hot spots
hammer head
What would be the range? How could people on the other side of the
lake, where highspeed isn't available, be able to reach the router
where it is?
Talking to the last Lodge manager I was told that dsl can be picked up
in the dining room from the office below. Management has also talked
about putting dsl in the Golf Clubhouse.
Justin Gombos
>
> I can't quite figure out the point of the fon hot spots in the
> Hills. What would be the range? How could people on the other side
> of the lake, where highspeed isn't available, be able to reach the
> router where it is?
The Fon routers come with small omni-directional antennas, so I
suspect the signals won't go very far in the wooded areas. Since the
lake is clear of trees, lakeside access points on the east side of the
lake could possibly reach the lakeside homes on the west side that
have line of sight. Also, the antennas on the Fon routers are
removable (RP-SMA connectors), and can be replaced with directional
antennas. I've confirmed that a directional antenna will reach
accross the lake and even through some (leafless) trees - not sure
about getting through leaves yet.
So folks on the east with DSL could volunteer, and could simply use
the stock antenna, and their users could reach them with a directional
antenna. The users would be more motivated to make a connection than
the contributors, so it would probably be the users who would buy good
directional antennas.
West siders can still contribute by getting DirecWay, EVDO, or ISDN,
and then adding a Fon AP just like the DSL folks.
Also, long range isn't needed in all situations. A weekend resident
could get access through the Fon AP of a neighbor who is in close
proximity. The user would have a couple of options; they could join
Fon and place an access point at their permanent residence (wherever
that is), which means they could get free access when they use someone
elses Fon AP in the hills, or they could pay for access as a
non-member.
> Talking to the last Lodge manager I was told that dsl can be picked
> up in the dining room from the office below. Management has also
> talked about putting dsl in the Golf Clubhouse.
DSL is certainly the best value (bandwidth for the money), for those
who have Verizon. Other options are ISDN, EVDO, Satellite, and leased
line (T1). The Lodge and Golf Club could perhaps get Fon routers and
connect them to their DSL equipment, so folks could access it with
their Laptops/PDAs.
The Fon access points actually have two SSIDs. One is public, and one
is private. The private one is for the contributing resident to use,
which bypasses the need to login, and gives their traffic priority
service. The public SSID is unencrypted, and users are prompted to
either login with their Fon account, or pay. I believe that's how it
works.
So if the Lodge and Golf Club wanted to give free access to everyone,
they would simply post the password for the private SSID. Or they
could forget about Fon, and just use a conventional access point
(which may even come built-in to the Verizon equipment).
Belinda Augustus
Hi Justin,
What a great idea. I've heard several mention how wonderful Hot Spots would be.
I don't understand much of what you explained other than the plan sounds like an attempt to
provide Members access from their homes? Sounds interesting, but personally, I'd like to
see a first step dedicated to providing Hot Spots at the Clubhouse or Lodge or both.
Of course, dealing with people wanting nothing more than a drink and a Hot Spot may irritate
the Lodge and Clubhouse personnel.
Belinda Augustus, Realtor
Real Living HER
740-438-1364 (CELL)
740-205-6127 (FAX)
http://Hide-A-WayHillsRealEstate.Com
Justin Gombos
>
>
> Hi Justin,
>
> What a great idea. I've heard several mention how wonderful Hot
> Spots would be.
>
> I don't understand much of what you explained other than the plan
> sounds like an attempt to provide Members access from their homes?
> Sounds interesting, but personally, I'd like to see a first step
> dedicated to providing Hot Spots at the Clubhouse or Lodge or both.
It's not something that would be a complete solution. There probably
would not be enough contributors to offer solid coverage. Even if
everyone with DSL participated, I think it would still be spotty
coverage because HAH is sparsely populated. But it's a start. There
would at least be potential for folks without access to invest in good
equipment and possibly reach a hot spot.
Certainly it would be useful to be able to sit in the lodge/clubhouse,
and check email. In fact I think it would be good for business, which
we know the lodge could always use more of. Folks in cold spots would
visit the lodge more frequently (thus spend more) if they could get
online there. The clubhouse is actually closer to the big cold spot
on the west, so the clubhouse might benefit the most from it.
> Of course, dealing with people wanting nothing more than a drink and
> a Hot Spot may irritate the Lodge and Clubhouse personnel.
Personnel would only have to deal with the kiosk, if there were one.
If they simply offer wifi, it's something the staff could ignore. You
set it up and forget about it. Restaraunts and cafes that have hot
spots often have staff who aren't even aware that they have a hot
spot. Customers just find it with their laptops, and connect.
