It's an interesting project, though not quite free of operational expense. Someone has to provide the Internet pipe to the access point, so that is an expense and a connection requirement (i.e. you can't put this thing in the middle of nowhere, even though it's solar powered.)

Still, I think this is tres cool. As broadband providers compete, with home bandwidth edging up to 3 MBPS, the backhaul becomes even more capable, though perhaps not as good as if there were fiber to the home, as is the unintended benefit of a project in a Northern California community.

Actually, this seems like the perfect application for Vivato's long range/pin-pointing Wi-Fi technology, though I suppose they prefer to sell it rather than give it away to a bunch of geeks! [yes, they are misguided; imagine the value of the PR they've missed out on]

What make better sense to me, is that all of us, Wi-fi in our homes, form a mesh, leveraging each others networks for extended connectivity.

As long as the microwave isn't on.

EP
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