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Wireless Networking The Internet Hardware

Rio Rancho, New Mexico: 103 Square Miles of WiFi 154

Posted by timothy from the pleasures-of-the-mesh dept.
An anonymous reader submits "Rio Rancho, New Mexico is going to have 103 square miles of wifi coverage thanks to Intel & Usurf. The Albuquerque International Airport also has free wifi available. (By the way, Rio Rancho also has one of the largest chip factories in the world. Owned by Intel of course.)" The airport service will be free, but though the site is coy about pricing, users will need to sign up (and pay) for the Rio Rancho mesh network. Update: 06/20 03:56 GMT by T : Rio Rancho, not Rio Ranch. Mea culpa.
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Rio Rancho, New Mexico: 103 Square Miles of WiFi More

Rio Rancho, New Mexico: 103 Square Miles of WiFi

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  • I should care because ____ ? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Fjornir ( 516960 ) on Saturday June 19, 2004 @08:45PM (#9475802)
    Can someone fill in the blank? I mean mad props to the engineers on the project, but... ?

  • Wow, now the aliens will be impressed (Score:4, Funny)

    by thepeete ( 189121 ) on Saturday June 19, 2004 @08:51PM (#9475838)
    They'll be able to download music right from area 51.

  • keeping the scum out (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 19, 2004 @08:53PM (#9475851)
    On large wireless projects like this, how do you keep the scum of the earth from using it to their advantage? Can a pedaphile buy a cheap wireless card log on for awhile and get his pictures and then just throw out the card when done. Will we have to one day register our mac address's?

    • Re:keeping the scum out (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      You mean, people could flood slashdot from there???

    • Re:keeping the scum out (Score:5, Interesting)

      by spacefrog ( 313816 ) on Saturday June 19, 2004 @10:25PM (#9476328)
      You forget just how easy it is to clone/fake a mac address.

      That is not too hard, even for idiotic scum who are trying to cover their tracks.

      Just wait until they start figuring out how (with subpeonas) to cross reference the mac address to the distributor it was sold to, and then cross-reference that against the serial number on your receipt.

      You do buy all of your ethernet/wifi cards with cash, don't you?

      Just wait until it is YOUR mac address they have cloned. The Melinda virus escapade a few years ago shows that a mac address is sufficient for a search warrant.

    • Re:keeping the scum out (Score:4, Informative)

      by X86Daddy ( 446356 ) on Sunday June 20, 2004 @12:48AM (#9476819) Journal
      The scum of the earth will use every piece of open infrastructure that exists in the world. This is no different.

      Bank robbers walk right into banks without being somehow stopped at the door. Muggers walk along the sidewalk without somehow being prevented from doing so.

      Why? Because to implement safeguards that "stop" the scum require a level of inconvenient intrusions into the 9x% "good" people's privacy and efficiency.

      Further, pedophiles getting pictures is the last thing to worry about on that topic... I think the authorities would worry more about pedophiles uploading pictures via an anonymous connection... and the evil deeds done to make the pictures. Which is something they currently have to deal with anyway on the Internet at large... one more anonymous entry point doesn't really change the picture... and in fact, helps the situation. Picture this scenario:

      FBI pinpoints the initial upload of some child porn to an anonymous connection at AP xyz on an open wifi network. They have a date-time value and a physical location! The sense of anonymity aforded by open APs can also be a foil, as the authorities proceed to request local surveilance footage from any cams in that area. It turns out being less anonymous than whatever obfuscation methods pedo posters use now. This is a good thing.

  • I am a nanotechnologist this means nothing to me.

  • To be honest I've never never heard of RR, and of all places it is in New Mexico, which is THE king of all states for lack of radio stations while driving on the highway... just think, maybe your or my city is next.

    • Re:If it can happen in Rio Rancho... (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Rio Rancho is basically the technical arm of Albuquerque. It's a quasi-suburb that's outgrowing Albuquerque itself, and everyone is moving out there. It's also threatening to totally surround Bernalillo.

      Yea, the radio stations out here can suck. But you get one hell of an uninterrupted drive. Half the highways are empty, and you can feel totally alone and just cruise. Combine that with warm summer nights, and it's amazing.
      • It's a quasi-suburb that's outgrowing Albuquerque itself, and everyone is moving out there. It's also threatening to totally surround Bernalillo.

        So when is the west side gonna seceede?

