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Hardware

Ricochet Modems == Wireless LAN? 185

Posted by michael from the silver-lining dept.
dpease writes: "Metricom, purveyor of Ricochet wireless networking, died today. I understand that, sans infrastructure, a Ricochet wireless modem can call another Ricochet modem, and that modem-to-modem range is nearly a mile. Is the hardware this company leaves behind a viable solution for a really cool, really cheap wireless LAN?"
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Ricochet Modems == Wireless LAN? More

Ricochet Modems == Wireless LAN?

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  • I guess Baltimore does have/had a Ricochet network, so this is fairly academic, but...

    Can I/will I be able to buy one of these modems? Back home (rural Oregon), there isn't any such network, so the P2P will work.

    I figure that if they're going out of business you might be able to buy their remaining stock cheap?

  • Cheap, Long range... Here's how to do it! (Score:3, Informative)

    by Wog ( 58146 ) on Saturday August 04, 2001 @01:15AM (#2114090)
    (Keep in mind, the only ricochets I've worked with are the old 28.8's belonging to a friend. All bets are off with the new USB ones.)

    From what I've read and *seen*, these work much like landline modems. They even accept AT commands! Just tell one to "dial" the serial number of another one. If it's within, say, a mile of yours, a "ring" will happen on the other end. Just establish a PPP connection (Win98's Dial-Up server and many linux solutions will work), and you've got long range (>2 miles in good conditions), albeit slow, networking.

    The possible uses for this just make me tingle. Wirelessly controlled robots with webcams, anyone?

    Of course, I've been looking for deals on these babies on eBay, but now that the /. crowd knows of the treasure, the prices will be driven up. Argh. Any one wanting to sell me their old 28.8 serials for $15 or so, email me at p-au-l@sim-er.net (Remove hyphens)
  • I was looking at the WWC site and they sell modems on there along side the Ricochets. Would those be compatible with Ricochet in the same Peer to Peer fassion? Also, about the Boxes on the poles, they are selling them I'm guessing along with the 17 cities http://www.metricom.com/auctioninfo/index.html
    • The AirCard 400 is designed to work like a LAN card. Ricochet P2P will only work if you can send the modem AT commands. This would be difficult to do to a LAN card. However, it would work with the other ricochet models.
  • Should does work on all the older modems.
    The newer GS/GT externals should also work.
    The pcmcia cards will not work in this mode.

  • I doubt Ricochet got their frequencies for free. What band are they using? Given my knowledge of the 900 MHz band, there are only a few places where one can just "set up" such a system, and I don't think there's room for dozens of channels. Given these things can talk a mile, their base stations and the service as a whole are likely licensed (although a quick FCC database search does not find them). Someone buying up Ricochet's frequency license and finding all these existing users there likely would be pissed.

    • Re:What about FCC licensing? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Wog ( 58146 ) on Saturday August 04, 2001 @12:59AM (#2119346)
      Nope, they used some tricks to avoid the need. First of all, they put some pretty strict power constraints on these. That's why some people are able to (illegally) boost their power and transmit for many miles.

      They also transmit on a given frequency for a very short time, then hop to another.

      These things allow them to operate on "public" frequencies. It's a great hack, but easy to abuse. If 10 guys boost their power in a neighborhood, no one gets to use it, because of signal bleed.
      • Actually, increasing effective radiated power may not cause "signal bleed" whatever you meant by that (spurious/harmonic rf, perhaps?) for a number of reasons. Particularly if ERP is increased by means of one or more directional antennae, or even better LOS is increased by placing transceivers at strategic positions above ground level. Some modifications are not permitted for devices intended for unlicensed operation in that band, but effective range can be increased without attracting fcc field officers.
    • Actually, the modems operate on a 900mhz digital spread spectrum. There are even some models of AT&T cordless phones that can cause the ricochet to fail entirely.

      It should be noted that Ricochet poll-tops communicate with each other at 2.3ghz which is the spectrum that metricom owns the rights to.


  • http://www.cirronet.com

    Cirronet builds a cheap access point - $1000 for a developer's kit with one customer radio - and you can attach it via USB or RS232. I've got the RS232 working with FreeBSD and I hear there are linux drivers that work with the USB units.

  • Peer to Peer summary (Score:3, Informative)

    by nmos ( 25822 ) on Saturday August 04, 2001 @01:03AM (#2127134)
    There are actually 3 different ways (at least) to do peer to peer with the Metricom radios.

