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pheller
pheller UltimaDork
1/12/21 12:54 p.m.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2021/01/jared-mauch-didnt-have-good-broadband-so-he-built-his-own-fiber-isp/

"The old saying "if you want something done right, do it yourself" usually isn't helpful when your problem is not having good Internet service. But for one man in rural Michigan named Jared Mauch, who happens to be a network architect, the solution to not having good broadband at home was in fact building his own fiber-Internet service provider.

"I had to start a telephone company to get [high-speed] Internet access at my house," Mauch explained in a recent presentation about his new ISP that serves his own home in Scio Township, which is next to Ann Arbor, as well as a few dozen other homes in Washtenaw County.

Mauch, a senior network architect at Akamai in his day job, moved into his house in 2002. At that point, he got a T1 line when 1.5Mbps was "a really great Internet connection," he said. As broadband technology advanced, Mauch expected that an ISP would eventually wire up his house with cable or fiber. It never happened.

He eventually switched to a wireless Internet service provider that delivered about 50Mbps. Mauch at one point contacted Comcast, which told him it would charge $50,000 to extend its cable network to his house. "If they had priced it at $10,000, I would have written them a check," Mauch told Ars. "It was so high at $50,000 that it made me consider if this is worthwhile. Why would I pay them to expand their network if I get nothing back out of it?"

AT&T, the incumbent phone company, finally offered DSL to Mauch about five years ago, he said. However, AT&T's advertised plans for his neighborhood topped out at a measly 1.5Mbps—a good speed in 2002, not in 2020. AT&T stopped offering basic DSL to new customers in October and hasn't upgraded many rural areas to modern replacements, leaving users like Mauch without any great options.

But about four years ago, Mauch started planning to build his own provider that now offers fiber-to-the-home broadband in parts of Scio Township and Lima Township. Mauch has installed five miles of fiber so far and began hooking up his first customers a few months ago. As of early January, Mauch told us he had connected 30 homes and had about 10 more homes to wire up. He initially figured he'd get about 35 percent of potential customers to buy service, but it's been about 70 percent in reality. The customers that Mauch has not yet hooked up are generally relying on cellular service, he said."

 

"Construction wasn't a breeze. Mauch received one stop-work order from the county because he hadn't installed enough stakes along the right of way. Mauch also ran into confusion over a requirement to provide 48 hours notice before work—he said he didn't realize he needed to provide that notice each time his crew did work. "Permitting agencies are not always very clear about what their requirements are... and this is a barrier of entry for newer providers like me," Mauch told us.

There was another snag when a machine was stolen from one of Mauch's work sites. "We actually found it for sale on Facebook and we managed to recover it as well due to diligent work on the part of the police and our own research," he said.

The pandemic helped Mauch a bit because there was less road traffic and people were generally at home, making it easier to run fiber to their houses, he said. The pandemic also helped local residents realize just how important broadband access is, which may have boosted the sign-up rate for Mauch's service.

Mauch charges $65 a month for symmetrical 50Mbps service, $75 for 250Mbps, and $99 for 500Mbps, with an installation fee of $199. If a house is more than 200 feet from the road, he charges an extra 45 cents per foot to extend the cable."

From the Comments:

  • acadiel 

    Tons of respect for this guy - he managed to conquer many complex things:

    - Local regulations, laws, permits, you name it (which can be quite complex)
    - Tariffs related to telecom (also quite complex)
    - The hardest part - getting the cable underground and to the customer site (without breaking anything)
    - Fiber splicing (I've never done it - so I'm sure the equipment and learning curve took a little bit)

    Definitely took some planning and dedication on his behalf - and I could see this model working with other areas that don't have fiber internet. Totally impressed by what he did!

  • shimonmor 

    Reminds me of a similar article from Ars back in Nov 2015: https://arstechnica.com/information-tec ... t-service/

    These articles, as well as similar cases all over the US, are glaring examples of the failure of deregulated capitalism. Capitalism can only work when heavily regulated otherwise its core principle--greed--drives all decisions.

    "I have been surprised at how desperate people are for broadband," Mauch told Ars.

    No surprise...high-speed Internet service is a necessity which is why it needs to be regulated as such.

    Those proponents of deregulation in the name of "progress" and "efficiency" are liars and thieves. The only way to keep those thieves in check is through effective government regulation. Yes, it makes running a business more difficult, but it's the only way to prevent the current, pathetic and monopolistic broadband landscape in the US.

SVreX (Forum Supporter)
SVreX (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
1/12/21 1:39 p.m.

Fascinating...

I sure know a LOT of rural areas.  Makes me wonder...

Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter)
Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) SuperDork
1/12/21 1:42 p.m.

This guy seems to have nailed a business model that others are ignoring. With the right financing he could do very well.

Grtechguy
Grtechguy MegaDork
1/12/21 1:47 p.m.

