Sonic.net

Hey Dane and Co,

I met a couple Sonic employees yesterday as they were checking the lead wire that had just been strung between the utility poles on the south side of Gilman St., in preparation for the fiber cable you are about to install.

That's so exciting...and so tantalizing.

Here's the rub: I live one house away from the corner on a side street with underground utilities.

I chatted with a few other folks on the block and found 5 houses who would be interested in switching to Sonic and one other house that is already with Sonic (like us). Of the neighbors I talked to, I only found one person who isn't interested in switching (happy with LMI).

What would it take to get Sonic to investigate wiring our block?

I believe there are 32 or 33 potential customers on our block. I'd be willing to go door-to-door to make this happen. I'm a big fan of Sonic (with you since 2011), however, on our block, the copper Fusion throughput is often a trying experience.

Today in Berkeley we are focused on aerial construction, the calculus for us is cost of construction divided by interest/uptake. Because underground has higher construction cost, we'd need much higher uptake on a citywide basis - we cannot take on a single street two alone.

Our goal is to reach everyone, but this means starting with the areas where we see high uptake (Berkeley instead of San Leandro, for example), and lower construction cost (aerial instead of underground, in this example.) Then as Sonic sees higher and higher overall uptake, we can push into lower-demand, lower-density and higher construction cost areas.

So, reaching you, and anyone else not yet served with our fiber, depends upon our success and size of our membership. Please spread the word about our mission as far and wide as you can, it's the best hope for getting America beyond a Cable monopoly for fast high quality internet.

Dane,

You're fast...but...darn!

I think I'm going to have to talk to the house next door — where I expect you will be offering fiber — and see if we can't piggyback off their service. ;)

buegelfrei wrote:Dane,

You're fast...but...darn!

I think I'm going to have to talk to the house next door — where I expect you will be offering fiber — and see if we can't piggyback off their service.

Please don't do that, we cannot sustain the business model if people share their connection with a nearby home or apartment.

Fair point, Dane. We're your friends.

My last remark was intended as an expression of my frustration at being one house away from a long-awaited upgrade — as opposed to a workable solution.

buegelfrei wrote:Fair point, Dane. We're your friends.

My last remark was intended as an expression of my frustration at being one house away from a long-awaited upgrade — as opposed to a workable solution.

Maybe you can have Dane drop two fiber installs to your friend's house, and then "piggy-back" of the second? Then all will be fair.

buegelfrei wrote:Fair point, Dane. We're your friends.

My last remark was intended as an expression of my frustration at being one house away from a long-awaited upgrade — as opposed to a workable solution.

Just got a notice in US mail from ATnT documenting which phone poles near us they will be climbing "within the next couple of months to place fiber cable in support of future fiber based services."

It's a stretch along the east side of Monterey north of its intersection with Hopkins, plus the area bordered by Madera on the north, Merced on the east, Sonoma on the south, and Tulare on the west. Plus a few poles on Beverly Place, a few on Posen, and a few on Colusa.

So-o-o .... does this mean Sonic will be using ATnT's fiber? Or will Sonic be installing fiber in parallel to this?

The pole numbers are indicated in red on the printed parcel map, all "P plus 4 digits" and it looks like they're all poles within Berkeley city limits. One of them _may_ be the pole from which our current phone drop comes. Another is probably the pole from which our current AC power feed comes.

I assume if I go inspect the poles I can match those P#### numbers to some indicator nailed to them.

Please do email me a copy of that notice!

OK, should be in your email now