On Fri, Feb 26, 2010 at 4:34 PM, Michael Sokolov <msokolov@ivan.harhan.org> wrote:
That got me thinking: ISDN/IDSL and T1 can be extended infinitely far into the boondocks because those signal formats support repeaters. What I'm wondering is how can we do the same thing with SDSL - and I mean politically rather than technically. The technical part is easy: some COs already have CLECs in them that serve G.shdsl (I've been told that NEN does that) and for G.shdsl repeaters are part of the standard (searching around shows a few vendors making them); in the case of SDSL/2B1Q (Covad and DSL.net) there is no official support for repeaters and hence no major vendors making such, but I can build such a repeater unofficially.
The difficulty is with the political part, and that's where I'm seeking the wisdom of this list. How would one go about sticking a mid-span repeater into an ILEC-owned 31 kft rural loop?
You wouldn't. The ILECs have resisted doing that sort of thing tooth and nail. They may not want to sell you service yet but they don't want anyone else to get a foot in the door while they get around to it. However, if it really is a 31kft copper loop all the way back to the CO and not to a closer vault (try driving the wire path to find out) you may be able to knock on a few doors in the middle around the 15kft point, make a new friend, order a DSL in the middle, order an "alarm circuit" or "dry copper pair" from the 15kft point to you and run your own signal over the alarm circuit. Your terrain may also be a factor. Rolling hills and 3-story trees make wireless hard but if you can see rooftops near the CO with binoculars from your rooftop, amplifying an 802.11 signal for a 6-mile transmission is a walk in the park. Probably not helpful in western Mass, but possible in southern CA. Regards, Bill Herrin -- William D. Herrin ................ herrin@dirtside.com bill@herrin.us 3005 Crane Dr. ...................... Web: <http://bill.herrin.us/> Falls Church, VA 22042-3004