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Comments on news posted 2008-08-09 12:03:17: Portland had high hopes of being one of those cities where citywide wireless networks might actually work but those hopes did not pan out. ..

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patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

1 recommendation

patcat88

Member

leave it up

Leave it up. Maybe someone will come by that sees a salvage/resale value in the APs. Those Moto Canopys look expensive. Another possibility is someone restarted the service.

Dogfather
Premium Member
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA

Dogfather

Premium Member

TINSTAAFL

Should be a lesson to greedy gov'ts who always expect something for nothing.

rec9140
Provoice just DO it
join:2003-07-29
Mulberry, FL

rec9140

Member

You want wireless???

If you want wireless then you can't go around whining about "....(arguably unsightly) antennas ..."

No antennas, no towers and your i(diot)phone doesn't work.

I suggest they leave it up and turn it into a city net for city services or take it over. I'd gladly approve of tax money for something I would use versus all the stupid stuff I pay for and have no use for.
smcallah
join:2004-08-05
Home

smcallah

Member

If these cities want to offer something for free...

Why not electricity or water service for free? Those are more important than Internet access, right? And the infrastructure is already built.

If they don't offer those services for nothing, why do they think a company can come in and offer a new service for free?

a333
A hot cup of integrals please
join:2007-06-12
Rego Park, NY

a333

Member

When will these idiots learn that WiFi isn't a large-scale last-mile technology!!! Hell, it has trouble working in a HOUSE, so how can you provide several square miles with blanket coverage? At least use WiMax. And that's besides the point. Fact is, this money can go into much more important stuff, education and public safety for instance. Broadband isn't a utility YET, and it sure as hell ain't a right. If you can't afford broadband, or can't get it, use the local public library. Get used to dial-up, or shell out the money for ISDN. Use mobile BB (AT&T 3G/Sprint EV-DO). It's not the middle class' responsibility to subsidize your pr0n habit/desire to play WoW at top speeds.

insomx
Premium Member
join:2003-01-26
Canada

insomx

Premium Member

Tell that to the city of Fredericton here in NB. They have the entire city covered in free wireless. It's amazing!
Robrr
join:2008-04-19

Robrr

Member

Metro Wifi Network

I dont get what is causing these american wifi networks to fail. I had the opportunity to use the wifi network in downtown Toronto this past week and it was pretty cool. It cost me 10 bux for the day and I had good connection speeds all day and was more than capable of doing everything I needed.

There must be something very wrong with what you guys are doing south of the border.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

I dunno, maybe not charging enough for the network, or offering too much for free\cheap? Or covering too large of an area compared to the benefit people would see...

But yeah, WiFi ain't a last-mile tech; citywide networks are expensive kludges. They *can* be made to work but it ain't too pretty.

a333
A hot cup of integrals please
join:2007-06-12
Rego Park, NY

a333 to insomx

Member

to insomx

Re: If these cities want to offer something for free...

And you're telling me it's free? Ad-supported? Taxpayer-supported? Deployed in areas that already get DSL/cable?

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

battleop to Robrr

Member

to Robrr

Re: Metro Wifi Network

"It cost me 10 bux for the day "

That's probably why theirs works and the others fail.

laserjobs
Premium Member
join:2004-05-02
Las Vegas, NV

1 edit

laserjobs

Premium Member

Salvage

I wonder what the salvage value of these devices are? If they have over the amount to remove them, I will do it.

EDIT: Just looked on ebay and these SkyExtender's are selling for $1500/each.

600 x $1000 = $600,000 salvage!!!

Where can I contact these guys to remove them?
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

i know what id be doing late at night if i had a bucket truck... Salvage Rights!!!
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4 to patcat88

Member

to patcat88

Re: leave it up

City should make them leave them. Find some local ISP that is willing to use the network. Why pay to take the things down when they can be used.

alanhdsl
Premium Member
join:1999-10-09
Phoenix, AZ

alanhdsl

Premium Member

Leftover antennas

There are still Ricochet antennas around Phoenix. The service shut down in 2001 and never restarted here.

james16
join:2001-02-26

james16 to patcat88

Member

to patcat88

Re: leave it up

Seriously, supposing you build a store somewhere and go out of business, you dont tear the damn thing down, you sell it so someone else can use it, and hopefully they do better.

DaMaGeINC
The Lan Man
Premium Member
join:2002-06-08
Greenville, SC

DaMaGeINC to Robrr

Premium Member

to Robrr

Re: Metro Wifi Network

We fail at everything because its all about money. If someone somewhere cant get rich enough, then they scrap the project.

alchav
join:2002-05-17
Saint George, UT

1 edit

alchav to Robrr

Member

to Robrr
said by Robrr:

There must be something very wrong with what you guys are doing south of the border.
I'm not big on Wireless, but it does have it's uses. Like you guys said, it's not a Last Mile Technology, so having realistic goals is very important. Some people feel WiFi is the Holy Grail, and everyone wants to jump on it. Without a clear Business Plan and a good Break Even Point, even if some of your customers are free, someone has to pay for it and that has to be clear and up front. When things like this fail it's obvious that no one had a plan or knew what they were doing.
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88 to james16

Member

to james16

Re: leave it up

Lets say you own a building, you lease it to a supermarket, the supermarket closes down, do you immediately tear down the building, or do you keep it vacant for a few months/years while looking for a new tenant to use the building?
patcat88

2 edits

patcat88 to a333

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to a333

Re: If these cities want to offer something for free...

said by a333:

When will these idiots learn that WiFi isn't a large-scale last-mile technology!!! Hell, it has trouble working in a HOUSE, so how can you provide several square miles with blanket coverage?
Use atleast 4db antenna with 200 mw client card and you will have your range. Craptacular Centrinos need not apply.
patcat88

patcat88 to Robrr

Member

to Robrr

Re: Metro Wifi Network

Yes there is something wrong.