    1. Assuming you arn't using the Ricochet network at all and just have a pair of modems and a pair of computers then you can just treat the radios like a regular modem. I've got a pair of the older units and on the back there is a number like xxxx-yyyy. Set one of your systems up to answer calls and plug that number into your dialer you're done. One minor annoyance is that the standard Windows dialer (at least some versions) likes to strip out the "-" but there are plenty of ways to work around that.

    2. Star Mode. So far as I know this is only supported under Linux and it basically turns 2 or more of these units into a lan. Look for the STRIP driver in the Linux kernel and have fun.

    3. If you do have access to the Ricochet network I believe you can do #1 above through the network and thus get around the distance limitations. My understanding is that this ability was eliminated/changed in later models but I only have the older units and I'm nowhere near any official Ricochet nodes anyways.

    As for the range, it depends entirely between what is in between the two nodes. In my particular neighborhood 1/2 mile was about the limit for normal use however if you have a clear view of the other node then you can go much farther.

    --
    Ray
  • Ok, now a quick search on every body's faviorite auction site revaeled that a loto f these modems are going for as little as $20.

    Now, A local isp just began offering 128k wireless internet, and I assume it's the same infrastructure merticom used. So, I suspose I can't use them peer to peer. I wish I could, because a while ago someone figured out how to get on the internet with 2 of these, a host computer and a TI-89 calculator. Ever since then I've dreamed of using my calculator to get on irc in the middle of class, and mabey surf the web from my shell account and lynx. Oh well, I can always use the computers they have in class, or mabey whip out my laptop and some cat 5 and abuse the schools' dual T-1s (there are cat 5 jacks in almost all the classrooms at my hs) Anyway, just my thoughts.

  • A simple plan... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Scoria ( 264473 ) <`slashmail' `at' `initialized.org'> on Saturday August 04, 2001 @02:06AM (#2155913) Homepage
    So we all want an open and free network...

    The next time a large network like this shuts down and auctions their network off (unfortunately, we can't do this with Ricochet because they've already registered the bidders), let's all pitch in and bid on it.

    Sure, there are a lot of inherent problems in purchasing this. For example, who would maintain the hardware?

    It's still a decent idea, and if we all pitch in a little, it just might happen...

  • I work for Ricochet... (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Actually, I don't. However, I do work for WWC who is a Ricochet Authorized Service Provider.

    I've never messed with STRIP, but I do know this:

    You can connect 2 modems to each other for a p2p connection. The new 128k Ricochet modems actually respond to many normal AT commands. All you need to do is open a terminal window and tell the ricochet to dial the modem number of the modem you want to connect do. Just make sure the modem on the receving end has a terminal window open so that you can answer the call. While this technique does work, I've found it to be painfully slow.

    Also, Ricochet modems communicate with the ricochet poll-tops and other ricochet's at 900mhz. However, the poll-tops then communicate with each other at about 2.3ghz. (The spectrum that metricom has the rights to.)

    When it works, Ricochet is a incredibly fun toy. However, it's stupid to use as a primary net connection. It's about as reliable as a cell phone.

  • Just a thought, someone who was near an 802.11 interface could setup the richochet machine to be a router. Then someone within a mile of them could do the same. We could have a whole wireless internet, and some person with 802.11 being screwed. Umm anyhow, This would work well in NY where there is lots of 802.11b
    ----
  • Where online can you buy ricochet modems? I know that Metricom filed for bankruptcy a while ago.
  • sounds like a good idea...would work great in my warehouse. id need a minimum of 2 Ricochet units possibly more. Reply to stegman000 at hotmail dot com or the thread if you have any info for me


    thanks
  • I had a look at their booth at Comdex last year, nice but I don't think it'll work outside their propritary network. Not 802.11ish...

    • Re:Nice idea. (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      If I remember correctly there was an article (can't seem to find it) on ticalc.org on how you could hookup one of these modems to a TI-85, then using another one hooked up to a computer you could execute telnet commands and such from a client on the TI. So, while it may not be 802.11 compliant it may be feasible to build a wireless LAN around it.

