[ELECTRON] Broadband

[Andrew Back]

FWIW I think reliable broadband and basic computing infrastructure are
vital. The intermittent lack of these in the past has been a cause of a great
deal of pain, not just for 'puter types but those tinkering with electronics
etc also. 

With regards tools and other bits and pieces you can generally obtain these
as and when, in dribs and drabs. Numerous people have picked such stuff up
on an ad-hoc basis - small purchases self-funded and for the club. You can't
do this with broadband...

Membership subs etc are a bad idea, as are any sort of financial commitment
on behalf of the club. Not having to manage funds and outgoings is a very
good thing. Far less opportunity for conflicts and disagreements etc.
However, if people want to pool or raise money to fund a particular thing
they feel passionate about, that's a different matter and a great way
forward IMHO. IIRC this is how the shelving got done (plus Bob fixing it.
Yes he did...)

It would be nice to try and fix the CCA's network problems, and great if
folks are willing to have a go. However, I also think that it might not be
so hard to raise the funds for a year's domestic broadband service. I for
one would be happy to contribute.

Cheers,

Andrew


On (14:49 08/04/09), Simon Yuill wrote:
> I saw Kenny (CCA) earlier this week and he was asking about exactly this
> thing. The CCA's network is, to be honest, pants and always has been,
> they seem to be locked into some kind of commercial provider who does
> not provide a very good service.
> 
> I am not every knowledgeable about this kind of stuff (ie. traffic
> shaping etc) so if there were other people who are, and are willing to
> take a look at what the CCA currently have and advise on how to get it
> better then I can set up a meeting with Kenny or put you directly in
> touch with each other.
> 
> As for having subscriptions to pay for the broadband I am completely
> against this. Membership has always been, and should stay, free.
> 
> I agree with Bob's point that better internet access from the space
> would be beneficial, however it is also the case that not everyone's use
> of the space depends upon this, and as Mark pointed out, there are other
> needs which perhaps also should be covered. I would be unhappy to see a
> situation where one type of use was being subsidized through membership
> fees, whilst others were not.
> 
> Dan from the 'social centre' groups has offered to help run a
> fund-raising event to pay for the broadband. He has been tied up with
> exams and stuff but has recently been in touch to say he's still keen to
> take this on. I would suggest that a combination of fund-raising and
> voluntary donations from those who have a need for broadband would be a
> fairer way of getting it off the ground.
> 
> Dan also made some enquiries about costs (which is where the figure of
> 600 came from). The Phone Co-Op are willing to offer us a domestic
> package - Kenny Dufus is correct that a business package would be too
> expensive for us. The 600 also covers the installation of a new BT
> phoneline which we would need and an ADSL modem/router. Ongoing annual
> costs for the broadband after the first year would therefore be lower
> (about 300-400). If people have stuff like a spare ADSL modem that can
> be lent/donated then that would reduce the initial costs further.
> 
> I would like us to have better internet access from the space, we could
> resurrect the project server that some people were using for example.
> There have been some good suggestions made in people's emails about the
> broadband, and Gordon's one is a good starting point that could cost us
> nothing, so we should be able to combine some of those ideas to do it
> cheaply, fairly and realistically.
> 
> best wishes
> Si
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Gordon JC Pearce MM3YEQ wrote:
> > On Wed, 2009-04-08 at 09:29 +0100, Bob wrote:
> > 
> >> members over the door. The space is unused about %80 of the time if we had 
> >> a half decent internet and a few computers that worked it might encourage 
> >> people to us the place to work in in the day time.
> > 
> > Maybe the CCA would accept some advice on filtering and throttling the
> > Internet connection to stop people running bittorrent all the time, and
> > flattening the upstream bandwidth (which is the real issue).
> > 
> > That improves things for *everyone*, even the people torrenting.
> > 
> > Gordon
> > 
> > 
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-- 
Andrew Back
a at smokebelch.org