Hello Everyone,

This is my first posting here and need some help. I live in the middle of nowhere Northern California https://www.google.com/maps/place/39%C2 ... :0x0?hl=en (this isn't my house but in the same subdivision). We don't have access to DSL or Cable Internet in our subdivision only satellite and the existing WISP. The Owner operator of the WISP is getting older and isn't able to provide reliable service for installs/repairs. From what I can tell he is reselling a residential/business cable service (Mediacom) beamed out to our valley. The service works all right (1.5-2mbps) at my home during non-peak times however between 4:30-9PM and all weekend long maximum I can get is around 20kbps actual file download speed and even surfing is slow. There is around another 70 client on this network. I am interested in buying his setup and fixing its dysfunction (adding bandwidth queuing QoS for different types of traffic ect.). Clients are not told the qet any speed "what you get is what you get". and access is $60.00/mn.

my first problem is I need to find a new head end internet connection and I have found Verizon dedicated internet http://www.verizonenterprise.com/Medium ... dedicated/ prices for our location:
5Mbps $803.25/mn
10Mbps $1239.47/mn
20Mbps $1687.83/mn
40mbps $2044.75/mn
50Mbps $2078.75/mn
70Mbps $2775.74/mn
100Mbps $2929.74/mn

I have requested info from the local cable provider (Mediacom) in the nearest town Clearlake Oaks about either buying transport (and finding bandwidth else where) or dedicated service from them that is hopefully cheaper. How fast do you think I need (want to be able to get everyone 2-3mbps download speed) if I implement Bandwidth allocation and fix back haul tower issues. I have read that a dedicated line will allow lower connection speed because you are actually getting what you pay for...

my concern is buying 50-100mbps dedicated will eat 1/2 of the wisp's income (potential of $60/mn * 70 client = $4,200/mn) and I still will need to have income to pay him for buying it. I do not know what hardware he has yet and am trying to do due diligence to find out if I even want to go down this road.

advise suggestions ect please comment

My advice is to start out small. If the system is sharing 2Mbps now (barely), start off with 10-20Mbps rather than 50. One of my customers is a fellow WISP and he has just under 100 folks on, same lack of QoS, everyone just gets on and wish you the best of luck. He gets 25Mbps from me, averages about 15Mbps.

My advice is to start out small. If the system is sharing 2Mbps now (barely), start off with 10-20Mbps rather than 50. One of my customers is a fellow WISP and he has just under 100 folks on, same lack of QoS, everyone just gets on and wish you the best of luck. He gets 25Mbps from me, averages about 15Mbps.

like he said.. start with 20m and go from there...
was just like you started with 8m them moved to 2x 24m and now i have 1gbe connection (clients increased)

If you can find in Sacramento or somewhere around much cheaper internet then you could build some wireless links to transport that connection to your location. It would be much cheaper than pay one year for that 2k service.You could even try to use a best-effort home fttx connection if it's much cheaper and offers lot of bandwidth. And, with the right mikrotik equipment you can succesfully transport 100mbit over a few 10-s of kilometers (I am thinking about netmetals or metal 5).
I mean for 2000$ you can get for example:
129$ 1x mANT 30 PA
39$ 1x radome kit (recommended, but not essential)
169$ 1x netmetal 5
13$ various other bits
--------------------
350$ multiplied by 2 for a link = 700$
So if we take the difference between 5mbit and 100mbit that's roughly 2000$, for the first month you can buy almost 3 full links.
Of course, you need to find one, two, or three intermediary locations with good visibility and fresnel zone clearance (Very important!!!), obtain permits to install your equipment there, invest in some poles, sort out the power supply (you can use solar panels with batteries, there is a lot of documentation on the internet about them and they work).

I would definitely go this way, and you'll see that in the long run it's well worth the initial work required and investment. In the process, you can maybe expand in other locations too along your links.

My business benefited greatly by the fact that I could carry cheap bandwidth in zones where it wasn't available at the time. Needless to say that mikrotik was and is a central point in allowing me to do that, even from the RouterOS 2.x versions an cm9 wireless cards

for a quick search i found out that verizon has a FiOS Quantum 75/75 Mbps Internet for 75$ a month.
That would be a pretty good upgrade to the currently available connection if it would be available in Sacramneto and you could transport it to your location wirelessly.

JetJosh - If you're serious about buying this WISP and replacing the internet feed, PM me. I have access to wholesale fiber and transit in the Pacific Northwest, and can help you out.