      • Re:Nice idea. (Score:2, Interesting)

        by jpmkm ( 160526 )
        I'm not sure why that was funny; this can actually be done. All you need is a Graph Link(the real one, not the cheap black one) and a couple Ricochet modems. The Graph Link converts the TI proprietary protocol to standard RS232, so you could use any type of modem. You hook one of the modems up to the calc through the Graph Link and the other to some computer, and you should be able to log in to the computer using a terminal emulator program for the calculator. I've never been able to do this, simply because I don't have a real Graph Link, but I'd imagine it would be pretty cool.

  • "Died?" (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I thought they were just bankrupt. Aren't they hoping on selling all their equipment, technology, and customer base to someone else?

    http://www.metricom.com/auctioninfo/index.html [metricom.com]

    • I recieved this [wwc.com] from my ISP [wwc.com]. Looks like they will be shutting down.

      • (Nightingale being the firm that has stepped in to liquidate the company.) By shutting off the service before the auction on August 16th, Nightingale has destroyed whatever goodwill the company might have had left and has prevented the auction of part or all of the network as a "going concern," as claimed at http://www.metricom.com/auctioninfo/ [metricom.com]. It has also sabotaged WWC's chances of being able to sell the services provided by a buyer. WWC has been hurt by this. It should sue.
    • Aren't they hoping on selling all their equipment, technology, and customer base to someone else?

      They might like to, but who is going to buy it before they have to liquidate? /. carried an article on this within the last week, in which some potential buyers were named, but it is unlikely that anyone is going to buy them.

  • I think the answer is yes (Score:5, Informative)

    by darrick ( 413403 ) on Friday August 03, 2001 @10:45PM (#2160915) Homepage
    If I remember the tech specs (I have them saved on my hard drive somewhere), they can operate in a peer-to-peer mode. The Linux kernel supports it (under Networking Devices, choose WAN devices, and use Metricom Starmode [STRIP]).

    I'd love to see a Freenet spring up in Dallas using these things. Any others interested?

    • I have a friend (who is a Ricochet customer) who wants to start a wireless access service. We both live in North Dallas. So, I've looked up a few Freenet sources, to learn a bit about what we might be getting into. I'd be interested in hearing from you. You can e-mail my AOL account if you hit it early in the day (it tends to get full in the late afternoons). Or, you can look at my Web page for an alternate e-mail address.

  • Shameless Karma Whoring (Score:5, Informative)

    by Kalrand ( 177637 ) on Friday August 03, 2001 @10:46PM (#2160916)
    Here's a link to a FAQ on using your Ricochet Modem outside Metricom's Network.

    http://www.enlightenment-engine.com/eeng/ricochet/ ricochet%20gs%20modem.htm [enlightenment-engine.com]
  • I don't know if the LAN idea would work, but this would be a great idea if it did:

    Instead of a normal LAN party (everybody in the same room) in a place where people were within a mile (I'm thinking dorm) Quake or CS would be great with next to nothing pings, but without the fuss of moving everything and getting it set up. Admittedly you lose the atmosphere, but I'd rather go for a few of these plus a regular LAN setup.
  • from the Website [metricom.com] it looks like they tried to stay afloat, but died anyway. They filed chapter 11 (which doesn't always mean the company dies) a month ago. In so doing, "the Company sought to restructure its operations and debt obligations while maintaining the operation of its wireless network and continuing to provide services and access." Oh well, guess it took them a month to figure out they couldn't, cause on August 8 they'll be gone. Wonder how much the tech behind the modems will go for at the auction? Not much atm, since no one has any money. I'm not looking forward to my eventual lowering of salary due to there being more and more techies available. We're not the rare commodity we used to be!
    • Dude,

      Get out of Austin. The job market is much better in areas who's tech market doesn't revolve around the Internet. Dallas and Houston are doing well, but then again I work on large UNIX systems (E10K, EMC, etc.). People with experience in that area aren't growing on trees exactly. If you are an x86 dude or low end Sun guy, it's rough.

      Good Luck!

    • Re:growing momentum of a collapsing economy (Score:4, Insightful)

      by GigsVT ( 208848 ) on Friday August 03, 2001 @11:08PM (#2160960) Journal
      I'm not looking forward to my eventual lowering of salary due to there being more and more techies available

      Ah, supply and demand. This is all natural and necessary of course though. We were in a period of rapid and unfounded growth in many areas, such as Metricom's attempt at building an infrastructure that not enough people really wanted or needed.

      In all, to 95% of the people out there, the Internet is just a suppliment, like a glorified fax machine. Sure the potential is there, but the only killer app I have seen so far (from a business standpoint) is really email.

