Selling internet

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Hi all. Recently I got permission from my isp to share my internet to neighbours and splitting the cost. My only barrier is ICASA and their insane pricing for licenses. I get the need for spectrum licenses but why to offer internet? It's an investment of time and money you make on your own.

To me the license i need is a plain money making scheme. Because to what are you paying R10 000 for a license for....absolutely nothing. Just because icasa is backed by the government, if you don't obtain a license... Its illegal.

I mean... The UK for example doesn't have such pathetic licensing from ofcom.. Their communication regulators. I could give thousand more examples.

With that out of the way, i wondered if you can run an ethernet cable to their house... Down from ours to their's. We are only about 1 meter away from their garage (linked to the house) Is there also any crazy R20 000 licenses I need for that?

Thanks
 
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It's not out of the way until you have a license. It's illegal
 
Thor said:
It's not out of the way until you have a license. It's illegal
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Noob question, why do i actually need a license.. Am I not basically piggybacking from the ISP's license?

Starting your own isp, with its own infrastructure needs a license...makes sense.

But resellers of ISPs don't generally need any licensing
 
Because that is how the law works, as soon as you cross a boundary of sort you need a license. And no, you are not "piggybacking" from your ISP, once you sell internet you yourself become an ISP.
 
If the airspace wasn't regulated, we'd have fools transmitting on the same wavelengths as others, making a complete mess of everything.
 
--- said:
Hi all. Recently I got permission from my isp to share my internet to neighbours and splitting the cost. My only barrier is ICASA and their insane pricing for licenses. I get the need for spectrum licenses but why to offer internet? It's an investment of time and money you make on your own.

To me the license i need is a plain money making scheme. Because to what are you paying R10 000 for a license for....absolutely nothing. Just because icasa is backed by the government, if you don't obtain a license... Its illegal.

I mean... The UK for example doesn't have such pathetic licensing from ofcom.. Their communication regulators. I could give thousand more examples.

With that out of the way, i wondered if you can run an ethernet cable to their house... Down from ours to their's. We are only about 1 meter away from their garage (linked to the house) Is there also any crazy R10 000 license I need for that?

Thanks
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If everyone started broadcasting whatever they wanted through the airwaves, you can imagine the chaos within those spectrums. Some wave spectrums don't need normally need a license as they are short range and not meant for commercial use, otherwise you need a license, and rightly so.

I'm fairly certain the UK has similar laws in place.
 
pancakes said:
If everyone started broadcasting whatever they wanted through the airwaves, you can imagine the chaos within those spectrums. Some wave spectrums don't need normally need a license as they are short range and not meant for commercial use, otherwise you need a license, and rightly so.

I'm fairly certain the UK has similar laws in place.
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All countries have a regulatory body that regulates the airwaves. In the UK it's Ofcom, SA ICASA and the USA the FCC.

They act like air traffic control. Without proper air traffic coordination, you'd have planes crashing into each other all the time. It's the same with the electromagnetic spectrum. The space has to be heavily regulated.
 
genetic said:
All countries have a regulatory body that regulates the airwaves. In the UK it's Ofcom, SA ICASA and the USA the FCC.

They act like air traffic control. Without proper air traffic coordination, you'd have planes crashing into each other all the time. It's the same with the electromagnetic spectrum. The space has to be heavily regulated.
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Thats why we got spectrum licensing... I 100% understand you need to regulate spectrums, but with 2.4 and 5.8 ghz being unlicensed...you still need to throw away R20 000 on ECS and ECNS licenses to provide a service... That's where the money making comes in... If you get permission from an isp to sell your bandwidth to neighbours... Why the hell is there any need for more licenses..
 
pancakes said:
If everyone started broadcasting whatever they wanted through the airwaves, you can imagine the chaos within those spectrums. Some wave spectrums don't need normally need a license as they are short range and not meant for commercial use, otherwise you need a license, and rightly so.

I'm fairly certain the UK has similar laws in place.
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Ofcom has regulations for the spectrums outside 2.4 and 5.8 ghz.. But no laws about licenses needed to cross the signal over any public road.

I definitely agree with you guys, we definitely need to regulate the spectrum... But can someone tell me if ECS and ECNS licenses are actually there for regulation? That's what I don't get
 
--- said:
That's where the money making comes in... If you get permission from an isp to sell your bandwidth to neighbours... Why the hell is there any need for more licenses..
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Because you'd be transmitting beyond the range of whats considered domestic, and could impact those around you. Getting an ICASA license means that they approve and won't allow anyone else in your vicinity to do the same at that said frequency. Why they charge so much for that license is questionable.
 
genetic said:
Because you'd be transmitting beyond the range of whats considered domestic, and could impact those around you. Getting an ICASA license means that they approve and won't allow anyone else in your vicinity to do the same at that said frequency. Why they charge so much for that license is questionable.
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Okay, makes sense, and yeh R20 000 so that I can send internet over to my next door neighbour is quite interesting.
 
--- said:
Okay, makes sense, and yeh R20 000 so that I can send internet over to my next door neighbour is quite interesting.
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Just put your router by a window close to your neighbour, and no one would even know. The issue is when you start using signal boosters to transmit further, and someone complains.
 
genetic said:
Just put your router by a window close to your neighbour, and no one would even know. The issue is when you start using signal boosters to transmit further, and someone complains.
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The original post.. I wondered if getting an ethernet cable to their house is an option? Then get their router to use the ethernet cable as the internet, then their router can act as an accesses point

Ill think through my options.

But thanks for your feedback :)
 
I'd say a cable is your best bet. Guaranteed throughput and low latency.

Once you start pushing the limits of WiFi, you get poor performance, and if someone farts in the wrong direction you lose signal... :p
 
genetic said:
I'd say a cable is your best bet. Guaranteed throughput and low latency.

Once you start pushing the limits of WiFi, you get poor performance, and if someone farts in the wrong direction you lose signal... :p
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Just get an outdoor WiFi access point (120 degree sector should do) and mount it on the wall closest to your neighbour. I seriously doubt ICASA will come after you if you’re just sharing your connection on a non-commercial basis.
 
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quovadis said:
Just get an outdoor WiFi access point (120 degree sector should do) and mount it on the wall closest to your neighbour. I seriously doubt ICASA will come after you if you’re just sharing your connection on a non-commercial basis.
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It is kind of commercially, he will be paying me half of the price... And getting half of the speed
 
--- said:
It is kind of commercially, he will be paying me half of the price... And getting half of the speed
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Have a look at SECN exemptions. I’m pretty sure that as long as you’re granted permission by the licensed operator to share the service then it would be fine. You could always email icasa and ask?
 
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