        Half the highways are empty, and you can feel totally alone and just cruise

        At high speed

        Combine that with warm summer nights, and it's amazing.

        Beautiful place to be
      • You beat me to it :P

        Anyway, about that warm summer nights thing. The only place I have lived in New Mexico that stays warm at night is Albuquerque, because all the concrete absorbs the heat all day and then releases it all night. Most everywhere else is wonderfull at night. That is actually one of my favorite things about the desert climate - no matter how hot it gets during the day it still cools down at night due to having no humidity. I can't stand being out in the East or down the South during the sum
        • Thank you for your interest in relocating to New Mexico. Unfortunately, we are not accepting applications for residency at this time. We will keep your resume on file for the next six months and will contact you if a dwelling becomes available.

        • I *HATE* freezing at night. :(

          I'm at my friends house where they don't have any cooling during the day, and it gets hotter than an oven in here. Then in the middle of the night it drops down to the point where I'm sitting here SHIVERING....

          I can't stand the extremes of New Mexico weather, but then, that's why I've been trying to get out. :)

          Las Cruces is actually pretty good for warm summer nights, and warm winter days. In summer it never really cools down enough at night to make it freezing, and in the
    • It's easy to find Rio Rancho - just take that left turn at Albuquerque.

      Eh, what's up doc?
    • spoken like a man who has never driven through Wyoming.

  • Thanks Intel! (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The whole of Albuquerque is moving that direction. Solely due to Intel. People who live all the way across town are moving there for the cheap house prices. Props to them for building and supporting a community. They're spurring a lot of good development in Albuquerque.

    I would shudder to think of what would happen to that whole area if Intel shut shop.

    • Re:Thanks Intel! (Score:3, Insightful)

      by mikej ( 84735 )
      There would be substantially less water being consumed by the FAB? Not that Albuquerque is sitting in the middle of the desert, quietly draining the aquifer, happily skipping toward a future where every drop has to be shipped in from the other side of the Sandias. Truly, I can't think of a better place to have built an industrial complex as thirsty as a semiconductor FAB. Oh, wait, I just did - Anywhere. It was a stupid, shortsighted decision to put the FAB in to begin with, and now that its economicall

  • No Wifi for me! (Score:3, Funny)

    by ic0n0 ( 784288 ) on Saturday June 19, 2004 @08:57PM (#9475871)
    Now the cacti will have wifi and I still don't, this is a huge step for mankind

  • New Mexico? (Score:3, Funny)

    by cosyne ( 324176 ) on Saturday June 19, 2004 @09:04PM (#9475902) Homepage
    They have the Internet in New Mexico?

  • Some perspective (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 19, 2004 @09:06PM (#9475908)
    Here's some data for comparison:
    • San Francisco: 47 square miles
    • Boston: 48 square miles
    • Washington DC: 68 square miles
    • Rio Rancho: 103 square miles

  • Balloon Fiesta (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 19, 2004 @09:21PM (#9475992)
    During the 2004 Balloon fiesta you can bet people will be using their laptops in mid air.
  • Couldn't this be placed in a more, you know, useful location? I hate to offend the New Mexicanites but why is this not in San Diego where I live?
    • Cause then it wouldn't be, you know, useful..to me
    • Couldn't this be placed in a more, you know, useful location? I hate to offend the New Mexicanites but why is this not in San Diego where I live?

      The albuquerque-Santa Fe metro area not only has two national laboratories Sandia [sandia.gov] and LANL [lanl.gov], but it has a huge INTEL factory in Rio Rancho.

      New Mexico also has, despite being named The dumbest state in the US [hpronline.org](I dislike harvard...almost as much as I dislike MIT...) New Mexico has the highest concentration of Ph.D.'s in the United States today.

      Get real...New Mexi
  • Okay, I have the ideas of a mesh (aka net-through-clients) network, just... how does the WiFi cards do it?!? Or do we have to have the software impliment the mesh?
  • Don't underestimate the significance of all this. Consider the impact on the cellular industry if WiFi providers can compete at the metropolitan level. If 3G was in trouble before...

  • Dateline: June 19, 2050 (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 19, 2004 @09:44PM (#9476122)
    Rio Rancho, NM - Scientists are still debating whether the highest incidence of cancer in the country is the result of what cancer experts are calling "a dubious flirtation" with WiFi which began in the early part of the century. Studies indicate that there is no connection between the the widespread use of WiFi technology and a variety of cancers, including brain cancer.

