Nothing New..... (Score 1)

I worked for an ISP which provided wireless services to a local community as well as 3 other remote communities. We had wireless shots ranging from across the street to ~26KM hops to moutain repeater sites using Lucent's wireless hardware (2.4Ghz).... and this was 2 years ago! We used a range of directional parabolic antennas and dishes with a tower we built (that was interesting) for our main repeater site. Lucent reps even came up from Atlanta to have a look at our setup which they remarked wasn't exactly what they had in mind when they first developed their wireless hardware!

The main problem we had back then and it probably still stands was weather & interference. Everything would work well in the spring, summer, and fall, but winter would play havoc with our gear. We quickly learned how to properly weather seal our connections to avoid moisture forming within cable connectors. Another problem is the inherent drawbacks of using 2.4Ghz freqencies in nasty weather such as hard rain or snow. 2.4Ghz RF waves in these conditions do not play nicely. The other main problem we experienced on our mountain repeater sites was simply snow. On our 26K site, we had no direct power hookup and therefore had to construct an array of car batteries and solar panels to power this site. Again this worked fine during the nicer seasons but during winter, there is a lot less sun light and the snow would pile up *very* high, blocking the solar panels. We would then have to drive as far as we could up the mountain and use snowmobiles the rest of the way to be able to fix any problems (not much fun).

Some of these issues may have been avoided by using different (much more expensive) hardware but when you are trying to make a profit it didn't seem justifiable.

So, the biggest beef I have with wireless is the unpredictability compared to conventional cable connections (Coax, CAT5, fibre) for broadband use. As the technology matures - as it's doing - and for use with short distances it's becoming more of a viable alternative.

Just my 0.02.