Posted: 17th Aug, 2004 By: MarkJ
Space IP, a provider of wireless solutions for the community, has managed to cover the rural village of Garboldisham (near Thetford) in Norfolk with broadband wireless Internet access:
Space IP build network in South Norfolk
With the help of a 'connecting communitys competition' grant from the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) issued in 2003, Garboldisham and its surrounding area will benefit from broadband distributed through a LocustWorld wireless mesh network.
The wireless mesh network is fed from a satellite dish mounted on the Village Hall, providing a high speed 'backhaul' internet connection. From the Village Hall the network connects wirelessly to tower of the parish church. The Church of St John the Baptist has a prominent tower, where there are four radio aerials, mounted discretely, providing extensive cover throughout the village and beyond. From the tower the wireless signal is distributed to other mesh nodes and end-users in the community. In an area covering 3 square miles, there are currently about 20 people connected and more to follow.
Space IP has been at the forefront of using the LocustWorld mesh technology and has had a network in Sheringham, Norfolk in operation for two years. Benjamin Shrive said "after rigorous testing, we are delighted with the performance of the LocustWorld equipment. We reviewed a number of manufacturer's products including Proxim, Enterasys, Avaya and Cisco and found that both the network and end-user configuration functionality of the mesh software way exceeded that of their competitors". He went on to say that the mesh technology was easy to use and about a tenth of the overall project costs quoted by the other companies.
Thousands of wireless mesh networks are appearing all over the world as a way to extend wireless coverage and provide multi-path redundancy for enhanced network resilience. Applications for mesh networking include domestic broadband, corporate communications and municipal services. After recent announcements by BT that most exchanges will be enabled with ADSL there are still thousands unable to receive broadband from their telephone exchange as ADSL can only travel a certain distance over copper wires. Wireless Mesh is often used to extend broadband coverage from the edge of the wired network, allowing many more users to connect to broadband at a low cost.
For more information on Space IP visit http://www.spaceip.com