      I think if metricom had started like most businesses, real business, and started small, in limited market(s), then reinvested those profits, and grown slowly, we might not be seeing them falling on their face right now. A lot of this venture capital feeding frenzy created this idea "if you build it, they will come", and that is rarely true.

      So a message to all of the people out there that have to fend in this new-new economy, start small, work the bugs out, and don't try to do everything at once.

      • Well - you are at least ignorant. This much you just demonstrated. Do you even know what business model Metricom was founded on? Thought not. There original business model was to build a self-organizing set of radio repeater cells that would be placed on people's power meters! They were to replace meter readers! Metricom saw another possible use for the technology as they were getting this all rolling at the beginning of the intenet revolution. They switched hats and rolled out their wide-area radio network. At least get your facts straight when you opine something like this.
      • >Ah, supply and demand. This is all natural and
        >necessary of course though. We were in a period
        >of rapid and unfounded growth in many areas,
        >such as Metricom's attempt at building an
        >infrastructure that not enough people really
        >wanted or needed.

        This assumeption is wrong. There is not enough people that can afford Metricom's service at that price.

        If its free, I can garentee that a lot of people will want it and need it. ;)

      • Re:growing momentum of a collapsing economy (Score:1, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Actually Metricom did start small, they've been around since around 1985, so their not some new company formed in the bubble years, but the latter certainly had an influence and ultimately led to its demise. Their initial concept was to fit these boxes to lampposts and automatically read electric meters in people's houses, thus streamline the billing process. When you consider the man-hours and messing about involved with reading meters it was a good idea, I'm sure it will take hold eventually.

        I've seen a similar thing in the UK, they have contracts where you have a cheap 'off peak' electricity in the night time, this is electricity that is always available on the grid from the Nuclear baseload but goes largely wasted, so they sell it at a discount. Anyway, they send a RF signal and your meter picks it up then switches to and from 'off-peak' automatically, so no time clocks to go wrong and no potential for fraud. It's an extension of those MSF clocks [oregonscientific.co.uk] that automatically sync via RF signals broadcast from places like Rugby.

        his was all before the Internet became mainstream, much like the way ADSL was actually designed to supply DTV and VOD services to homes so the telco's could compete with the cable companies. It wasn't actually designed as a net connection, but obviously since video data is just data, the lines were adapted to tcp/ip.

  • *sigh* (Score:3, Interesting)

    by faenix ( 215825 ) on Friday August 03, 2001 @10:59PM (#2160940)
    Man, I'm frustrated .. I read the article the other day about Ricochet and that they intended to let go of their staff and turn off their network, and I called up my provider, WWC (Wireless Web Connect) and asked what was going on, and if my service would be impacted.. I was immediately assured that Ricochet had only announced Chapter 11 Bankrupcy and that this was only for financial reasons and it would not impact my service at all. I pointed them at the article on slashdot, and was assured that it was just a rumor. So now, I call them up again and all I can get is a recorded message saying that they have filed legal action to force Ricochet to keep their network online and provide users with at least 30 days notice. Additionally, they say that although Ricochet intends to keep their service online until the date in the future, degredation of service will happen between now and then. (Case and point, it took me 30 minutes to get connected.. I kept getting No Dial Tone, even though I have green flashy lights indicated signal). WWC has a lot of sales speak about remaining committed and blah blah blah. They'll stop billing us if Ricochet's network should happen to go dead. How great of them. They also claim that they're working with AT&T on their Wireless Data Service .. A new CDPD modem will be needed, and their trying to get existing Ricochet customers a $$ break. .....I guess I need to get a new ISP Account .. and back to 33.6 I go.. :( :( :(

  • won't work with new hardware (Score:4, Interesting)

    by jchristopher ( 198929 ) on Friday August 03, 2001 @11:00PM (#2160942)
    In the recent article about Ricochet's bankruptcy, there was a comment (can't find it now, sorry) which basically stated that in the newest versions of the modems, Ricochet had done something on their end to disable peer-to-peer.

    I'm sure someone can elaborate... but I believe that it basically said it will work with the older 28.8 modems, but not the new 128 capable ones.

  • So, are the modems paperweights now, or not? (Score:3, Informative)

    by adjuster ( 61096 ) on Friday August 03, 2001 @11:14PM (#2160973) Homepage Journal

    Looks like there are SOME interesting uses for these old Metricom modems in Linux [denver.co.us]. STRIP [stanford.edu] looks pretty interesting. Still, I'm seeing articles like this [affinix.com] that make me think that the newer, faster modems are going to be useless.

