Frequently asked questions

Table of contents

Q:   What is a Wireless Community Network?

A:  It starts with two or more people in a town or village who want to share files or bandwidth (usually to share bandwidth and costs).  In the past, you would have had to hard-wire the two sites up with cable, making it very difficult to link more than a couple homes together.  Now, you can connect via wireless networking cards and fixed antennae and purchase bandwidth in greater quantities for local distribution.  The more people that want access, the better!  Resources can be shared, bandwidth can be purchased at reduced costs, and incremented as required.  Off-the-shelf WiFi network cards and Access Points (APs) can be purchased with external antenna jacks.  Directional antennae can be mounted to your rooftop, loft, or window which can connect to another AP several kilometers away.   It's a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and is now proving to be a very effective solution to the problem of gaining Internet access in areas the phone lines can't cover.

Planet802 have taken the concept of grass-roots community driven networks, to a new level. We are making it easier to get your community online. If you can see one of our base stations, or if you are in a covered area and require a high-speed broadband connection, we can get a local network going in a few weeks, with a minimum of people. Usually with just 8 people signed up will get you your first connection! We provide high quality equipment which makes for robust and reliable broadband access. Our formula works and our customer know it.

Q:   Why?

A:  Planet802 usually focus our attention on areas where there is no BT or Cable access to Broadband.  We believe that Broadband should be available and affordable, but the Telcos are not investing in the infrastructure and artificially inflating prices in order to protect their industry. The UK have some of the highest wholesale bandwidth prices in the world. Planet802 can provide wholesale Internet bandwidth for a multiple user network in the form of a wireless 'Hotspot'.    Tariffs for individuals will be competitive with BT (extremely competitive with BT SDSL), and bandwidth will ultimately be greater.  It is also a far superior quality link than anything else we have tried. Our carrier supplies us with fully synchronous links via Leased line. There is also a greater movement in many parts of the UK (and the world) in which communities are starting to provide their own networks.  Similar to the way the internet evolved from the ground up and has no central governing body, so it is with community wireless networking.  This has partly been made possible by the popularity of 802.11b wireless networking class of products being standardized, mass produced and priced affordably for the consumer. Historically this type of technology was only available to military, government and corporate agencies who could afford to put in dedicated microwave links. Now it is freely available and requires no licensing whatsoever for the home user.

Q:   So what do I need?

A:  A PC would be a good start, with an available ethernet port, PCI slot, or a USB port.  A laptop can be preferable if located within 100 meters. Wireless network cards usually come as USB, PCI, or PCMCIA .  Some cabling.  Probably a ladder, and an antenna if your going to install it yourself.  Or the phone number of a good Sky Satellite installer.  We can provide third party installation if necessary. If you live very near to an Access Point (like if it sits just outside your bedroom window) you can use a laptop with a PCMCIA card or built in WiFi type cards as the new Centrino specs. Or a USB card for your PC. If you are looking for a solid, dependable and Planet802 supported connection, you should stick with our recommended SmartBridge customer equipment. It provides Telco Class connection at consumer prices. For any DIY connection we can supply a bridge for you, and even pre configure it for your local network. .... A little bit of PC know-how is going to be useful also, but that is not always necessary. Our new Home Broadband rates includes complete configuration for you so you don't have to worry about it.

Q:   How much does it cost?

A:  If you buy your own equipment to take advantage of our WiFi prices, the initial outlay is almost directly relational to your distance to the local Hotspot. Within a couple hundred meters, you could spend from £50 up to £150 for a good quality bridge. Include an outdoor antenna and your looking at another £35 for cabling and mounting. If you want an all-in-one box that's easy to install and configure, the airBridge Total is our top end model at £219 - just bolt it to an outside wall in view of the AP, and cable to your PC.   Check out our Community Network kits here. Planet802 are now offering a fixed installation price of £79.00 (even lower prices in certain areas with special promotions!) with our Broadband Home package (£24.50 mo.). We install and configure all equipment, and since we own it, we also maintain and support it. You get great service without the hassle of managing your own equipment. Access to the local network is always free, and once the network settles in, and the initial infrastructure is paid for, we will set up a free WiFi community access package as well for light users.  Anyone volunteering to house new Access points, would of course get reduced rate connection.  Any business contributions of financial support or bandwidth are also welcome and will have a direct result on local tariffs and bandwidth.

Q:   What kind of bandwidth would we have?

A:  The first people who get connected in a new community will likely be sharing a 1Mb peak rate link.  This is not a leased line, but a 15-1 business SDSL quality link to the Internet.  This is usually suitable up to 20 users. At that stage, if we need to, we put in more gateways as required.   The network can have it's own services such as connection to schools, internal web servers, access to "limited" bandwidth and free public hotspots.

Q:   I am a gamer, is it fast enough to be competitive in online game rooms?

A:  Absolutely.  Not only fast enough, but much better than ADSL.  We have lower ping times (usually 16ms to the gateway).  We are have symmetrical bandwidth - meaning upload speeds are the same as download speeds so unlike ADSL or cable where your upload is usually only a fraction of your download speed you can send at the same rate you receive.  Because almost 50% of our customers are gamers, we are constantly trying to improve the gaming experience, keeping it faster even during peak usage by building intelligent queuing into our routers.  The idea being that games / video / voice over IP (internet phones) are all time sensitive applications, so traffic generated by these applications gets priority access through any queues on the link.  This usually goes unnoticed by users who are downloading since they would not notice a few extra seconds on a 5 minute download.  We also like to keep web pages at the front of the queue as well, there's nothing more frustrating than having to wait for the web to refresh just because Bill is downloading his favorite Robbie Williams single. We have tested Playstation2 on our wireless networks successfully with:  Tony Hawk Pro skater3/PS4/Underground, Socom/Socom II, Online Hardware Arena, Fire warrior, and Demolition Derby Arena We are currently testing various Xbox games with no reported problems to date. We have also tested with a large number of PC games, and have found most work right out of the box, some might need new configuration, or ports forwarded on the router (which we are usually happy to do), and so far we have had no negative feedback on any games.  (users please correct me if I am unaware of any problems with PC games)

Q:   What kind of equipment do we use, and where do we get it?

