I was wondering if this would be a wise investment. I have been saving my money for a big DLP tv for a while now. But I am not so sure I want to spend 800 bucks on a tv! I mean wow it would be nice to have that nice HD picture and 56 inches of fun.

But then I came across this idea of buying a wifi or wireless repeater system. I have this water tower on the farm that was built in the 1940's along with the farm. Its like a landmark. I will get a picture here soon.

Anyways its like 60 or 70 feet high I estimate. We dont use it anymore.

I thought about buying the wireless repeater and sticking it on the tower. Then I would get a DSL line ran to the tower and connect it to the box to send the signal everywhere with a multidirectonal antenna.

That high in the air and the land being descently flat it could go for over 10 miles in all directions if not further.

The system may cost anywhere from 400-600 bucks to set up plus 40 bucks a month for DSL internet.

I have been wanting fast internet for a while but I just dont want to spend the money on it. But with this I could get internet anywhere within 10 miles or so and I could use one of those skype phones to keep in contact here on the farm.

We did use two way radios on the farm but they were not as simple to use because they did not plug in like a wifi phone would. I mean we can get cordless wifi phones too.

We could use skype with all the people on the farm and talk to each other for free and call regular phones for only 30 bucks a year with skype.

I might could even sell internet service but that would be later after I tested the range and everything.

Do you think it would be a good investment to do this? A cell phone bill at 45 bucks a month for a year would be about what this would cost to set up.

I like the idea. A 10 mile range would be good for us even 3 miles would be fine.

So basically you are asking us to evaluate your needs versus your wants. You "want" a TV. Your farm "needs" better more economical communications.

Pretty easy decision in my opinion.

Couple of other things to ponder.

You will not be able to resell any portion of your DSL service. DSL/ISP providers do not appreciate you making a profit, in any way, with their bandwidth.

at about $200.00USD each, so there goes half your budget of $800.00

Will the DSL provider even allow your application of their bandwidth? The ideas you have may not fit within their TOS agreement. If it does you may be required to purchase a "business" rated service agreement and it will be beyond your budget.

Be (Flights of Fantasy) Safe

Da Bleepin AniMod, Animal

How about having your cake, and eating it too?

You can actually make money instead of spending the money.

Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and a host of other cell phone companies are paying people that have that height span and allowing them to put network equipment up (to fill in the dead zones). Many churches all over the US have joined in on this trend. Many churches now have networks in the "steeple" (The pointy top of the church). They're hollow inside of them, and since they're high enough to broadcast/receive signals, they get (I believe hundreds or thousands of extra dollars coming in every month) from those carriers.

I would definitely look into it. If you have any dead zones around where you're at, you may be sitting on a gold mine.

I saw this on the news months ago. It may have been 60 Minutes or 20/20 or something like that. But they're paying just to have their networks connecting better and better, and you make a good candidate to approach them about it.

Out of curiosity, what equipment would you be using that would go for ten miles? Even with a larger antenna I don't think a regular G router would do it, not unless you put in a 3rd party firmware and cranked up the signal strength to 120% or so.

Well Animal I read somewhere you can sell internet service by buying it from like a telephone co. or something. I know I read it thats where I got the idea.

Well we dont HAVE to have either the tv or the phone service. Both are wants but one would serve all of us better not just me. Its my own budget that will go into this unless the rest of the family see's it as a worthy investment.

How does cafe's go about selling internet service if you cant sell internet? Like you have to buy something then they give you the password for the day to access there network. MCdonals does this too. Its not free you have to pay for it.

I plan to look into all the info about my internet provider and see what they can offer me.

This is no regular g router. This is a high powered buisness device. Its a repeater just like a router.

This is a site that sells some of them. They make one model that goes over 10 miles.

http://www.sputnik.com/products/aps/ap210.html

If I cant sell in any way or form internet(I wish I could) then I wont do it. But it would be nice just for myself.

Anyways here is a pic of the old tower.

