Excellent article and video in Ars Technica about the Doe Bay Internet Users Association, a community based Internet co-op very similar to AU Wireless. Definitely worth the 3 minutes to watch the video and get a better understanding for where AU Wireless is headed.
Thanks for your interest in AU Wireless (aka Golden Wireless). AU Wireless is a locally owned Internet co-op, with the goal of providing "real" Internet access to the residents of Golden and surrounding Jefferson County.
Over the last couple of months, we have been attaching transmitter radios to our tower space on top of Lookout Mountain and testing the signal and speeds at various points throughout the city. Our goal from the beginning has been to provide speeds ranging from 25 Mbps up to 100 Mbps to your location - in bothdirections (unlike cable or phone companies). What we found during the testing is we are able to maintain these speeds in many locations throughout the city.
So, where are we now and when will service be available to you? We are putting the final touches on our backhaul location - the fiber optic connection in the city where our service hits the Internet. This location requires access to fiber optic cable, a building with a roof that we can place a microwave dish on and a building owner willing to work with us. I can count on one hand the number of buildings in Golden currently with fiber. This process has taken longer than expected but we are very close to announcing an exciting partnership!
Second, because we are a co-op and not a commercial business, we are currently growing our members. This is where you can help. We are looking for 10 to 15 more people (that is all!) willing to sign up once we launch. This will cover the costs of the service and allow us to focus on deploying the service to you without having to second mortgage our homes to keep the lights on.
Ideally, some of these initial co-op members will actively participate in the co-op, in exchange for service discounts. We are looking for members from the tech industry (to help build and maintain the network), lawyers, realtors and local business members. Help us spread the word!
Interested in the service? Fill out our form at: http://www.auwireless.net/lets-do-this/ That allows us to track and contact perspective members.
Our goal is to launch service by the first of the year so all your high-tech holiday gifts can be using fast, uncapped synchronous Internet.
After a number of trips up and down the antenna tower at the top of Lookout Mountain, the first couple antennas have been installed and tested. The signal from these is providing service to the north end of Golden (from about the golf course to the city line at Pine Ridge Rd). If you are in that area and interested in participating in the community co-op, fill out the form to be added to our list ASAP!
Looking north from the antenna
Looking down the tower while installing. Yikes!
Here are a couple images of what the wireless radio looks like for the backhaul link. These images are courtesy of MonkeyBrains ISP in San Francisco but shows the same radio AU Wireless uses. The radio is just under 17" in diameter (medium pizza) and weighs 10 pounds. It does not require an antenna mast and can be attached to a pole as simple as an old satellite TV pole (the kind that holds a DirecTV dish to your house). The antenna itself that we use is smaller than a DirecTV dish.
Antenna attached to a roof in San Francisco
Same antenna type in another location
Here are a couple pictures from a customer installation. This person already had a small pole attached to a vent pipe to hold a weather station and weather camera. The wireless client is the white dish mounted in the middle. It gives a pretty good size comparison as well as how it can be mounted on a roof.
Client device mounted below the weather station
Looking at the front of the same device
