Mactron
el camino Real
Premium
join:2001-12-16
CM94sv
| Foresight ?
"State law allows the city to take ownership one year after they've been abandoned."
Someone had the foresight to see that this business model was a non-starter ? 
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If only the Verizon CSRs worked this well. |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·Comcast
1 edit | said by Mactron  :"State law allows the city to take ownership one year after they've been abandoned." Someone had the foresight to see that this business model was a non-starter ? But the city isn't going to run them after taking over. They are going to dismantle them and maybe sell them for parts.
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My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page
Ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk? |
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N3OGH
Bear patrol must be working like a charm
Premium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to Mactron
Has any city ever been successful in getting one of these wide area Wi-Fi mesh networks up, running, and even moderately profitable?
I can't think of one off the top of my head...
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Petty people are disproportionably corrupted by petty power… |
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dddrt
@windomnet.com | muni wireless
buffalo Minnesota has been up for about 5 years works well. I have borrowd the signal and was very happy with speed. Windom MN has a very good FTTH system running. |
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RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11 | reply to Mactron
Re: Foresight ?
That's not an uncommon lease term especially when dealing with public property like street lights or utility easements and poles. |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
|  Good Idea
$894K is a lot of money and unlike the Feds, state and local governments cannot simply print money. It is just best for the City of Portland to let this thing die before any more tax money is spent on it.
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"At the moment of conception." |
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Seaboogers
join:2004-11-01
Sarasota, FL | reply to Mactron
Re: Foresight ?
Metro-Fi should wait until the last minute...then take down all the antenna's.
They offered the in-place system to the city for a cost...which balked...and is going the "welfare" route.
Typical though...wanting something for nothing. |
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xenophon
join:2007-09-17 | Metro/Muni WiFi is dead, WiMAX is here
WiFi was not designed for city wide coverage. WiMAX is ready now. If cities were willing to fund wifi rollouts, they may as well help fund the WiMAX rollout as it is designed for city wide coverage. |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| reply to pnh102
Re: Good Idea
said by pnh102 :$894K is a lot of money and unlike the Feds, state and local governments cannot simply print money. It is just best for the City of Portland to let this thing die before any more tax money is spent on it. Let's see Portland pop 568,380 cost $894,000 or $1.57 per person. Yeah REAL hard to come up with $1.57 from the population. |
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phoneboy3
@shawcable.net
| WiMAX vs WiFi
The problem with WiMAX is it is bloody expensive and will continue to be for many years. The appeal of WiFi is it's cheap. Both will coexist. WiFi will be a great option for using in WiMAX dead spots and it continues to be a great option indoors. The new N wifi standard fixed most of the problems with interference, speed, and coverage. |
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patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
| reply to N3OGH
Re: Foresight ?
said by N3OGH :Has any city ever been successful in getting one of these wide area Wi-Fi mesh networks up, running, and even moderately profitable? I can't think of one off the top of my head... When the mesh has 8 APs and in a CBD of a 5K population town. |
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patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
| reply to pnh102
Re: Good Idea
said by pnh102 :$894K is a lot of money and unlike the Feds, state and local governments cannot simply print money. It is just best for the City of Portland to let this thing die before any more tax money is spent on it. But state and local governments get pork. |
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klipko
join:2006-06-28
Portland, OR | reply to phoneboy3
Re: WiMAX vs WiFi
I'm glad that the city hasn't spent any money on this venture. They spend enough on other needless items the people don't want. How much did we waste in attempting to bring MLB to Portland? |
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erth64net
@gbcomputers.com | MetroFi's website is now dead...
See www.metrofi.com, it's now a parked site with GoDaddy.com's ads plastered all over it. |
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blahblahbla
@comcast.net
| Know what you're talking about first!!
All this "wimax is here, wifi is dead" talk is so uninformed its not even funny. Apples & oranges, and because you can do one, you cannot necessarily do the other.
Wimax is so great? in what frequency? 2.4? 5ghz? 900? PUHLEASE... it is no better than WiFi in unlicensed spectrum. |
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elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
join:2006-08-30
Toronto, ON | reply to N3OGH
Re: Foresight ?
In Toronto the local Hydro company has set up a wi fi mesh in the downtown core.
Works quite well |
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Ed_Gee
@qwest.net
|  reply to BF69
Re: Good Idea
"Let's see Portland pop 568,380 cost $894,000 or $1.57 per person. Yeah REAL hard to come up with $1.57 from the population."
Infants, children, and a sizable portion of the adult population in general do not pay taxes. The cost per taxpayer would be notably higher... and even in the Liberal Portland area, voters are not keene on implementing more taxes.
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Michael Weinberg
@omcastbusiness.net
| reply to Seaboogers
Re: Foresight ?
The city chose not to purchase the equipment with the understanding and expectation that MetroFi would remove it by the end of July. Instead, MetroFi stopped returning calls and essentially turned off and abandoned the equipment. At this point it is basically litter in the Public Right of Way.
The city is going to have to pay at least $30K to remove it, from what I've read. They are waiting until the equipment is legally forfeit in order to avoid the legal fees that would come with trying to remove it sooner. |
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gomer1701ems
join:2001-08-23
Minneapolis, MN | reply to N3OGH
The one in Minneapolis hasn't made the front page of DSLR (yet).
I don't know if it's profitable, but it is still up and running.
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"Don't argue with stupid people; they will beat you with experience." |
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plattypus1
join:2005-04-08
Riverside, CA
·Charter Pipeline
| Riverside's wifi works
Riverside, CA has a free ad-driven wifi network operated by AT&T Metro-Fi, rate-limited at (I believe) 512k. Faster, paid service is available, rate-limited to 1.5Mbps (and free to AT&T residential customers and "Freedomlink Premier" subscribers). The service works well, is up and running throughout the city, and doesn't seem to be suffering the problems that all the other metro-wifi projects are suffering.
www.smartriverside.com |
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