---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <19b64a58-afa4-29ef-19bf-aa5798d0aa87@jacksons.net> Date: 24 Oct 2020 14:18:41 -0400 From: "Chuck Jackson" <clj@remove-this.jacksons.net> Subject: Question re microwave link On 10/24/2020 5:30 AM, Steve Marguess wrote: > The tower cost about $30K for materials and subcontracted services > (permits, geotechnical survey, crane rental). I saved another $30K (at > least) by doing all the erection myself, from foundation excavation and > pour to tower assembly (many manweeks of labor). If I had just written > a check I think it would have cost me at least $70K. The full process, > from getting the permit (non-trivial), the engineered design and > fabrication, foundation prep and assembly and erection, spanned a good > year and a half. Note I already owned a backhoe and forklift, both of > which were essential and heavily utilized. Also tools like a transit, > also essential. > > That sounds expensive, and it was, but my company paid for it as a > business expense and keep in mind I was paying over $7K a year for the > T1 line. So payback is (counting my own labor as free) only about five > years. That's assuming the T1 service was viable, which at that point > it wasn't. > > The WISP I'm using via the tower charges me $80 a month for 10Mb service > (up and down), which has been pretty solid. > > An additional significant bonus was that I put a cellular repeater on > the top of the tower, and for the first time ever cell phones are now > usable in the house (not in the yard, unfortunately). I have some > nearby neighbors (right next door and right across the street for > instance) with a zero bar cell signal, and that's a real hassle when > POTS service isn't usable either. > > Well, I've been very pleased with how it turned out. A big gamble, in > time and effort, but it paid off. So I think I'd do it again, more or > less as-is, even knowing how much work it turned out to be. > > -Steve M. I realize that you built this a few years ago, but it seems to me that satellite service might have been a good alternative. https://order.viasatbusiness.com/s/ For $400/month ViaSat provides an (up to) 35 down/4 up service and 200 GB/month of usage---aimed at businesses. If you figure 10 hour work days and 20 work days per month, you couldn't get 200 GB through a T1. Did you consider satellite? If so, what made you choose microwave? Chuck -- Charles L. Jackson clj@jacksons.net +1 301 656 8716 ------------------------------ Message-ID: <00b4ddf3-d221-be1a-d4f8-ae4c10d12efb@billhorne.com> Date: 24 Oct 2020 19:51:47 -0400 From: Bill Horne <telecomdigestsubmissions@remove-this.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Verizon 15-day trade-in deadline? According to Verizon, trade-in must be sent in less than 15 days after "purchase". I ordered iPhone 12 on Oct 18 and it is shipping Nov 4. Do you know if it means "after the new phone arrives" or "after the order was placed"? It seems odd I have to send my trade-in before the new phone arrives. I tried to chat with Verizon but stupid web site kept kicking me out. Thanks in advance. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/verizon-15-day-trade-in-deadline.2263108/ -- Bill Horne ------------------------------ Message-ID: <868sbvqoke.fsf@telecom2018.csail.mit.edu> Date: 24 Oct 2020 21:52:33 +0000 From: Moderator <telecomdigestsubmissions@remove-this.telecom-digest.org> Subject: I turned off my phone for a day and it was the best decision I made in 2020 A day away from the internet and all those notifications can cleanse your soul. By Jerry Hildenbrand My wife likes to say that I am the internet. I work over the internet all day, I play games over the internet, and I look to the internet when it's time to settle in and watch a movie or a show. I guess she's right. But these past six months have been hell. Not just for me, but for everyone. Being cooped up inside or trying to stay six feet away from anything on two legs is stressful enough, but once you run out of things to do, you end up spending more and more time on your phone or at the computer. My wife and I decided that enough was enough and we needed to get away. https://www.androidcentral.com/my-best-day-2020-was-day-no-cell-service -- Bill Horne Telecom Digest Moderator ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Mon, 26 Oct 2020