I would wait for Laser TV's. They are supposed to be cheaper and more energy efficient than LCD or Plasma HDTV's. Secondly, the makers of the Laser TV chip claim that Laser T.V.'s can produce 90% of the image that the unaided human eye can see. Whereas, the current top of the line only allow you to see 35% of what the human unaided eye can see.

Laser TV unveiled

They said laser tvs are many years away. The idea has been out for a couple of years now. They wont just stop with lcd and plasma technology for a new one or it would be a loss to them. They are coming out with some new stuff for lcd and plasma along with dlp anyways. 1 million to one contrast ratio is one of them!

heres a thought wait awhile on the TV prices should drop once the government Implements its HD broadcasting system (and completely does away with analog broadcasting. think about it in the early years air bags were an expensive accessory for a car once the government mandated them in all cars they became a relatively cheap Item. the same thing will hapen to HDTvs .

I might just do that or until I find a nice DLP with high contrast and full 1080p resolution I like.

Update on the internet selling.

I have been using google earth to scope the landscape around me. It seems I am a lot higher than most all of the land within at least 10 miles. It gets a lot higher when it goes towards the mountains but anywhere the other direction it just keeps getting lower(going towards the ocean).

I think I am going to have to get a t1 line from my phone co. to resell internet. The FCC classifies selling internet over the airwaves as non monitored. If my phone co. will not get me t1 I will have to get it via sattelite. The cost for t1 (I got a online quote when I typed in my zip) is close to 600 a month. With a 1-3 year contract.

I am working with a dealer for the system. Once I get a quote for the price of the system(the tower would be the most expensive part but I already have it) I will then move on to advertising and asking if its needed by the local people around me. You know find out the demand BEFORE buying the
equipment. You dont put the buggy before the horse ha ha.

If there is a high demand of lets say 50 customers or more within my range that want it I will set the system up but I may settle for less(25-30 or according to what I need to make a profit each month).

PS

I climbed the tower again the other day. I got almost to the top of the ladder. There is no need to hit the top step really cause it just makes it harder to get down. Its scary up there! I can see for like 20 miles I bet. As we are the highest in the area(google earth says 703 at ground level). Its a lot higher once you are up there. When you are on a ladder I guess its a little scary. If I buy the system its going to take a lot for me just to climb up there and mount the antenna ha ha.

if you really want to wisely invest your money, forgo 'wants' and 'needs'. take it from a young adult (25), i wish i would have taken every penny i ever earned and invested in silver. granted, the price of silver has not shot up dramatically, but it will. silver is one of the most widely used precious metals in medicine. look at a tube of burn medicine.

make your money make money for you. and if i interpret you correctly, you are fairly young. thus land would also make a very good investment. some property you could rent out/live in while at school. it is the one thing they aren't making any more of.

i know i sound preachy, but i truly wish i would have saved and invested my money rather than satisfy material wants.

do what you will, you seem like an intelligent person with ambition. make your money make money for you. IMHO

Yes I am young (17).

Me and my dad plan to go through with this. Its going to cost like 610 dollars on my end to set it up and test it.

If anything I will have a huge network all to myself in my local towns.

If it doesnt work out I can return it but with a 20% restocking fee so it wont be a total loss.

I have a technician guy I know who sells the product I have talked to on the phone and he has gave me all the info I need. He sells and builds networks in his state of montanna.

Its really a very straight foward system. I have the tower and the high elevation on my side.

He said start off small and go from there. With a t1 I could serve up to 100 people he said. With a t3(about 2000-3000 a month) I could serve like 1000 or more!

I know its a big dream but the cell phone companies started somewhere. I dont care if it stays small as long as I can make some money and help people get fast internet.

i apologize, i misinterpreted your intentions. big Duh! kudos to you for trying to provide something that will service others, as well as service you.

i only suggested the other investments because, when Peak Oil comes to fruition, simplicity will sweep the nation.

but very groovy, work for yourself. do you know where from in Montana? i lived there for quite a while.

cheers

I am not sure really. If you type in his name in google it may tell you.
Jim patient.