Kind of surprising A2 suburbs don't have decent broadband.

 

Starlink is going to be a game changer though.

Duke
Duke MegaDork
1/12/21 1:54 p.m.
pheller said:

From the Comments:

  • Reminds me of a similar article from Ars back in Nov 2015: https://arstechnica.com/information-tec ... t-service/

    These articles, as well as similar cases all over the US, are glaring examples of the failure of deregulated capitalism. Capitalism can only work when heavily regulated otherwise its core principle--greed--drives all decisions.

    "I have been surprised at how desperate people are for broadband," Mauch told Ars.

    No surprise...high-speed Internet service is a necessity which is why it needs to be regulated as such.

    Those proponents of deregulation in the name of "progress" and "efficiency" are liars and thieves. The only way to keep those thieves in check is through effective government regulation. Yes, it makes running a business more difficult, but it's the only way to prevent the current, pathetic and monopolistic broadband landscape in the US.

I... I... I'm not sure I can respond to this comment without getting banned.

Guess I won't even try.

 

captdownshift (Forum Supporter)
captdownshift (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
1/12/21 2:36 p.m.

How long until somebody does this and utilizes all of their neighbor's computers for Bitcoin mining without the neighbors' knowledge or awareness

californiamilleghia
californiamilleghia SuperDork
1/12/21 2:48 p.m.

I am a little confused ., 

Where did he get the  BIG internet fiber cable that he starts with ?

Did that come from the Local phone company or  ?

I am glad that it can be done , but  does he have to do service calls whenever a tree branch knocks down the Fiber cable ?

RossD
RossD MegaDork
1/12/21 2:52 p.m.

 

Mauch buys Internet connectivity and bandwidth for his ISP from ACD.net, a large network provider, but ACD.net hasn't deployed fiber lines to Mauch's neighborhood. Mauch thus installed two miles of fiber from his home to ACD.net's closest underground cable vaults, where he connected his fiber to their network. Bandwidth supplied by ACD.net now travels to a fiber distribution panel at Mauch's property, allowing Mauch's house to act as the hub that provides connectivity to his customers. Mauch also bought a backup connection from 123Net to provide redundancy. If Mauch ever sells his house, he said he plans to grant himself an easement to access certain ISP-related equipment on the property.

bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter)
bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
1/12/21 3:06 p.m.

In reply to californiamilleghia :

Fibre is buried. Unless someone cuts through it it is pretty trouble free.

SVreX (Forum Supporter)
SVreX (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
1/12/21 3:09 p.m.

In reply to californiamilleghia :

"Big" internet fiber cable???

It's not much more than a 1/4" in diameter.  There's even a picture of it on the reel in the article. 
 

This is pretty straight forward stuff in the construction industry.

And his cables are all buried in conduit 6' deep.

Duke
Duke MegaDork
1/12/21 3:19 p.m.

In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :

I assume he means "big" as in "enough wholesale bandwidth that he can support 50 houses' worth of individual service", not as in diameter.

 

RevRico
RevRico GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
1/12/21 3:22 p.m.

In reply to RossD :

That's the part I was trying to figure out, thanks

Robbie (Forum Supporter)
Robbie (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
1/12/21 3:50 p.m.
SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:

Fascinating...

I sure know a LOT of rural areas.  Makes me wonder...

No kidding!

Jay_W
Jay_W SuperDork
1/12/21 4:21 p.m.

In reply to Duke :

Truly. I mean, where do you even start? 

newrider3
newrider3 Reader
1/12/21 4:40 p.m.
Jay_W said:

In reply to Duke :

Truly. I mean, where do you even start? 

I'm not saying I agree with the quoted comment block in the original post, but;

 - Internet is no longer a luxury item. It's a necessity, and should be treated like a utility and regulated like electric, gas, or water utilities. 

 - Quality and reliable internet availability in rural areas really is a huge problem. I've experienced it first hand, and while I had the choice to move where I did and deal with the consequences, people in poor rural areas have little choice.

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter)
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand UberDork
1/12/21 5:18 p.m.

I agree that broadband access should be treated as a utility. Widespread access will have a ripple effect throughout the economy of the country as a whole. 

Streetwiseguy
Streetwiseguy MegaDork
1/12/21 5:27 p.m.

I have a friend who lives about three miles outside the city, and his internet sucked donkey balls.  I also have a friend about seven miles north of him, with clear line of sight.  There are two small antennas pointed at each other, and country friend pays city friends internet bill.  I know nothing of such things, but it works pretty much flawlessly for the last four or five years.

I also heard about a guy who broadcasts his city homes signal off a repeater mounted on a grain bin 40 miles out, which then sends it to his farm, another number of miles further out.

aircooled
aircooled MegaDork
1/12/21 6:07 p.m.

