December update and a new partnership in Golden

Finally, news to report and our December update!

In July, we started the process of looking for a building in downtown Golden with fiber optics in it for our backbone connection to the Internet. I can count on one hand the number of buildings that have fiber. Three of them are banks and are not interested in talking to co-op Internet providers. One is managed by a national leasing company that does not return five phone calls (looking your direction Source Gas building). The fifth is a building many of you know and have been in numerous times.  The American Mountaineering Center on 10th St has fiber they never hooked up but it is still in perfect condition.

I started the conversation with the building management back in August. They are a building full of like minded co-op and non-profit organizations. It was a perfect fit for us.  After a number of meetings and email conversations, yesterday we signed a deal with them for access to the fiber lines as well as roof rights to place our antenna to get the Internet up Lookout Mountain.  To say the least, we are very excited to be working with them. Next time you stop by the center, let them know you appreciate them working with us!

So, where are we with timelines? The bad news is my wife has to endure even more UPS packages on the front door as additional equipment arrives.  The fiber has been ordered as have the routers and radios to get it up Lookout Mountain. We just received 2 more (and final) test radios that would go on members homes. We are committed to finding the fastest radio equipment available today. We are down to two vendors and hope to narrow it down to one in the next 7 to 10 days. You may see me around town with a tripod full of antennas and a laptop...

I expect to transition to our high-speed line from the Mountaineering Center in mid to late December. We are adding our last test customers this week and next with our current temporary line.

If you live in the city of Golden (north of the ~ golf course), I think we can start connecting new members right after the holidays. Just in time to hook up any new electronic toys.

For those in the Easley Rd area, we are working on a relay site on the hill over there. In addition, some new radio equipment is shipping in early January we want to deploy in your neighborhood.  Our goal is to get your service up and running in late January.

We will have some more updates and information on how the co-op will work in the next week or two once we know the radio vendor and the pricing of the equipment.

Ars Technica article on community Internet

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.

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/11/how-a-group-of-neighbors-created-their-own-internet-service/

Fall Update

Fall Update from AU Wireless.

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.

Lookout Mountain tower operational

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!

Backhaul radio examples

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

Customer installation pictures

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