...and then 11 months pass...

...and we're back. Briefly, Cisco didn't work out, and I'm glad to be back out on my own again. But my time there was valuable, and I am very grateful to them both for employing me for a few months and for letting me go gracefully.

I don't believe in a deterministic world, but I do believe that fate will sometimes whisper in your ear, and you should pay attention to it.

When I went to Cisco, we had been talking about the concept of farm wireless networks. There is value in having a wireless network on a farm, for data collection (soil sensors, irrigation systems, weather stations, yield monitors, telematics) as well as for internet access (being able to use your laptop from the tractor, for instance). In many ways, Cisco was a very good place for me to be surrounded by networking technology while I was thinking about this concept.

So I'm here, writing a business plan for a new chapter for Ayrstone, based on wireless networking and web technology. There are a lot of nice things out there that the agricultural world isn't using yet, and I want to bring some of the best of "silicon valley" technology to the "great midwest."

In particular, I'm excited about the possibility of using relatively low-cost "repeater" technology from Meraki, particularly their outdoor repeater and perhaps their upcoming solar model. I think that, by mating these to 12 dB gain antennas, we can actually light up a pretty fair area (one per section???). I'm thinking that, by using a network of 5-10 of these, covering a 2000+ acre farm should be possible for a few thousand dollars. My thinking is that, even if the signal goes three hops, you're still in the multi-megabit range with 802.11g, which is just fine.

The devil's in the details, of course, so we need to get out and prove the concept.

My Meraki equipment (and a couple of routers from open-mesh, and erstwhile competitor to Meraki) are on order. Should be fun...

Stay tuned!