the quest for high speed internet access
I'm currently the President of the Burnaby Velodrome, one of three indoor velodromes in North America. In that capacity, I've been busy attempting to write a proposal for some funding that will go towards a recreation management solution for the facility. Memberships, bar-code passes, point of sale, etc. All good stuff and much needed at the track.
We have two options: one installed with lots of expensive hardware, the other as a hosted solution (aka Application Service Provider or my fave new acronym "SaaS" - Software as a Service). Basically, the system runs as a hosted web application and we pay a monthly fee to use it. Great, thinks the guy who runs a web development company during the day, let's go with that version. All that we need to run it:
High Speed Internet Access
And that's where the fun begins.
The Harry Jerome Sports Centre, conveniently located on the Barnet Highway heading East on towards Port Moody, is nestled behind Burnaby Mountain, the famous geographic landmark upon which sits Simon Fraser University.
If you click on this link to Google Maps, you'll see our glorious air-inflated roof from space. Very cool.
So I know the current office, home of Volleyball BC, runs 56kbps dial-up. Very lame. I decided to find out why.
1. Call Telus
Sorry, too far away from our switch, can't run ADSL. Sell you a T1 for $1500/month?
2. Call Shaw
Sorry, no cable goes out that way
3. Call Bell
Sorry, we're cable too, and if Shaw can't get there, neither can we.
4. Call Infosat
Sorry, satellite internet depends upon a southern view of the horizon. Directly south of the HJSC: a huge mountain. No go.
5. Call Metrobridge
Hmmm... maybe. We'll see and call you back.
6. Google some more
Find Telus's EVDO solution, which is high-speed via your mobile phone's network. A bit of a hack, probably quite expensive, and probably confined to one PC only, so limiting in what you can do with it.
It appears the Harry Jerome is in a telecommunications black hole. It's harder to get Internet access in there than it was to get it to Mars.
I've received a no-go on ADSL, Cable, Satellite, and a maybe on line-of-sight microwave technology.
Any technologies I've missed? Any obscure way of getting TCP/IP packets into the building at a reasonable rate (> 56kbps) that I haven't thought of (that won't require me trying to raise $100,000 for a custom installation of some crazy hardware)?
We have two options: one installed with lots of expensive hardware, the other as a hosted solution (aka Application Service Provider or my fave new acronym "SaaS" - Software as a Service). Basically, the system runs as a hosted web application and we pay a monthly fee to use it. Great, thinks the guy who runs a web development company during the day, let's go with that version. All that we need to run it:
High Speed Internet Access
And that's where the fun begins.
The Harry Jerome Sports Centre, conveniently located on the Barnet Highway heading East on towards Port Moody, is nestled behind Burnaby Mountain, the famous geographic landmark upon which sits Simon Fraser University.
If you click on this link to Google Maps, you'll see our glorious air-inflated roof from space. Very cool.
So I know the current office, home of Volleyball BC, runs 56kbps dial-up. Very lame. I decided to find out why.
1. Call Telus
Sorry, too far away from our switch, can't run ADSL. Sell you a T1 for $1500/month?
2. Call Shaw
Sorry, no cable goes out that way
3. Call Bell
Sorry, we're cable too, and if Shaw can't get there, neither can we.
4. Call Infosat
Sorry, satellite internet depends upon a southern view of the horizon. Directly south of the HJSC: a huge mountain. No go.
5. Call Metrobridge
Hmmm... maybe. We'll see and call you back.
6. Google some more
Find Telus's EVDO solution, which is high-speed via your mobile phone's network. A bit of a hack, probably quite expensive, and probably confined to one PC only, so limiting in what you can do with it.
It appears the Harry Jerome is in a telecommunications black hole. It's harder to get Internet access in there than it was to get it to Mars.
I've received a no-go on ADSL, Cable, Satellite, and a maybe on line-of-sight microwave technology.
Any technologies I've missed? Any obscure way of getting TCP/IP packets into the building at a reasonable rate (> 56kbps) that I haven't thought of (that won't require me trying to raise $100,000 for a custom installation of some crazy hardware)?
9 Comments:
The nerdcore way to go is to roll your own line-of-sight WiFi.
Looking at the map of the Jerome 'drome, I'd say your best shot is to find a broadband-equipped friend in Deep Cove, put up a highly directional antenna, and offer to pay for their internet connection.
The 1-3 km you'd have to span is pretty extreme, but could be done with good equipment and a bit of luck.
The next phase would be to roll your own WiMax on the same principle.
I guess the other possibility would be talking really nicely to SFU, since they're all full of broadband, and they're just at the top of the hill. Maybe something psycho like rolling a fiber optic cable down the hill?
I'd say your best bet is hoping Metrobridge comes through, or sucking it up and paying for the EVDO solution. Barring that, I say go with the fun WiFi project.
By
Ryan, at 9:23 pm
I'm really hoping I can avoid a Pringle's can powered WiFi solution and have something slightly more professional. But good point.
Apparently there's lots of can-based "homebrew" WiFi antenna hacks out there. Who needs fancy satellite uplinks at all, when you have a good solid round tin from MGB coffee powering your Internet high-speed?
Fun!
By
Gordon, at 7:26 am
Is Kask across the street internet-less? Might be worth a phone call.
SFU....good luck.....Ryan has more faith than I. Better off running the couple hundred meters to the residential area and tapping into one of their lines.
But seriously....Kask might have it.
Jak
By
Anonymous, at 3:39 pm
Jak: genius! Yeah, Kask Bros.
Gord: Telus doesn't read this, right?
I actually have an active, working Melita cantenna, which works reasonably well. I have it attached to a computer just outside of laptop wi-fi reach from my router, and it takes that machine from no signal to consistent couple of bars. And this is with a mediocre line of sight. I'm pretty sure I used the coffee-can design found on the page you linked there. If you go this route, I sourced the custom cable and connectors from a local vendor on Boundary Rd., so there's no trouble about that.
I think in this range the hot setup would be to find someone selling a lightly used mini-satellite dish (or even a ridiculous 10' C-Band dish if you have the space on site), and build a directional antenna with that. The going rate for these dishes ranges from $0 to $5, depending on how close to the end of the day it is at the garage sale.
By
Ryan, at 7:49 pm
A small Chinaman standing on the roof of the velodrome with a big long metal pole should solve all your problems. He'll be light enough to stand on said inflated structure, AND agile enough to get up there. Unfortunately I think I'm too heavy for the task, so we'll have to call in woo woo woo woo WOO!
By
Anonymous, at 10:11 pm
Any chance Telus would hook you up if you inscribed their logos all over the track
By
Anonymous, at 7:37 pm
You could always do TCP/IP over Pigeon! You would then need only need someone to act as gateway and transcribe all your messages in the over interweb.
By
Anonymous, at 1:09 pm
you did miss Rogers...
http://www.shoprogers.com/Store/Cable/InternetContent/portable.asp?shopperID=
By
Mark, at 2:26 pm
Here's what you want: http://www.craigwireless.com
High-speed wireless service from the top of mount seymour (I assume a tree near the velodrome can sight seymour), dedicated equipment installation, not super expensive (as far as I know).
By
Anonymous, at 4:40 pm
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