A:  If you are looking to gain access through one of our WiFi hotspots, and get the WiFi hotspot monthly rates, we recommend going to www.thewirelessnetworkshop.co.uk and visiting our community Kits section. There you will find a variety of WiFi cards, USB adapters as well as Professional outdoor units to gain access with. If you live very nearby (within 100 meters) you will likely only need a PC card for your laptop, or a USB card for your desktop. The more distance between your and our Hotspot the better the equipment you will need. We always recommend Smartbridge airBridges for best quality and easiest to manage connections. If you are looking for the best link possible, we recommend the airBridge Total Pro which we sell for £219. They are easy to install yourself, easy for us to support, and give the best signal and reception we have seen for the money.

Q:   When can I get going?

A:  Check the status of you local network by finding your community or local WiFi spot here: If there is no spot available in your community, and you think you might want one, email us here:  

Q:   What is contention, and what kind of contention will we have?

A:  When BT or cable open Broadband up for their customers, they allocate a 1Mb line for use by a certain maximum number of users. BT put 50 people sharing a (1Mb download, 256K upload) line. Telewest put 30 people sharing a (512k download, 128k upload). A very common misconception about Broadband is that the 512k or 1Mb line will be dedicated specifically to each user. This is not true. That is called a leased line and costs many thousands of pounds to install and maintain annually. Remember, contention is only a Maximum number of users that can be contending at any given time. So, what usually happens is those first people to get onto a new service find it extremely fast. Each new user that is added to the service has the potential to slow it down even more. Simply being connected does not use bandwidth. Downloading web pages and files does. Keep in mind, that for most people, there is often more time spent reading web pages than actually downloading them. So.. with this in mind, contention can vary for each line. If you have 50 people who are light users, only browsing the occasional web site and downloading emails, it is likely that the users would not notice each other too much unless there are many online at once. the flip side of this is, 5 users attempting to download music, movies or video conferencing at the same time can really slow the bandwidth down. For our bigger networks, we use a 1mb 5-1 contention line fed into the village/industrial estate. We utilize smart traffic management so web pages, emails, and always take priority and users rarely notice the contention. From that 1mb line, we try to put no more than 20 users in total on the local network. We have no hard set rules as to how many users can share a line, we simply ask the user base to monitor the speeds, and upgrade lines and equipment as necessary to ensure that it always flows freely. We currently have only one village in a BT enabled area, and one user running them side by side. Here is what he has to say about them both:

"I have still been carrying out speed test's on both my BT broadband and the wireless network and the wireless network still comes out on top . if you want to test the network yourself go to www.adslguide.org.uk and run their free speed test! or you can email me for the results i have recorded over the last few months " spence (at NOSPAM) btopenworld.com - Replace the (at NOSPAM) with @ in the above email address.

Q:   Are there any health issues with Wireless Broadband?

A:  Yes. If you are installing your own roof-mounted external antenna, be careful not to slip off your roof, or you could get seriously hurt. Other than that, all equipment used by the 802.11 standard has been deemed safe for public use by almost all world governing bodies. In the US, it is legal for unlicensed users to broadcast with up to 4 watts. In Europe we have a limit of 1/10th of a watt, or 100mw total output at the antenna. compared to a mobile phone, which can use up to 2 watts power, and mobile phone base stations which can use up to 20 watts power, we are just a drop in the ocean. Most people are unaware of all the microwaves bouncing around us anyway. you have mobile phones in every house. cordless DEC phones, geo-stationary satellites broadcasting from the heavens, traffic management controls on the roads, BBC broadcasts over the airwaves (not TV, but direct broadcast of live sporting events etc.), and about a million other signals bouncing around us at any given time.

Q:   It will never work.

A: It works for BBC Live sporting broadcasts, It has been working for the military for years. and it works for Seattlewireles.net, Bay area Wireless, New York Wireless, and the City of London which has recently been covered completely in Wi-fi hotspots to provide full coverage. It works for them, why not us? It works for SKY, it works for Intel Centrino - they are selling millions of their products. And, it is currently working in Shenstone, and several other villages and Business Parks in the Midlands - so why not you?. WiFi sales and hotspots are growing exponentially each year. Astronomical growth means that somewhere, someone is doing something right, or it wouldn't have lasted nearly this long. This type of network is not without it's own set of problems: new equipment is being produced so fast, there is little testing by the manufacturers, so some equipment can be buggy and be prone to failures. Anyone in the IT industry will tell you a new implementation of any new system has bugs. Planet802 ensure quality network connections and very high network uptime by using only the best quality equipment on the market. We choose our suppliers particularly based on reliability, quality control, build and manufacturing consistency and cost-effectiveness of the equipment for the application. The formula we use has been forged by the efforts of years of experience in communications and ensures we have the edge over the newcomers to the industry by way of reliability and dependability.

Q:   No thanks, I'm going to wait for 'real' broadband.

A:  If your village has wireless broadband now, and you are in an area that is scheduled for ADSL enablement, you can sign up for wireless today, and if you try it for 90 days and still aren't satisfied with it, we'll convert you to an equivelent ADSL package for no extra charge. And remember, all our wireless packages offer 30 day contracts and on-site installation to help get you online that first time.

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