    Health professionals point out that all of the studies have been paid for by the WiFi Industry. "They used to say that there was no connection between lung cancer and smoking." Dr. Lucas Steiner an world renouned cancer expert said, "Its the same with WiFi."

    "This could be mean billions in settlements," noted Ben Scheisster, president of the Ambulance Chasers of America, formerly the American Bar Association. "For out clients, of course."

    "There is absolutely no connection between the wide spread incidence of cancer in high WiFi concentration areas across the country," insisted Jacob Wieselheimer of the WiFi Internet Providers Council. "All of the studies that we funded prove this, and the government agrees."

    "Of course the government agrees," said Dr. James Goodfellow. "The President of the United States is a Republican. There is a reason that their party's motto is Corruptus in Extremus which they filtched from The Simpsons the longest running cartoon in history."

    .... [and so it goes ... ]

  • Dear Intel, (Score:2, Offtopic)

    by Colonel Panic ( 15235 )
    Dear Intel,

    You've got a lot more employees in Oregon than in New Mexico, when can we expect to see something like this in Hillsboro/Aloha/Beaverton?

    Pretty soon please...
    • They may have more employees in Oregon, but there's a higher CONCENTRATION of Intel employees in Rio Rancho.

      Plus, they half own the town. They help built a High School here, and I don't imagine you'd be saying something like "Hey, Intel, you have more employees here, build us one."

      Because RR basicly used extortion tactics to build the High School, half threatening to yank a lot of the special priviledges that Intel enjoys here.

  • Rio Rancho (Score:5, Informative)

    by jmorzins ( 86648 ) on Saturday June 19, 2004 @09:47PM (#9476137)
    For pete's sake, timothy, it's "Rio Rancho", not "Rio Ranch". The submitter spelled it correctly twice, and you didn't double-check before "correcting" it for the title?

  • The airport has had free WiFi for some time now, although you get what you pay for. My average time connected before getting dropped is about 2 minutes.

    And as far as why NM goes....it's really not *that* surprising for those that know the area as Intel and Sprint are the two largest employers in the area. I'm sure they had a hand in encouraging it....
  • Theres a New Mexico now?
    • http://www.nmmagazine.com/FEATURES/50missing.html

      This is a very common issue, and in fact, our New Mexico magazine has a back cover feature dedicated to people disregarding this state as a legitimate part of the U.S.

      And, about the headline, it isn't Rio Ranch. There is always the 'o' at the end and it is a suburb of Albuquerque, not it's own city, (governmentally some seporation but you can't help but drive in and out and through it as part of Albuquerque.. kinda like chula vista, spring valley, del ma
      • This is a very common issue, and in fact, our New Mexico magazine has a back cover feature dedicated to people disregarding this state as a legitimate part of the U.S.
        Well to be fair, a good chunk of New Mexico is allocated to various more-or-less sovereign 'nations.'
        • "There are approximately 275 Indian land areas in the U.S. administered as Indian reservations (reservations, pueblos, rancherias, communities, etc.). The largest is the Navajo Reservation of some 16 million acres of land in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Many of the smaller reservations are less than 1,000 acres with the smallest less than 100 acres. On each reservation, the local governing authority is the tribal government."

          Source= http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0192524.html

          People know of Arizona and
          • %2C+NM&country=us&tcsz=rachel%2C+nv&tcountry=us&te rr=3005">

            Yeah, it's pretty sad when you have to put "New Mexico - USA" on the license plates because otherwise yokel state troopers in other states would pull you over and demand to see a green card.

            "No officer, I'm not lying to you. New Mexico is a STATE "Git outta tha car, boy. I'm gonna hafta call this in."

          • Ironically, at a Mexican restaurant in Des Moines, Iowa, my Mexican waiter who had only been in the US for 4 years thought New Mexicon was part of Mexico, also
      • No, Rio Rancho is it's own city, with it's own government and everything. I only lived there for 4 years.
        • I just remember the talk radio stations all going crazy like 6 months ago about the road funding and Rio Rancho wanting to get more funding and the east half not voting for it or something like that, and then Rio Rancho was all threatening to seporate from Albuquerque and become it's own city, apparantly there are still *some* governmental ties between the halves. I just assumed that since everywhere I went I kept hearing people's opinions about RR/ABQ splitting into two different cities I incinuated that R
    • I believe this is a "Simpson's" reference.

