Comment by Forbo | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Forbo | Hacker News Reader

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Satellite, 4G and microwave connections are poor substitutes for a wired connection. The sheer amount of latency and packet loss makes them not even an option for my connection. I would hardly call them competitive. For a wired connection, I have precisely one option: Comcast.

Even if latency and packet loss weren't an issue for my use, there are additional restrictions that come in to play. For instance, my HOA doesn't allow any satellite dishes or microwave antennae to be mounted in the neighborhood. While petitioning my HOA for change would be much easier than trying to petition for national legislation, why should those companies be allowed to divvy service areas like gangs agreeing to stay out of each others' "turf"?

A duopoly is no better than a monopoly for all intents and purposes. It creates the illusion of choice. ISP A sucks at this, this and this, whereas ISP B sucks at that, that and that. There's a voting analogy to be made there, but let's try to stick to the topic at hand....

Point-to-point microwave latency should be the same as fiber latency at the same distance.

Multipoint systems used by most WISPs are TDMA-based and should have a fixed latency well below 10ms depending on how many active users are on a cell.

HOAs aren't allowed to prohibit antennas under 1 meter in diameter per OTARD [ http://www.fcc.gov/guides/over-air-reception-devices-rule] You should educate your board and contact the FCC if they balk.

> Point-to-point microwave latency should be the same as fiber latency at the same distance.

Actually, it's often less because the microwave travels in a straight line while the fiber has to follow the utility poles or trenches (which often aren't in a straight line due to right of way issues). High frequency traders performing latency arbitrage use microwave dishes instead of fiber because it's a fraction of a second faster than using fiber connections on a cross-country connection.

Microwave dish systems are, however, a nightmare to support because transmission can be affected by the weather, birds, and a whole lot of other things. They also aren't very high bandwidth, and if you have a lot of dishes that means a lot of interference. I'd say they're perfectly fine for things like extending your LAN to your cabin up on a mountaintop, but not great tech to run an ISP off of (though people still try).

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