Locations
There is obviously a physical dimension to where Broadband is available in our project,
and particularly in the early stage of its roll-out there are a limited number of access
points. Our initial priority was to ensure that any individual living in Buckfastleigh and
the surrounding area would be able to access Broadband services. This led us to focus on
Broadband connections to key public facilities, i.e. the local library/town hall, primary
school and WAVE, our public access centre.
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The next phase involved pushing connections out to more points within the town. Where possible
we wanted to connect locations that would act as 'hubs' for many users as well as being
jump off points for potential further connections. This led us to concentrate on a local
business centre, two public houses (one within Buckfastleigh, the other in an outlying village,
Holne) and a strategically located dwelling within a large housing development at one end
of the town.
Throughout this process, we looked to work with individuals who were conversant and comfortable
with the ideas behind Broadband and were happy to take on a level of responsibility for
their part of the network, the equipment and the inevitable local queries this created.
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WAVEpoint
WAVEpoint wireless hotspot functionality at a location enables people with laptops and PDAs
(Personal Digital Assistants) to connect wirelessly into the Buckfastleigh Broadband Network.
WAVE
An important part of the strategy of bringing Broadband to Buckfastleigh is a highly visible
public space in the centre of the town from where we market and demonstrate Broadband to
Buckfastleigh businesses, residents and visitors to the town. WAVE is our Public Broadband
Internet Access centre, highly accessible and attractive with a modern yet comfortable,
welcoming feel. The emphasis is not on computers and bears little resemblance to traditional
computer/ICT centres. WAVE is the network operations centre and provides a project office
for the Buckfastleigh Broadband team.
WAVE serves as the main hub of the overall Buckfastleigh Broadband
network. Traffic from all the locations routes through WAVE, then
to the primary school via a 2.3MB per second SDSL (synchronous digital
subscriber line) point-to-point EPS8 circuit (also known as an analogue
Baseband Premier Circuit provided by BT). Traffic then routes on
to the main Internet via the SWGfL (South West Grid for Learning)
connection. The network uses a standard ISDN2 dial-up connection
at 128kb per second both for back-up and for sending email traffic.
Email has to be routed via the ISDN2 connection due to firewall
protection on the SWGfL network.
WAVE is located at 46 Fore Street, Buckfastleigh, Devon, TQ11 0AA,
U.K.
Telephone: +44 (0)1364 644 633
Email: info@buckfastleigh.net
www.buckfastleigh.net
Open: Tues. 10.00-18.00, Weds. 10.00-14.00, Thurs. 10.00-20.00,
Fri. 10.00-18.00, Sat. 10.00-14.00. The first 30 minutes use of
facilities is FREE, each subsequent 30 minutes is £1.50. Some
of what WAVE has to offer:
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- Use of eight high-performance computer workstations
- Public access to the Internet - email, web
- WAVEpoint wireless hotspot
- Training & Information for businesses and individuals
- Office applications - Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access
- Media production facilities - video, audio, photo editing, desktop publishing
- Website creation facilities - Front Page & Dreamweaver
- Document & image scanning & copying
- Printing - Colour laser and B&W laser A4 printers
- CDRom & DVD reading and writing
- Accessory items - floppy discs & CDRoms
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Buckfastleigh Public Library/Town Hall
Devon County Council's 'The People's Network' provides a separate 2MB per second connection
to two computers in the library, which is located in the town hall.
Bossell Road, Buckfastleigh, Devon.
Telephone 01364 642638
Library Open: Mon. 10.00-12.00 & 14.30-17.00, Tues. 14.30-17.00, Thurs. 10.00-12.00 &
14.30-17.00, Fri. 14.30-19.00, Sat. 10.00-12.00
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Buckfastleigh Primary School
The primary school is connected by fibre to the SWGfL, through a contract with RM (http://www.rm.com),
providing a 2MB per second service to the school. The school has an ICT suite with ten networked
computers and a number of teaching and administrative computer workstations throughout the
school. The 2MB connection is shared with Buckfastleigh Broadband.