Some governments think they can extort as much money out of muni wifi ventures as they can out of cable TV. It doesn't work that way. Cities think muni wifi is a way to double their welfare programs and help their liberal white guilt and a magic fix for slums and poverty. Sorry, if you want to do that, time to increase the city's income tax, not extort the money out of muni wifi ventures.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4 to patcat88

Member

to patcat88

Re: leave it up

most of the time the supermarket has a multi-year lease on it that they still pay for. But i wouldn't tear it down. Re-lease it. But the problem is that the ones that have the multi-year leases will sublease and then what more than what the building is worth.

There are many like that in Northwest Ohio. Especially an old Foodtown store that wants $5.00psq the building is over 10years old! No way is anyone going to pay that. Walmart wants almost the same for their old store. But they also renew the lease every time it comes up to expire due to they can keep out any competition like Target that wanted it.

RARPSL
join:1999-12-08
Suffern, NY

RARPSL

Member

said by hottboiinnc4:

most of the time the supermarket has a multi-year lease on it that they still pay for. But i wouldn't tear it down. Re-lease it. But the problem is that the ones that have the multi-year leases will sublease and then what more than what the building is worth.

There are many like that in Northwest Ohio. Especially an old Foodtown store that wants $5.00psq the building is over 10years old! No way is anyone going to pay that. Walmart wants almost the same for their old store. But they also renew the lease every time it comes up to expire due to they can keep out any competition like Target that wanted it.
The solution to the later problem is a "Use it or Lose it" clause in the Lease renewal terms. If they have left the property vacant at renewal time, they can be optionally be denied the right to renew the lease (or they can be allowed to renew for the normal period with the a "cut short" provision such as the one in my next sentence). There can also be a possible clause that can allow the owner to foreclose on a vacant/abandoned property at the anniversary date (ie: The lease can be terminated at the next anniversary of the signing after the end of the property being vacated for a set period of time).

As to the sub-lease situation, this can be handled by a a ban or restrictions in the Lease.
EPS4
join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA

EPS4 to laserjobs

Member

to laserjobs

Re: Salvage

If they could get $600,000 for salvage, then the city would make money by paying just $60,000 to remove them, wouldn't they?

bobjohnson
Premium Member
join:2007-02-03
Spartanburg, SC

bobjohnson to laserjobs

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to laserjobs
Yeah, no shit i will fly over there and take them down for free... Give me a call portland!!

sapo
Cruising Down Memory Lane
Premium Member
join:2002-09-16
Sacramento, CA

sapo to EPS4

Premium Member

to EPS4
Typical Government job, probably will sell it to someone for really cheap and they make lots of money off it as usual. I see it all the time.

insomx
Premium Member
join:2003-01-26
Canada

insomx to a333

Premium Member

to a333

Re: If these cities want to offer something for free...

said by a333:

And you're telling me it's free? Ad-supported? Taxpayer-supported? Deployed in areas that already get DSL/cable?
No ads. It is taxpayer supported though. All of the city is wired for DSL and Cable, but the wireless is a nice add-on for portable devices and such. It's also good enough in some areas that people don't bother signing up for DSL or Cable.

a333
A hot cup of integrals please
join:2007-06-12
Rego Park, NY

a333

Member

@ john- Well, then it's definitely a waste of taxpayer money in my book. If its purpose is to provide 'mobile broadband', or a REPLACEMENT for cable/DSL, it's an epic waste of tax money. The least the (the city) could've done is use ads to at least make up for part of the cost of operating the network.

@ patcat- No amount of amplification/antennae imporvements can reasonably make citywide WiFi feasible. The reason? Doing either requires basically drowning out nearby WiFi signals, which I'm sure wouldn't lead to a pleasant reaction from WiFi network owners in the vicinity.........
I mean, sure, THEORETICALLY, you can do that. Heck, pump the power up to something like 1 Watt, and boom! You've got ~ 600-1000 ft coverage. Question? Does it sit particularly well with local residents/businesses? I highly doubt it would.
Peace,
a333

bear73
Metnav... Fly The Unfriendly Skies
Premium Member
join:2001-06-09
Derry, NH

bear73 to EPS4

Premium Member

to EPS4

Re: Salvage

said by EPS4:

If they could get $600,000 for salvage, then the city would make money by paying just $60,000 to remove them, wouldn't they?
no, they won't. because they can't sell them for a profit in most cases.
perfect example of this: military computer upgrades. Every time US military upgrades their tech, they have to send it to DRMO. and DRMO will "sell" the old computers, printers, monitors to : first, other DOD services, second, other government agencies, third, public education, fourth, auctioned off by the pallett-full.

Mercurybird
Premium Member
join:2004-06-24
Hooks, TX

Mercurybird

Premium Member

How to do a business plan...

Let me see... I think I can do it.

Oh! Looks like I can't- Oh well!- I only lost tens of thousands of dollars. No sweat!

Business plan? Backup capital? An exit strategy?

If you build a better mousetrap they'll beat a path to you door right? Ha Ha... define better mousetrap!
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4 to RARPSL

Member

to RARPSL

Re: leave it up

Generally companies do not wait for the lease to come up for renew. They renew them well before the time due to always ensuring they have an office/store or what ever. Major companies do this even with vacant buildings. It keeps them from losing them.
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