[CUWiN] Questions regarding wireless networking assistance

[Ray Meredith]

Hello Everyone:

I live far outside of your present coverage area: N. Duncan Rd., at the
Hensley/Duncan intersection, north-west of the Champaign city limits and
the I-57/I-74 intersection. (A mile north of Alto Vineyards, for those
familiar with the place.) I have tried to get service from DSL providers
as well as a wireless Internet provider, but with no success.
(Understandably, their business needs and/or models probably don't
justify service to this little island of houses among the corn and
soybean fields.) Furthermore, it appears that there won't be any
high-speed service in this area anytime soon.

I am surrounded by at least 20 other single-family homes, and there are
two developments within a mile of my location: one (approx. 12
single-family homes) about  about 1 mile south of my location, just off
of Duncan Rd; the other (approx. 15 single-family homes) about 1.5 miles
east of my location.

I am wondering if your organization can assist me in formulating an
approach for contacting my neighbors and suggesting a shared broadband
network. I have been told that I can get a T-1 connection run to my
house, but it isn't cheap. Hence my desire to share the costs with
neighbors. We have seven acres of land, which gives us a lot of
line-of-site possibilities to the neighbors and nearby developments. I
can see the developments mentioned above from either of our second-story
decks, so I figure that equipment mounted on our roof would be adequate.

I'm not in this for the money; I'd be very happy to work on setting up a
non-profit organization, or to work through yours, in order to set up a
community wireless ISP organized along the lines of a co-operative.

If you have any advice, are able to offer any assistance in this matter,
or can refer me to another organization that might be able to help, I
will do my best to see this effort through.

I look forward to your response. Please don't hesitate to ask for any
additional information that may aid you in determining if you are able
to offer any assistance in this matter.

Cordially,
Raymond Meredith