      On the other hand, Rio Rancho is, like, 20 miles from me. Guess I'll have to schlep the old iBook out there and give it a spin.
    • Jeez, lighten up, its a Simpsons reference, CABF04 - Homer vs. Dignity

      Smithers: Sir, I have a small personal request.
      Burns: Oh, of course, Smithers. Anything.
      [repeatedly pushes a button marked, "Trap Door"]
      Smithers: I disabled the button, sir. [Burns keeps pushing it] Anyway, I need some time off. As you know, I've been writing a musical about the Malibu Stacy doll--
      Burns: [gives up on the button] A show about a doll? [laughs] Why not write a musical about the common cat? Or the King of Siam? Give

  • With the recent slew of stories about new [slashdot.org] WiFi [slashdot.org] hotspots [slashdot.org], it looks like it's becoming a pissing contest among the Slashdot faithful to find the next biggest hotspot and report it to millions of readers who won't be going there anyway.

  • That number is decieving... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by GFLPraxis ( 745118 ) on Saturday June 19, 2004 @10:06PM (#9476241) Homepage Journal
    Let's see, 103 square miles.

    WiFi would be spherical, or since we're using SQUARE miles, we'll just pretend it's 2D and use Circular.

    The equation for the area of a circle is PiR^2 = A where A is Area. The Area is 103 miles, so PiR^2 = 103.

    The square root of (103 divided by Pi) = 5.49, approximately.

    So this "103 square mile" network is 5.5 miles radius. Not bad, though the number 103 miles makes it look bigger than it is.

  • Usurf Ugh (Score:2, Insightful)

    by rkohutek ( 122839 )
    I personally seriously doubt that this is ever going to happen. I've had relations with Usurf before and I have nothing positive to say about their management or their tech staff -- the vast majority of which is outsourced to other companies.

    Usurf was recently delisted from NASDAQ because they didn't meet the minimum listing requirements. Their stock was near worthless, and is now traded over the counter. Usurf is also currently in receivership to Pipeline Networks, a Colorado ISP they "purchased" and neve
  • Rio Rancho, not Rio Ranch. Mea culpa.

    Kinda funny that they corrected the spelling with the name of the town yet utterly fail spanish spelling immediately afterwards. Spanish spellings should be easier since they're phoenetic. I'm assuming that it should be "Mi culpa"... a rough translation of the gutter-english phrase, "my bad."

    Then again, who am I to say anything about spelling or grammer when I have an error in my sig that I'm too lazy to correct?
  • Not trolling, but since when would this [usurf.com] constitute 103 square miles? I read the headline and thought "Wow!" When looking for more information on the project, the most I can find regarding their actual coverage is as linked above. :/

    Oh well. C'est la vie.
    • BAH! %#ers! Of course they cover a good part of Intel, and the GOLF COURSE. Naturally, they cover in Phase I the richest people in the city.

      I mean, I live on 34th St, it's been there for 20 year (about the same age as the city itself), and we won't be covered by the Phase I. (For any who care, 34th St is down near the big circle of Phase I implementation, JUST outside of range) /me walks off ranting.

      Oh, and btw, if you were to drive the areas covered, I'm certain that it could come out to 103 sq. miles.

  • Once we get the new leads... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Pyrosophy ( 259529 ) on Sunday June 20, 2004 @02:25AM (#9477046)
    ...Rio Rancho is way oversold. Wait until they get the new Glengarry Wifi network. That old Rio Rancho stuff, it's just not moving like the new stuff is. Ya give me that new network and I'll tell ya it's going right out the door -- right out the door -- that's what I'm telling you!
  • I live in Albuquerque, which is the big city that Rio Rancho lies on the outskirts of. ("I KNEW I should've taken that left turn at Albuquerque!")

    For years, trying to get high speed internet access in this city/state was like getting teeth pulled. While everyone else was first getting high speed internet access, we were left in the dark even though we had Kirtland Air Force Base, Sandia National Labs, the University of New Mexico, and Intel all in the same area. While everyone else was getting DSL, our
  • Rio Rancho was the name of one of those properties the salesmen in Glengarry Glen Ross were selling to scam people out of their money.

    A always B be C Closing!
  • I live in Rio Rancho and my house is inside the coverage area! WOO HOO!

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