this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2026
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Explain Like I'm Five
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Putting down new cables is extremely expensive, especially if they need to go underground.
However it would be viable for a community to construct an ISP that uses a Wi-Fi mesh network, as demonstrated here and here.
Well, costs differ, but with specialised equipment & fast track city bureaucracy (with the specialised equipment) they could be much less then they are.
Especially in rural areas one of them giant subsoilers could do miles a day next to the road & just fix things as they break.
This isn't better than a proper maintainable shaft with working access points etc, but for a sort of community ISP it would do.
But proper networking equipment is hella expensive too, you need significant throughput, low lag, reliable service, redundancies, proper space, etc.
... the real question would be why isn't core infrastructure considered a pubic good & in hands of the gov (they get access to the data anyway). For profit internet access can get really tricky really fast.