subject: High Speed Internet Access For Rural Communities Enabled By Wireless Isps (wisp) [print this page] High speed (broadband) access to the internet can be problematic for those who live in remote or rural areas. Lack of cable and telecoms infrastructure has prevented the development of high speed internet for these communities, but now the revolutionary developments in wireless technologies will help end this situation. Internet users in remote areas will be able to connect wirelessly to their wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP).
Several years ago home users connected to the net using dial up modems at what now seem to be astonishingly slow data rates (2400 bits/second). Downloading files could take hours. Nowadays most home users have some kind of broadband (high speed) connection, and the applications which require those high rates have grown rapidly. People with broadband access now regularly download extremely large data files such as movies, music, streaming video, and they play online games which require very fast access. All these applications of the internet, and many other ones as well, would not be possible without broadband communications to the user's home.
The broadband data rates which are now achieved for most users rely on the infrastructure of the phone companies and the cable companies. Unfortunately some people cannot benefit from that infrastructure because they live in remote or rural locations. The low density of population has caused cable companies to neglect those areas. The long distances from homes to the local telephone central office (exchange) means that phone network broadband technology such as ADSL does not work well.
For these reasons many of the rural population do not have high speed internet access, and have been excluded from the applications made possible by that technology.
Nowadays however wireless technologies have advanced to the point that high speed internet can be brought to those who live in remote locations, and wireless ISPs (WISP) are set up to serve these communities. It is currently estimated that about three million people in the US access the internet through a wireless ISP. About 100 WISPs have been filed with the FCC (Federal Communications Commission).
From the consumers point of view they connect to a wireless ISP using a radio link from their residence to the ISP's transmission tower. In a rural area it is most likely that the consumer will be a long way from the transmission tower, and the consumer's equipment will probably be fitted high up on a wall or chimney pointing towards the transmission tower. This is important as the quality of radio link will determine the data rate between the user and the tower.
Within the home the user will probably use a normal WiFi or Ethernet network to connect his PC or PCs to the transmission equipment. Although this might sound complicated a good wireless ISP will provide plenty of support to help get their customers up and running.
The technology already exists to bring the broadband internet revolution to remote users, and WISPs can be expected to expand into new areas to bring services to many more than the current estimate of three million users. The technology also has been shown invaluable for the rapid deployment of new infrastructure to areas devastated by natural disasters such as hurricanes.