Bossell Road, Buckfastleigh, Devon. |
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Buckfastleigh Business Centre
Located in the centre of the town, the Business Centre has facilities available for approximately
10 small enterprises. Broadband is supplied to the centre as part of the 3.4 GHz wireless
point-to-multipoint system, which provides a maximum 1.5MB per second symmetric service.
Chapel Street, Buckfastleigh, Devon. Telephone 01364 643242 |
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Waterman's Arms
This 14th Century public house may well have been the first completely Broadband wireless
pub in the South West, having both a WAVEpoint wireless Broadband hotspot available to customers
within the pub as well as a 3.4 GHz wireless Broadband connection back to the Internet.
22 Chapel Street, Buckfastleigh, Devon. Telephone 01364 643200
Open: Mon.-Fri. 18.00-23.00, Sat. & Sun. 12.00-23.00
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G S Multi-media, Duckspond
A connection is provided to G S Multi-media, a small home-based Internet and multi-media production
company, in order to investigate the practicalities of providing Broadband Services within
a housing development. Again, a 3.4 GHz wireless connection is the main link to the property,
providing a maximum 1.5MB per second service.
An external roof-mounted omni-directional aerial then serves as an access point for residents
living within an approximate 150-metre radius. This access point or 'cell' uses standard
802.11b wireless kit (2.4GHz). Subscribers can connect into the access point by purchasing
one of several adaptor units. These can offer either a USB or Ethernet interface to the
subscriber's computer. Alternatively, laptop users can purchase a plug-in PCMI card, although
the latest generation of laptops have this wireless capability built-in, e.g. Apple's Airport
products and PC laptops based upon Intel's Centrino platform. Users of this part of the
network typically experience connections speeds of approximately 500kb per second symmetric.
In addition to this, a second point-to-point link using highly directional aerials provides
service to a home-based IT business over 1 mile away. Again, this uses 802.11b wireless
technology (2.4GHz) with a symmetric connection of approximately 500kb per second.
21 Elmbank, Buckfastleigh, Devon. Telephone 01364 643433
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Church House Inn
Located in the picturesque Dartmoor village of Holne, over 5km outside Buckfastleigh,
this is an example of a truly rural Broadband application. The main link is by a 3.4GHz wireless
connection. It is important to stress that the terrain between Buckfastleigh and Holne is
extremely hilly and wooded, and there is no direct line of sight between the two locations.
This link demonstrates the capability of this particular type of wireless technology designed
to deliver high quality Broadband service in geographically challenging locations. Traffic
routes via our head-end mast at Buckfastleigh to a well-located private home where a local
resident acts as the main point of contact for the Broadband service to the village.
A point-to-point wireless bridge at 2.4 GHz provides the connection between this residence
and the Church House Inn public house. Inside the pub, a further 2.4 GHz wireless access
point provides full, high quality WAVEpoint wireless service within the building. Typically
a 800kb per second service is experienced in this remote location.
A further external omni-directional aerial provides connectivity to the village residents
using 2.4GHz equipment similar in nature to the G S Multi-media access
point described above.
Telephone 01364 631208
http://www.churchhouse-holne.co.uk
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Tradesman's Arms, Scoriton
In the scenic Dartmoor hamlet of Scoriton, approximately 3.5km outside Buckfastleigh,
is another example of a truly rural Broadband application. Similar to the connection into
Holne, the main link to Scoriton is by a 3.4GHz wireless connection, and although not as distant
as Holne, the terrain between Buckfastleigh and Scoriton is also extremely hilly and wooded.
This link again demonstrates the capability of this particular type of wireless technology
designed to deliver high quality Broadband service in geographically challenging locations.
Traffic routes via our head-end mast at Buckfastleigh to a welcoming local pub, the Tradesman's
Arms, where the publicans act as the point of contact for the Broadband service to the hamlet.
Inside the pub, is a 2.4 GHz wireless access point providing full, high quality WAVEpoint
wireless service within the pub and outside in the beer garden. We think this WAVEpoint
has the most beautiful views of the Dartmoor countryside. Typically a 800kb per second service
is experienced in this remote location.
A further external omni-directional aerial is planned to be installed soon to provde connectivity
to the residents of Scoriton, using 2.4GHz equipment similar in nature to the G
S Multi-media and Church House Inn access points described above.
Telephone 01364 631206
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