Looking to start WISP

[limegorilla]

Hi!
I am looking on information on how to start a WISP in a pretty rural community. I live on an island where much of it is on a extremely fast speed of... 54kbs. however the captital (about 10km away) has fibre. in fact, the nearest fibre line is around 5km away. Could i use this for a network??? I am, i'll admit a newbie. However - even if i need more experience, telling me where i can get that experience would help (please?!?!)

I live on Lanzarote (Costa Teguiese to be presise), one of the canary islands. Currently we have one WISP provider - JMA internet solutions ( internetlanzarote.com ) but they have bad contracts (45€ per month is 8mb down 1,2 up) and bad reliability. I want to have a small scale, reliable network - for the start just in Costa. So what gear would i need, budget...???

thanks for any help.

[Lurick]

Just off the top of my head I can tell that without even delving into the equipment you'd need to start something like this you're looking at a budget of anywhere from maybe $500K US to several million dollars and beyond just to get the basics started. You'll have to pay to have fiber trenches dug, fiber installed, terminated, etc. to different points. There are also monthly fees to interconnect with the backbone ISP as well. Even a few kilometers from the capital to your location could cost tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, and then you'll have to go from that point to branch out to the different areas. You'll need in-depth knowledge of network design/implementation, QoS, wireless protocols, security and management just to get even the basics started. Then you'll need to pay for the proper gear, which isn't something you buy off ebay for $100 or anything, you're talking enterprise grade equipment which can get really expensive, fast., plus support contracts for when something goes wrong. You'll need to have proper infrastructure in place to handle call volume for support from the customers as well and hire people who know what they are doing.

[limegorilla]

11 minutes ago, Lurick said:

Just off the top of my head I can tell that without even delving into the equipment you'd need to start something like this you're looking at a budget of anywhere from maybe $500K US to several million dollars and beyond just to get the basics started. You'll have to pay to have fiber trenches dug, fiber installed, terminated, etc. to different points. There are also monthly fees to interconnect with the backbone ISP as well. Even a few kilometers from the capital to your location could cost tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, and then you'll have to go from that point to branch out to the different areas. You'll need in-depth knowledge of network design/implementation, QoS, wireless protocols, security and management just to get even the basics started. Then you'll need to pay for the proper gear, which isn't something you buy off ebay for $100 or anything, you're talking enterprise grade equipment which can get really expensive, fast., plus support contracts for when something goes wrong. You'll need to have proper infrastructure in place to handle call volume for support from the customers as well and hire people who know what they are doing.

what about somthing like UNIFI mesh technology from ubnt?

 

[brwainer]

6 minutes ago, liamdoyle27 said:

what about somthing like UNFI from ubnt?

 

That is what you can use for the actual wireless part of the system (ubiquiti and Mikrotik are the two main competitors in the WISP hardware market) but having the wireless gear is only a small fraction of the work of starting an ISP. If you want to get started on this:

1. Find out how to incorporate a business in your country and start talking to lawyers

2. Start talking to the backbone ISPs in your market for quotes on fiber internet. Enterprise fiber connections with SLAs in the US can range from $0.50/Mbps (in datacenters) to $20+/Mbps (if there is a lot of construction required and that construction is being spread out over a 3 or 5 year contract - by the way, you are going to be making a multi-year agreement that will have early cancellation penalties of up to 100% of the remaining monthly fees)

[limegorilla]

Just now, brwainer said:

That is what you can use for the actual wireless part of the system (ubiquiti and Mikrotik are the two main competitors in the WISP hardware market) but having the wireless gear is only a small fraction of the work of starting an ISP. If you want to get started on this:

1. Find out how to incorporate a business in your country and start talking to lawyers

2. Start talking to the backbone ISPs in your market for quotes on fiber internet. Enterprise fiber connections with SLAs in the US can range from $0.50/Mbps (in datacenters) to $20+/Mbps (if there is a lot of construction required and that construction is being spread out over a 3 or 5 year contract - by the way, you are going to be making a multi-year agreement that will have early cancellation penalties of up to 100% of the remaining monthly fees)

Who would my backbone ISP be? Telefonica/O2/Movistar (whatever you want to call them) are installing fibre lines now - so they would be who i talk to? And how do i get in contact with them?

[brwainer]

Just now, liamdoyle27 said:

Who would my backbone ISP be? Telefonica/O2/Movistar (whatever you want to call them) are installing fibre lines now - so they would be who i talk to? And how do i get in contact with them?

I have no idea who the main ISPs are outside of the US. But generally, just look at their website for an Enterprise Sales division, or call their business sales division and ask about enterprise services. The difference is that small business services don't have an SLA, and enterprise generally does (but you should always make sure it's covered in writing)

[limegorilla]

2 minutes ago, brwainer said:

I have no idea who the main ISPs are outside of the US. But generally, just look at their website for an Enterprise Sales division, or call their business sales division and ask about enterprise services. The difference is that small business services don't have an SLA, and enterprise generally does (but you should always make sure it's covered in writing)

thanks

[Erkel]

First thing I would recommend is get out of here, (no offence to the other users)  Jump over to the mikrotik and Ubiquiti forums and websites and spend some serious  time doing research,  Then depending on the scale dear I say, Talk to a grown up.  With respect to business planning etc.  

 

If only small scale and you can support it yourself, and have it grow organically, it largely comes down to getting your antenna sites setup,   You need a mast on something high to act as your distribution point and line of site to your fibre source site and line of site to your clients.

 

There is realistically maybe 400hr of research if you are serious.  The big thing to remember is that it is traditionally a very tight margin and competitive industry, so do not expect it to make you lots of money,  Build something basic to start that you can fund and support yourself, then build it from there.   

 

 

With respect to budget anywhere from $2K-$20K depend on how serious you want to start out. Consider it a hobby / project to start  ie do not quit your day job lol