[urgent] Need help with ISP negotiation!!!!

[Psop]

Yesterday a guy from an ISP that mainly deals with other companies (not individual costumers) came to our house to check it if it would be a suitable position to place an antenna.  Apparently big enterprise near by our house has struck a deal with this ISP and the ISP probably wanted an elevated location where there's clear visibility of that company so they can route the signal to them (that particular ISP mainly uses wireless technology).  The roof of our house is a perfect location for that, our house is located at the top of a small hill and it has the added bonus of a very good view of a small town where there might be potential costumers to that ISP.

 

Our current Internet connection is of very low quality.  We have an ADSL connection but because we are located in a very sparsely populated area, our ISP hasn't bothered to place a node close by our house, as you may know with ADSL connections the further you are from the node, the weaker gets the signal inside the wire.  Even though our contract mentions a 24 Mbit/s connection we can hardly reach speeds close to 1 Mbit/s.  If we are lucky it may sit at 300 Kbit/s but many times the connection drops a lot lower or is cut entirely, especially if there's bad weather, also the latency is very high.

 

That guy that I mentioned at the beginning told us that if we allow them to place the antenna on top of our roof the they will pay us a monthly rent and they will allow us to use their Internet service and have an Internet connection with 10 Mbit/s downstream and 5 Mbit/s upstream.  My mother is concerned about the possible radiation emitted by the antenna but I'm not as due to being web developer I've done enough research into networks (when I was studying the Internet protocols) and wireless technologies to know there's no serious danger. She called a family friend and he told her that because the radiation is very high from those antennas the ISPs pay very high rent (15.000 Euros or more per month) to the houses they install them on.  I find the fact that they pay so high rent quite hard to believe but then again I have no idea for how much I should negotiate as I don't know the economics of that ISP. Another thing that I'd want to negotiate is the bandwidth, I would like at least 30 Mbit/s downstream and 10 Mbit/s upstream so that I can stream netflix in Ultra HD and just in case I want to in the future, stream myself.  Also it would be very helpful if I could negotiate with them to allow me to set up my own server, by that I don't mean any technical support for the server, I just mean that it would be legal for me to set up the server myself without any or minimal support from the ISP and have it on the same connection as my home Internet connection.  I don't plan to use that server for any heavy commercial stuff, just for things like IRC, testing Internet applications that I build and for getting experience with setting up servers.  I'm very bad at negotiating so that's why I ask for your help for tips and suggestions on negotiating with an ISP and for how much should I ask for (bandwidth, rent money, ability to set up server, etc.)

[brwainer]

6 hours ago, Psop said:

Yesterday a guy from an ISP that mainly deals with other companies (not individual costumers) came to our house to check it if it would be a suitable position to place an antenna.  Apparently big enterprise near by our house has struck a deal with this ISP and the ISP probably wanted an elevated location where there's clear visibility of that company so they can route the signal to them (that particular ISP mainly uses wireless technology).  The roof of our house is a perfect location for that, our house is located at the top of a small hill and it has the added bonus of a very good view of a small town where there might be potential costumers to that ISP.

 

Our current Internet connection is of very low quality.  We have an ADSL connection but because we are located in a very sparsely populated area, our ISP hasn't bothered to place a node close by our house, as you may know with ADSL connections the further you are from the node, the weaker gets the signal inside the wire.  Even though our contract mentions a 24 Mbit/s connection we can hardly reach speeds close to 1 Mbit/s.  If we are lucky it may sit at 300 Kbit/s but many times the connection drops a lot lower or is cut entirely, especially if there's bad weather, also the latency is very high.

 

That guy that I mentioned at the beginning told us that if we allow them to place the antenna on top of our roof the they will pay us a monthly rent and they will allow us to use their Internet service and have an Internet connection with 10 Mbit/s downstream and 5 Mbit/s upstream.  My mother is concerned about the possible radiation emitted by the antenna but I'm not as due to being web developer I've done enough research into networks (when I was studying the Internet protocols) and wireless technologies to know there's no serious danger. She called a family friend and he told her that because the radiation is very high from those antennas the ISPs pay very high rent (15.000 Euros or more per month) to the houses they install them on.  I find the fact that they pay so high rent quite hard to believe but then again I have no idea for how much I should negotiate as I don't know the economics of that ISP. Another thing that I'd want to negotiate is the bandwidth, I would like at least 30 Mbit/s downstream and 10 Mbit/s upstream so that I can stream netflix in Ultra HD and just in case I want to in the future, stream myself.  Also it would be very helpful if I could negotiate with them to allow me to set up my own server, by that I don't mean any technical support for the server, I just mean that it would be legal for me to set up the server myself without any or minimal support from the ISP and have it on the same connection as my home Internet connection.  I don't plan to use that server for any heavy commercial stuff, just for things like IRC, testing Internet applications that I build and for getting experience with setting up servers.  I'm very bad at negotiating so that's why I ask for your help for tips and suggestions on negotiating with an ISP and for how much should I ask for (bandwidth, rent money, ability to set up server, etc.)

Here are my thoughts on this:

 

If the antenna is to be on the roof of your house, you should demand that they purchase insurance protecting the roof from damages, both during and after the installation.

 

You should be able to negotiate any internet speed from them that you desire. They should be either using microwave PtP or bringing in a good wired connection. If there is any concern over cost, just figure out with them what the fair price of that speed would be and deduct it from whatever the rent is.

 

There is nothing "legal" about running a server. The only reason you can't do it on a consumer connection is that the contract you sign for the service says you won't. Just let them know, when you are negotiating the speed and the price, that you want a public, static IPv4 address, and you plan to use it for business purposes, and double check that your contract doesn't forbid server/business use.

 

15,000 euros is around what they pay to put a giant cell tower in the middle of a crowded city. In a rural setting, I would expect more like 500-1000 euros. I've even heard of rates as low as $100 being a starting point.

 

When people talk about dangerous levels of radiation, they are normally talking about TV or radio towers, which broadcast in all directions. A WISP is going to be using directional antennas, also called segment antennas. I would ask them what frequency and power they are using, and the types of antennas. If you are concerned you should contact your country's version of the FCC. There are strict regulations over the signal strength for broadcasts, dependent on the frequency.

[dr_sepheroth]

Radiation is not an issue, the level of radioactive particle fallout and energy emission from these types of antennas is so low that despite the fact they are using microwave antennas, these things barely heat the air around them, let alone the cells of your body. 

If you are worried ask the guy from the ISP if you can have a look at another site wear an antenna is an operation. Take along a geiger counter and measure the radiation level yourself.

 

Second thing to consider, if there was really that much danger from radiation companies would not be allowed to put these antennas anywear near populated areas or in places wear there are wildlife. 

Effectively companies would not be allowed to use them unless they were in special buildings with built in radiation insolation. 

 

The fact that they are offering such a high rent is because the size of these things is huge, and they can be an eye saw. Also the rent offer is high because once it is installed and you sign the contract you are no longer able to have any construction work done to your property without consulting the company that owns the antenna and the isp that uses the antenna.