Windows Server 2003

[Khalil]

I live in a small town and the only broadband available is wireless and it is very expensive, I am paying $80 a month for it. I know a lot of people in my town would love to have broadband.
My question is if I were to build a server with Server 2003 as an OS and buy a T1 line which I know is available would I then be able to use that server to give others broadband through them using DSL type modems? I know its not simple and costly but is it doable? Can I do it with a T1 line?
If anyone knows I would appreciate any help.

[mairving]

Not quite that simple. How are they going to connect to your server? Are you going to run wire from their place to your server? I wouldn't use W2K3 server either as it would be quite a bit more costly than an Open Source solution. Plenty of other things involved like having a backup generator connected to your server, routers, etc.

You might look at this as a guide.

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by mairving Not quite that simple. How are they going to connect to your server? Are you going to run wire from their place to your server? I wouldn't use W2K3 server either as it would be quite a bit more costly than an Open Source solution. Plenty of other things involved like having a backup generator connected to your server, routers, etc. You might look at this as a guide.

Thanks for the link, it explained a lot but it does not tell me much about providing DSL or cable type high speed service.
How do those DSL modems connect to the ISP? Can't I have a DNS server people connect to with DSL modems through the phone lines?

[glc]

DSL requires DSL equipment - not just modems. Leave that to the telephone companies, in fact, they are the only ones who can make that happen. What you are trying to do is become an ISP, which will require a substantial investment in infrastructure. If you think you can just get a T1 run in and connect it to a server, you are only scratching the surface. Besides, a T1 is only 1.5 mbps bandwidth - how many users do you want to share that with? The days of running even a small ISP off a single T1 went away with dialup.

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by glc DSL requires DSL equipment - not just modems. Leave that to the telephone companies, in fact, they are the only ones who can make that happen. What you are trying to do is become an ISP, which will require a substantial investment in infrastructure. If you think you can just get a T1 run in and connect it to a server, you are only scratching the surface. Besides, a T1 is only 1.5 mbps bandwidth - how many users do you want to share that with? The days of running even a small ISP off a single T1 went away with dialup.

So what do I need to do to get 200 people on a small network? Mostly farmers. The town I live in is very small and we are restricted to horrible services like Earth*)&k or J*no or get killed pay 80 to 120 a month for wireless service that is not half as fast as the DSL service available in the town where I have my company.
Can I do something for around 20 to 30k dollars?

[mairving]

Originally Posted by Khalil So what do I need to do to get 200 people on a small network? Mostly farmers. The town I live in is very small and we are restricted to horrible services like Earth*)&k or J*no or get killed pay 80 to 120 a month for wireless service that is not half as fast as the DSL service available in the town where I have my company. Can I do something for around 20 to 30k dollars?

The answer is still the same. You could provide only limited service to a limited number of people, ie those that you are physically able to connect a cable to.

[glc]

Sounds like the infrastructure is already in place for servicing 200 customers in your area - the existing wireless company. $80 a month is not a bad deal for that scope. You won't be able to beat that without losing money. If DSL or cable were economically feasible there, someone else would have already done it.