As mentioned, Starlink (I believe there are competitors also) will make such things essentially mute.  It's already running in some latitudes and locations.

Jay_W
Jay_W SuperDork
1/12/21 8:10 p.m.

In reply to newrider3 :

I'm in the picture this topic is about and don't like it. We've been stuck with crap internet since we moved out here 18 years ago and can't wait for starlink. But at least, even if that option weren't to exist, if I needed to, I could follow this guys' lead and go into the ISP biz. Which is something I prolly wouldn't be allowed to do under some other systems...

JThw8
JThw8 UltimaDork
1/13/21 10:51 a.m.

- Quality and reliable internet availability in rural areas really is a huge problem. I've experienced it first hand, and while I had the choice to move where I did and deal with the consequences, people in poor rural areas have little choice.

Agreed, when we relocated to NC we had a hell of a time finding a new house.  Every one we found which met our requirements was missing any viable form of internet.  Pretty bad when the wife works from home (as have I since the Covid thing)  We were lucky to finally find a place with broadband availability but we passed up a lot of really great houses along the way (particularly painful was the one wich had a 6 car garage and 40x60 workshop on the property).

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
1/13/21 10:57 a.m.
Streetwiseguy said:

I have a friend who lives about three miles outside the city, and his internet sucked donkey balls.  I also have a friend about seven miles north of him, with clear line of sight.  There are two small antennas pointed at each other, and country friend pays city friends internet bill.  I know nothing of such things, but it works pretty much flawlessly for the last four or five years.

I also heard about a guy who broadcasts his city homes signal off a repeater mounted on a grain bin 40 miles out, which then sends it to his farm, another number of miles further out.

I can't tell you exactly how to do this but if I were looking to the same I would got to Tessco and research point to point.  I was last in talks with Tessco a couple of years ago when we wanted to offer WiFi to all the boats in the marina.  

logdog (Forum Supporter)
logdog (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand UberDork
1/13/21 11:33 a.m.
JThw8 said:

- Quality and reliable internet availability in rural areas really is a huge problem. I've experienced it first hand, and while I had the choice to move where I did and deal with the consequences, people in poor rural areas have little choice.

Agreed, when we relocated to NC we had a hell of a time finding a new house.  Every one we found which met our requirements was missing any viable form of internet.  Pretty bad when the wife works from home (as have I since the Covid thing)  We were lucky to finally find a place with broadband availability but we passed up a lot of really great houses along the way (particularly painful was the one wich had a 6 car garage and 40x60 workshop on the property).

That was a big problem for us when we moved to PA.  So many houses that are on the edge of town get nothing.  We also found that depending on the supplier for a given house, and who answered the phone, they wouldn't even tell us what was available unless we opened an account.  Sometimes we would have to call 2 or 3 times to find out they only offered dialup at an address.

Where we ended up buying is serviced by a small provider.  According to the guy that came out to hook us up, they were founded by a bunch of farmers in the early days of the telephone who were mad none of the phone companies would run lines out here.  So they got together and did it eventually adding cable and internet.  

GIRTHQUAKE
GIRTHQUAKE Dork
1/13/21 10:48 p.m.
John Welsh said:
Streetwiseguy said:

I have a friend who lives about three miles outside the city, and his internet sucked donkey balls.  I also have a friend about seven miles north of him, with clear line of sight.  There are two small antennas pointed at each other, and country friend pays city friends internet bill.  I know nothing of such things, but it works pretty much flawlessly for the last four or five years.

I also heard about a guy who broadcasts his city homes signal off a repeater mounted on a grain bin 40 miles out, which then sends it to his farm, another number of miles further out.

I can't tell you exactly how to do this but if I were looking to the same I would got to Tessco and research point to point.  I was last in talks with Tessco a couple of years ago when we wanted to offer WiFi to all the boats in the marina.  

It's a system called WISP. It's why half of Colordao has been kicking out their ISPs.

alfadriver
alfadriver MegaDork
5/24/22 1:11 p.m.

Not sure what kind of canoe that it, but I missed this thread the first time.

FWIW, Scio Township isn't all that rural, compared to other places- we in Ann Arbor have been struggling with internet an cable for years, as there's zero real competition for service here.  The ONE thing we have going for us is that the University of Michigan is right here, and they have been a major hub of the internet since before it was the internet.  It's so significant that part of Google is here in A2.

Anyway, this reply is because an apparent canoe brought this subject back up.  I realize the thread is almost a year and a half old.

GameboyRMH
GameboyRMH GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
5/24/22 1:23 p.m.
captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:

How long until somebody does this and utilizes all of their neighbor's computers for Bitcoin mining without the neighbors' knowledge or awareness

Should be never as long as the neighbors don't fall for some obvious scam along the way, such as the idea of having to install some software on their computers to connect.

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