Doug Parker
Justin Gombos <jgo...@Hide-A-WayHillsClub.com> wrote:
* Belinda Augustus [2008-01-06 18:42]:
lancas...@verizon.net
From: Doug Parker <hah...@verizon.net>
Date: 2008/02/16 Sat PM 01:29:43 CST
To: Justin Gombos <jgo...@Hide-A-WayHillsClub.com>, hah...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: hot spots
(per http://activerain.com/blogs/ikarensell) There's now wireless internet access available in the Lodge at Hideaway Hills...but we'd guess that it won't turn things into a everyone-hunched-over-their-laptop sort of environment, as "The Hills" is a social setting as much as anything else. Folks also often ask about wired home internet access in the community, along with cable and satellite TV. Since Time Warner has now taken over the operation of the community's cable system, we can direcly compare things as well as anticipate what's likely to happen in the relatively near future. Currently, members who basically live on the east side of Lake of the Four Seasons ("the big lake") have Verizon phone service....which means they can most probably get DSL high-speed interenet service, which is always address-specific. Our HAH home has DSL, and we've found it to be at least as dependable and speedy as the Road Runner service we had at our home and now at our condo in Hilliard. Cable broadband service can be affected by the number of users along the "line" at any given time....so if we're working on the internet at our condo on a school snow day, we see a slowdown. DSL is not technically affected by the number of subscribers online.</div> <div>So what's up down the road? Time Warner intends to complete the fiber optic cable rebuild that was (somewhat) started by the previous cable provider (Adelphia)....often referred to in the cable business as a rebuilt of "the plant." That's now projected for 2009. When it's done, Time Warner will be fully in the "bundling" business in Hideaway Hills....meaning, packaging high-speed internet, digital cable TV, and telephone. We have that full Time-Warner Road Runner package in our condo, with the price of all three services in Hilliard costing about what we now pay for DSL and telephone service from Verizon. And Time Warner will surely price its initial service bundles to significantly undercut what a HAH member might now be paying in total to Verizon and Time Warner. So Verizon would then have to respond, as would AT+T....which maintains telephone service on "the other" side of the big lake. AT+T subscribers are currently limited to dial-up internet service....so AT+T would at the very least be thinking of providing DSL sometime soon. Of course, legal and technical development in the area of non-traditional "cable" TV service delivery will also come into play along the way. As we always used to say in the broadcasting business, please stay tuned.... Hide-A-Way Hills Visual Tour Hide-A-Way Hills video tour
Justin Gombos <jgo...@Hide-A-WayHillsClub.com> wrote:
* Belinda Augustus <BEL...@HIDE-A-WAYHILLSREALESTATE.COM>[2008-01-06 18:42]:
>
>
> Hi Justin,
>
> What a great idea. I've heard several mention how wonderful Hot<BR>> Spots would be.<BR>> <BR>> I don't understand much of what you explained other than the plan
> sounds like an attempt to provide Members access from their homes?
> Sounds interesting, but personally, I'd like to see a first step<BR>> dedicated to providing Hot Spots at the Clubhouse or Lodge or both.<BR><BR>It's not something that would be a complete solution. There probably
would not be enough contributors to offer solid coverage. Even if
everyone with DSL participated, I think it would still be spotty
coverage because HAH is sparsely populated. But it's a start. There<BR>would at least be potential for folks without access to invest in good<BR>equipment and possibly reach a hot spot. <BR><BR>Certainly it would be useful to be able to sit in the lodge/clubhouse,<BR>and check email. In fact I think it would be good for business, which<BR>we know the lodge could always use more of. Folks in cold spots would<BR>visit the lodge more frequently (thus spend more) if they could get<BR>online there. The clubhouse is actually closer to the big cold spot<BR>on the west, so the clubhouse might benefit the most from it.<BR><BR>> Of course, dealing with people wanting nothing more than a drink and<BR>> a Hot Spot may irritate the Lodge and Clubhouse personnel.<BR><BR>Personnel would only have to deal with the kiosk, if there were one.<BR>If they simply offer wifi, it's something the staff could ignore. You
Justin Gombos
>
> I am a member of hideaway hills, and I just wanted to inform
> everyone that needs service in the hideaway hills area. I recently
> was mailed a coupon for 100 dollars off on a new satellite service
> for high speed internet service. It lists a website called
> www.surfwithoutwaiting.com It sounds like a great deal if you do not
> have any internet service. Hope this will help the people that need
> service over there on the other side of the lake.
Thanks for the tip.. Hughesnet might be a decent option for west
siders. What I don't like about it is the $100 off requires a 2 yr
commitment. Folks would be compeled to break their contract in 2009
if cable or DSL makes it to the west side; so they'd have to expect to
pay whatever the early termination penalty is.
Another option is 1xRTT over the Sprint data network. If I'm on the
west side standing outdoors, 1xRTT service is within reach, but it
cuts out. I suspect that could be remedied with a yagi antenna. And
with a decent amp, EVDO may even be possible (that needs to be
tested). www.millenicom.com sells contract-free 1xRTT/EVDO for
$50/mo. Or someone willing to do a contract could get a SERO for
$30/mo.
I've had SBCs ISDN on the west side (128kbps). Installation was $300,
and the monthly was ~$60 w/ ISP service. No contract.
Satellite (Hughesnet) seems to have the most bandwidth for the money,
but the latency is unacceptible for gaming or internet phone. ISDN is
probably the most economical, because it's a replacement for landline
service.
I was amazed to find that a wifi signal from the east side of the lake
was able to reach the west side, and be received through the internal
antenna of a Nokia N800. Typically a directional antenna is needed to
across the lake (although still is to do it reliably). So if lakeside
east siders could be motivated to install hotspots (like FON), that
would be quite useful for folks on the west.
Justin Gombos
> (per http://activerain.com/blogs/ikarensell)
> There's now wireless internet access available in the Lodge at
> Hideaway Hills...but we'd guess that it won't turn things into a
> everyone-hunched-over-their-laptop sort of environment, as "The
> Hills" is a social setting as much as anything else.
Great! I'll have to check that out. It might be practical for some
folks to stay on dialup if they can get broadband at the lodge. On
the social matter.. a hotspot could actually facilitate that if it has
a local area chat feature.