Jim wrote:

would use DSL or cable modem (if available)? If WiFi was available
everywhere, how much would it have to cost in order to even break even?

Jim
N8EE

About 15 dollars a month is what they are charging in Chaska MN, and
that will allow them to maintain the current system as well as store a
bit of cash for new equipment when they need it. The customer base was
over 2000 last I knew, and 2 years ahead of what they expected. The
charge includes everything including customer premise equipment.

They are using 802.11b, and each customer gets approximately 1.5Mbps
throughput, except for one of their coverage areas which they are having
a problem with. That one still gets something like 500Kbps, which isn't
bad. The billing is done through the city water bill, so it's quite
convenient, I would guess.

The equipment is Tropos, which we examined, and it is about as
bulletproof as you can get. They (Tropos) use a Loctite type of
substance on the 6dB gain omnis at the factory, so they don't leak or
come loose. Seems excessive on an N connector, but definately thorough.
They have heaters in them to keep them warm enough in the subzero
winters. They can be mounted antennas up, or antennas down by reversing
the outside case. And a nice touch is they use a sandwich plug for
power that plugs in at the light sensor on a streetlight. Takes about
as long to get the bucket truck in place as it does to mount and get it
running. They need virtually no configuration on any individual unit.
Runs as a mesh network; in their case, multiple mesh networks.

And nope, I don't live there, but my company visited to see how they did
it, etc. Don't have any affiliation with Tropos, either. We use the
Motorola Canopy Product.

Their web address is www.chaska.net

tom
K0TAR