Overview:

You can now have high-speed wireless internet service in Jamestown. A nonprofit volunteer organization has formed to deliver T1 speed using the 802.11b wireless technologies. If you're in line-of-sight of the Merc, you be able to get it now. Two repeaters are up and running to extend service to Ward Street, and locations south and east of town. Two more repeaters are planned and should be installed in the Fall of 2004. As of August 2004, we have 31 members.

What does it cost?

$300 a year, plus about $150 equipment cost (we provide the equipment). Typically, slow, dial-up internet costs $20/month or $240 a year. One person who has Satellite high speed internet in Jamestown pays $70/month or $840/year.

How do you know it will work - you've never done this before?

The service has been operational since October 2003. Talk to someone who is online. I'm sure the following users would welcome a call: David Mans, Robert Hastings, Ben Perry, Chris Kendall, Jonathan Bartsch, Ed Gage, Steve Edelstein. Magnolia Road Internet services 200 square miles, the Bar-K uses wireless, and Nederland uses it. They were able to accomplish this - Jimtowners are as competent as them!

Who's behind it?

Jon Ashton is the founder, along with his nephew Billy, a gifted systems designer, Tim Penny, a radio engineer, and Robert Hastings, a computer generalist, are the present volunteer base. Mike Kent has offered the Jamestown Mercantile to house the system. We need your participation too.

Where will it work?

Wireless internet works on line-of-sight principles, but it's possible to turn corners with a device called a repeater. Two repeaters are operating at this time to extend service to Ward Street and areas south and east of town.

What is the legal form of the organization?

The Colorado Uniform Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act is the current legal form that is being considered. It's for neighborhood associations with less than $10,000 revenue per year.

How often will I pay a bill?

Billing will be one year in advance. On our shoestring budget, monthly billing is impractical.

What about reliability and security?

The T1 part of the system is extremely reliable - in fact, the Qwest notifies us if they detect a problem. In four months the T-1 has worked flawlessly. The wireless part of the system is nearly as robust. There are four main harware components that make the system work. We have duplicated two of those components. As resources become available we will duplicate each major component in the system. Some of the services (email) that we host in Jamestown will be duplicated on another network. Security is built into the 802.11b protocol. However, no internet connection is 100% secure. We use industry protocols that make it difficult for hackers to access or read network traffic. The equipment, expertise and desire required to freeload the system would cost far in excess of the $300 to particpate in it. In any event, we'll be able to detect any huge amount of freeloading that occurs, and stop it.

Who maintains it?

Co-op members maintain the system. If there's an outage, you call us, not some remote service company. And we have lots of motivation to keep the system running, since we like having fast internet!

Do I still need my current Internet Service Provider?

Probably not. Jimtown.org has a mail server and web server in place, however you may wish to use yahoo mail or hotmail, and a separate web server. Additionally, you may wish to keep your current ISP in place for a month or two after you begin with Jimtown. Internet users can have some confusion about bandwidth providers vs. web/mail providers. If you have dial-up, your bandwidth provider, say AOL, is providing mail. Mail providers can be separate from bandwidth providers. If this seems confusing, call us.

How many subscribers do you have to date?

As of August, 2004, we have 26 wireless and 5 wired clients.

Will the service degrade as more clients are added?

No! Just the opposite. Bandwidth is cheep. With enough members a second T-1 could be ordered.