Very Computer

Hi there!

I work for a small (tiny?) county who's school districts are still
in the process of getting all their schools hooked into the internet.  
We currently have most of our schools connected to the County Office of
Education via 56K telephone company dedicated data lease lines and the
COE connected to the internet on a 128K telco lease line.  (hey, I said
we were a small county! :) )

We are now looking at connecting another small site (6-12 computers)
to the COE.  I'm really having a problem with using the same type of
telco lease line with this site because it will cost about $90 a month
and the two buildings are within spitting distance of each other!  
(Well,I guess a person could spit 150 yards with a good tailwind...)
Unfortunately, a large portion of the 150 yards is owned by someone
else _and_ is maybe under "wetlands" classification, either of which
makes it nearly impossible to just dig a trench and lay some cable.

Anyway, I've been looking at some wireless based solutions that just
might do the job for us.  The one I'm looking most at right now is
from GRE America, a 6000 GKV(NKG?) model.  It's basically a 64K
syncronous modem connected to its own 900 MHz radio instead of a
telco line.  I've seen some others, but haven't had a chance to look
very closely at them yet.

If you have had some experience with using wireless links for a
situation like mine, I'd sure appreciate any information you could
provide.  Especially if you've used the GRE America product or have
some other product that worked very well for you.

I don't get to look through the newsgroups very much, so I'd appreciate
it if you could CC any replies to my e-mail.

Thanks a bunch!

Robert

Robert;

There is a pretty nifty wireless solution from a company called SOLECTEK
that I have come across but have not used. It is used with a direct
wireless link (without satellites for example) across upto 25 miles. You
bypass all the telco stuff in the middle. The company literature says it
has been used by Cargill to communicate with their barges across the
Mississippi river. Some of its features are:

2.4 GHz frequency band                  No FCC license required.
Links upto 25 miles                     No cost for additional miles.
2 Mbps data rate                        
Spread Spectrum Technology              Secure and reliable data communications
Uses intenetworking software from Cisco Systems.

The retail price is around $8000.00.

I can fax you the detailed specs if you want. Please let me know.

Bhavesh.
--
Ambica Systems Engineering, Inc.
"Networking Beyond Limits"
Ph: 301-916-4432 . Fax: 301-916-5336

   The Symbol company is one of the lines I was looking at.  I think I
decided their cost would be such that they'd be obsolete before they
paid for themselves.  But upon hearing that they do work well, I will
go back over my notes and note a satisfied customer.

Robert

This is not an adverti*t...

Robert,

check out http://www.veryComputer.com/ , or call 1-800-SCAN-234

Symbol makes barcode equipment, hand-held wireless terminals, and
wireless bridge products.

The Spectrum 24 product line is based on 2.4 GHZ spread spectrum
technology.  I beleive the latest Ethernet Access point (AP) has
wireless bridging capability - all protocols.  A pair of them should
easily span that distance.

I use an AP to access the internet through a masquerading Linux router.
The Symbol PCMCIA radio card in my Win95 laptop lets me surf the Net
from the back porch.

Mike

I saw a previous poster mentioned a solution that costs $8,000.00.  I don't
know anything about that system, but it seems like more than you need.  You
may want to check out the Ricochet wireless 'modem' by Metricom.  This is a
service one can get in the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington DC and
Seattle I believe.  The 'modems' use unlicensed spectrum like cordless
telephones.  Normally they want to sell you internet connectivity for
$29.95 mo. plus $12.50 mo. to rent the modem.  But the modems will also
talk to each other in an area serviced by Metricom or anywhere else.  This
means you could use a pair of these to accomplish your goals, even if you
are not in a service area.  Since you won't be buying your internet
connectivity from Metricom (funded by Paul Allen of MS fame among others),
they will charge you $599.00 each for the modems.  This would make your
total cost $1,200.00.  The speed is 28.8.  The transmissions are RSA
encrypted.  I use Ricochet for my connectivity to the net.  The connection
is really solid - it usually stays up for hundreds of hours at a time.  I
don't know what the range is, but I'm almost certain it's well over 150
feet.  Ricochet is really cool because I can stay on full time for a token
charge.  If I tried to do that with a phone modem, I would spend hundreds
in per minute charges.  I know the speed may be too slow for you, but the
price is not too bad and it will probably work far better than trying to
use a permanently connected phone line with modems.  Their web site is
www.ricochet.net.

Kevin Warnock
Document Automation Systems, LLC
415-677-9990

http://www.latnet.lv/LATNET/RADIOLink/

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Quote:> >> We currently have most of our schools connected to the County Office of
> >> Education via 56K telephone company dedicated data lease lines and the
> >> COE connected to the internet on a 128K telco lease line.  (hey, I said
> >> we were a small county! :) )

> Definitely check this out....

> http://www.latnet.lv/LATNET/RADIOLink/