    Anybody have any more info relating to using these new GS models in peer-to-peer? I just bought a GS model, and I'm looking to get another. I'm seeing people posting on here that the modems are trash now-- but I'm not so sure that's the case.

  • Yes, you can use the modems peer-to-peer. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Brett Glass ( 98525 ) on Friday August 03, 2001 @11:23PM (#2160988) Homepage
    It just may not work (depending on the ages of the modems) in areas where the Metricom poletop transmitters are still active. (I suspect that this was done so that people would not create peer-to-peer networks that interfered with the service they were trying to sell.) On the newer units, the peer-to-peer mode seems to "shut off" if a poletop radio is "acquired."

    Alex Belits, a true Metricom packet radio fan, has lots of information on this at http://phobos.illtel.denver.co.us/~abelits/metrico m/ [denver.co.us].

    I have mixed feelings about the demise of Metricom, myself. Properly used, the technology could have had great benefits. However, the company was arrogant and poorly managed. At one time, K N Energy (the local gas company) announced that they were going to deploy Metricom in our town. Neither they nor Metricom had given consideration to the fact that a wireless WAN serving many community organizations and some of the schools ran on the same frequency band. (The Metricom equipment -- dozens of transmitters running at the maximum legal output -- would have blown the other users right off the air.) The existing users made a reasonable request before the City Council: If Metricom was going to monopolize a public resource -- the 900 MHz band -- they should pay at least some of the cost of moving the schools and small business users to another band. But Ralph Derrickson of Metricom (the CEO until the bankruptcy) arrogantly refused to make any such concession. Fortunately, K N Energy's management was not so coldhearted, and agreed to help the community network move to another band if Ricochet was to be deployed in our city. (The network was never deployed, however, as K N Energy dropped its Ricochet franchise shortly thereafter.) The story is at http://www.lariat.org/metricom.html [lariat.org].

    It may have been a similar lack of consideration for others (prices too high for the market; poor customer service) that led to Metricom's recent economic problems. $80 per month for 128 Kbps or less simply wasn't competitive with DSL, and there are not enough mobile users to support such a system by themselves. $29.95 per month would be more like it.

    --Brett Glass

  • People are already doing it! (Score:5, Informative)

    by molo ( 94384 ) on Friday August 03, 2001 @11:24PM (#2160990) Journal
    Its called STRIP - STarmode Radio IP, and there are Linux drivers. Check out the info at:

    http://ns.uoregon.edu/~jremy/strip.html [uoregon.edu]

    There appears to be two modes to these modems: peer-peer or broadcast. Apparently Metricom calls their broadcast mode "starmode." These drivers allow you to basicly setup a wireless subnet. Very cool.

    Can someone comment on the security of these modems? I might have to get myself a couple.

    • From the metricom security site [metricom.com]:

      The architecture inherently provides for rugged and secure communications. Each radio - including the user modem connection - spreads its transmissions over 162 channels (each of which is 160 KHz wide) that are randomly selected using unique sequences; sequential data transfers never occur on the same channel. Called Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS), this random technique makes it extremely difficult to monitor the signals to or from any particular radio.
      ......
      Metricom provides RSA's patented RC-4 encryption capabilities that further ensure privacy for connections established between any two points on the Ricochet network. This data encryption makes the data streams moving over the network far more secure than typical wired, telephone-based connections. Our radios use a military originated spread spectrum technique to send data. This technique makes it inherently difficult to tap into any data stream a user transmits. To further ensure privacy, we will optionally encrypt all the data sent to your gateway. The modem and the gateway use Diffie-Hellman key exchange to negotiate a session key. This key is renegotiated periodically. This session key is used to encrypt the data between the gateway and the modem with RSA's RC-4 encryption. We use up to 256 bits of key length to encrypt the data stream. This encryption is too strong to be exported out of the country.

      /me has no beef with 256 bit encryption. They've been working on RC5-64 [slashdot.org]for how long?

      ~zero
      • Cool link, but it seems to me that only discusses the on-network mode. What about the peer-to-peer mode? What safety do you have against others initiating connections to your device or MITMing connections you make to others?

