if both ends are amplified
up to the maximum allowable limit and parabolic antennas are used. Without
amplifiers, five miles is about it.

No climber in their right mind is going to want to lug a laptop and a
high-gain antenna up a mountainside so they can get their email fix.

Backhaul is the other problem. There are only two choices in Denali Park.
One is satellite and the other is MTA. Satellite means VERY EXPENSIVE and
at least 650ms of latency over the bird. MTA has a single terrestrial
frame-relay circuit that travels up the Parks highway and the word is that
it has had a history of reliability problems. The various fiber optic
cables that travel up through the Park do not have any access nodes
installed in the park.

-Christopher Erickson

-----Original Message-----
From: aklug-bounce@aklug.org [mailto:aklug-bounce@aklug.org]On Behalf Of
Jim Gribbin
Sent: Friday, April 26, 2002 1:09 AM
To: AKLUG
Subject: Re: Fw: Wireless LAN on Denali

I don't think he's going to find free access. Instead of 802.11, Raylink
(part of Raytheon) make a system similar to 802.11 called Wisp. Good for
5 mi + and you should be able to hook it up to a multi element yagi
array for extra range. The computer client uses pcmcia cards. You can
see it at:

        www.raylink.com

I suspect that he would have to tie it to something like a Starband
setup as I doubt he can find DSL acceess close enough to do any good.
Altho a 56K phone line might work for a low bandwidth initial test.

Of course, if he's just doing data collection and once or twice a day
email, 56K would probably work fine. Just setup a small server at the
router end to collect the data from the laptops and relay it to wherever
on it's own time.

Jim Gribbin

On Wed, 2002-04-24 at 09:06, Chris Hamilton wrote:
>
> Just got this email from a fellow down in Denver. He's looking for
> information on an internet connection on Denali (the mountain). Anyone
know
> anybody up in that part of the world that would know what is available,
and
> how feasible this proposed project might be?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Chris.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chad Page, MD" <chad@pagecentral.net>
> To: <chris@digitalalaska.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2002 6:52 AM
> Subject: Wireless LAN on Denali
>
>
> > I am planning to provide wireless networking on Mount McKinley for my
> > volunteer ranger patrol in June. It is a crazy idea, I know. What I
> > would like to do is aim 802.11b directional antennas at the West
> > Buttress so folks could use network cards to access the internet.
> >
> > Do you know of ways I could access an internet connection in that area?
> > Any free wireless networks South of Denali? How about paid wireless
> > access?
> >
> > Chad Page, MD
> > 3539 Quitman ST
> > Denver, CO 80212
> > Home: 303-433-7539
> > Cell: 303-929-7539
> > <Chad@pagecentral.net>

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This archive was generated by hypermail 2a23 : Fri Apr 26 2002 - 06:14:31 AKDT