        Tim

        • Re:People are already doing it! (Score:4, Interesting)

          by Wog ( 58146 ) on Saturday August 04, 2001 @12:55AM (#2136274)
          From what I've read and *seen*, these work much like landline modems. They even accept AT commands! Just tell one to "dial" the serial number of another one. If it's within, say, a mile of yours, a "ring" will happen on the other end. Of course, to prevent breakins, just have the recieving device set up with authentication. Just like you would running a dial-up server at home.

          I believe I also read that these modems encrypt data locally, and transmit on a given frequency for only a very short burst at a time. (This allows them to avoid hefty FCC charges!) If you've got concerns about eavesdropping, then add your own encryption before data is sent.
          • Of course, to prevent breakins, just have the recieving device set up with authentication. Just like you would running a dial-up server at home.

            The difference, of course, is that it's harder to tap a phone line for data than to drive around with a radio receiver. For dial-up authentication, passwords are usually sent unencrypted. That would be a disaster for a wireless network.

            I believe I also read that these modems encrypt data locally, and transmit on a given frequency for only a very short burst at a time.

            The frequency-hoppping element doesn't seem too relevant -- since the modems can establish a connection between each other in an untrusted mode, the same algorithm can be used to intercept the transmission.

            If you've got concerns about eavesdropping, then add your own encryption before data is sent.

            Data such as the password? At what point would encryption kick in to protect the password negotiation? Any idea what software would be used on both ends for that scenario?

            Tim

          • Keyboard sniffers? I've got a couple they can sniff..
    • Can someone comment on the security of these modems? I might have to get myself a couple.

      If they are out of business, can you buy a couple? If so, where?
      • Well there are plenty on ebay. Funny thing is, some of them are transfers of accounts, and require you to sign up for the ricochet network. Yippie :) Funnier thing is, they are selling for over $40 knowing they have to sign up for the network before they get shipped the product.

  • for comparison (Score:1, Informative)

    by zerocool^ ( 112121 )

    For comparison purposes, if you want to build a wireless 802.11b lan, and you want to do it with stuff you can buy from a major retailer, you're gonna need:

    one of these. [bestbuy.com] - $250

    at least two of these. [bestbuy.com] - $130 each.

    so, we're up to $510, as a reference point, as to what an 802.11b network costs.

    ~z

    • No you don't need the $250 box. Most 802.11b-cards can do peer-to-peer.
    • I've used the Linksys products as well as the D-Link products and now I own the D-Link ones. The access point was 179 and the pc card was 89. Far off from what you quote and beyond that, you can network between two 802.11 cards in p2p mode bringing the cost to as low as $180. A bit far off from your $500 figure....

    • Re:for comparison (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Um, why do you need at least one base station and two cards for a wireless LAN? How about one base sation and one card ($380) or just two cards ($260)? Also your numbers are quite high. There are plenty of 802.11 cards out there for under $100 now.
  • Will their "hubs" (or whatever they use) be liquidated and turned into cash, or will the stuff all be left on the light-poles? Can people go and grab those things now, and reverse-engineer them, and build a new ricochet network, guerilla-style? Heh, if they were in my area, i'd be seriously looking into cherry-picker-truck rentals. :)
    • Dude, 802.11b IS a guerilla network... I wonder which would make a better guerilla network, STRIP or WiFi? 128kbps v 11mbps 900mhz band v 2.4ghz band 1mi range v 5-???mi range clunky box v sleek pcmcia STRIP protocol v ethernet protocol
      • Why not both? Is there a good reason not to setup that already sort of popular 802.11b gateway boxes found on public WiFi lans (bawug & friends in my area) and add on STRIP modems? As a side thought, has anyone tested how strip modems handle multiple modems with multiple connections in a load balanced configuration?
    • Bah, forget that. Just go up and steal them. Take a big white van and wear a hardhat and the cops won't bother you either. :)

  • Homebrew 6 Watt, 900 MHz wireless data amplifier (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 03, 2001 @11:57PM (#2161051)
    Here is a schematic for a 6 watt, 900 MHz bi-directional wireless data amplifier [gbonline.com] this would be perfect for old Ricochet hardware. All the parts are quite easy to find also.
    • sounds great, and very illegal, IIRC the max ouput on 900mhz is 1 watt.
  • no, not the strip clubs...

    yes, we have heard much of this before in the comments section. Nevermind reading the articles, do you read the comments? You would think that the editors would. Oh wait. They don't read the articles either half the time.

    boys, pay more attention. Worthless Karma whoring happens when you do shit like this.

  • The network didn't die (Score:3, Informative)

    by Alex Belits ( 437 ) on Saturday August 04, 2001 @12:00AM (#2161059) Homepage
    The network is still running, just (some?) subscribers (at least some of them) are for some reason kicked out of the serial numbers database, so their modems are declared "unsubscribed" and are redirected to WWC (and apparently WWC only) registration service. I have called WWC, and they told me that they can ask whoever is running the network now, and they will re-subscribe my modems tomorrow morning. Whoever was on the phone happened to even know that point to point capability can be enabled or disabled when "modem" is subscribed for service -- this is a great progress compared to their usually incompetent customer/technical suupport types.

    The "modems" can be used for point to point links without retransmitters, however the distances that I have observed were much less than a mile -- apparently long distances are achievable only if there is a cleat line of sight between transmitter and receiver, and in those conditions 2.4GHz wireless stuff makes at least as muhc sense, plus it's faster.

    The information about ricochet modems and their use in both "normal" and point to point mode under linux is at this page [denver.co.us] that I maintain.

    • WWC, of all the Metricom resellers, is apparently the one that's fighting hardest to keep the system alive. They may, in fact, sue to prevent the network from being turned off on August 8th.
    • Can anyone clarify the range without line of site? It sounds like Alex is saying the range of 802.11b is comparable to the Metricom radios. I've found 802.11 to be pretty limited w/o LOS, so I would be willing to trade a doubling of range for the bandwidth.
  • Any Macintosh support for this type of networking? I mean we have Airport, but with 1 mile, you cant go wrong :)
    • The direct connection is just like a landline. The old serial ricochets take AT commands over a serial port. Just tell it to "dial" the serial number of another one, and it generates a "ring" on the other side. Establish a PPP, and you're ready to rock.

      And yes, the range kicks tail.
  • I am sure everyone reading this thread is trying to get onto Alex Belits web page [denver.co.us] (link doesn't work, hence this post) as it is linked multiple places in this thread, and every webpage worth it's weight is linking to his page (he added support for the Richochet GS/128 k modems [metricom.com] to STRIP). Unfortunately his page is inaccessible; however, and I know this is not really kosher; GOOGLE [google.com] has an archived copy of this page [google.com], allowing you to read up on the support, and get a better feeling of where the project is now, as well as the support for the USB modems and 2.x kernel, straight through support and patches for the 2.4.1 kernel. Hope this helps everyone, this sounds like a very interesting technology, it's too bad it didn't fly.
    -OctaneZ

  • It just may not work (depending on the ages of the modems) in areas where the Metricom poletop transmitters are still active. (I suspect that this was done so that people would not create peer-to-peer networks that interfered with the service they were trying to sell.) On the newer units, the peer-to-peer mode seems to "shut off" if a poletop radio is "acquired."

    Alex Belits, a true Metricom packet radio fan, has lots of information on this at http://phobos.illtel.denver.co.us/~abelits/metrico m/ [denver.co.us].

    I have mixed feelings about the demise of Metricom, myself. Properly used, the technology could have had great benefits. However, the company was arrogant and poorly managed. At one time, K N Energy (the local gas company) announced that they were going to deploy Metricom in our town. Neither they nor Metricom had given consideration to the fact that a wireless WAN serving many community organizations and some of the schools ran on the same frequency band. (The Metricom equipment -- dozens of transmitters running at the maximum legal output -- would have blown the other users right off the air.) The existing users made a reasonable request before the City Council: If Metricom was going to monopolize a public resource -- the 900 MHz band -- they should pay at least some of the cost of moving the schools and small business users to another band. But Ralph Derrickson of Metricom (the CEO until the bankruptcy) arrogantly refused to make any such concession. Fortunately, K N Energy's management was not so coldhearted, and agreed to help the community network move to another band if Ricochet was to be deployed in our city. (The network was never deployed, however, as K N Energy dropped its Ricochet franchise shortly thereafter.) The story is at http://www.lariat.org/metricom.html [lariat.org].

    It may have been a similar lack of consideration for others (prices too high for the market; poor customer service) that led to Metricom's recent economic problems. $80 per month for 128 Kbps or less simply wasn't competitive with DSL, and there are not enough mobile users to support such a system by themselves. $29.95 per month would be more like it.

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