Wireless is growing by leaps and bounds, and is a natural medium for mesh connectivity. It frees providers from the limitations of fiber and cable in spanning the last mile, and also enables market-demanded scalability. As wireless access pricing becomes commoditized, mesh will likely follow a similar path – eventually. But OmniMesh is taking an aggressive stance to ensure price stability. Working strategically with familiar wireless technology, military-grade cognitive radios, and blockchain-driven security and billing, OmniMesh is creating a value-chain that will maximize capital efficiency while delivering scale at the rate of exponentially increasing demand.
There is a lot of misinformation out there surrounding wireless mesh. Let’s look at some of these myths and misconceptions.
Myth: Internet service must be expensive, no matter how it is delivered.
Truth: Yes, it is true using the current distribution and access networks, internet delivery is expensive for most providers and consumers. Here are a few of the reasons:
- 5G is touted to address speed/bandwidth challenges facing providers, but costly infrastructure will be needed to deploy 5G with terrestrial or satellite-based access
- Mixing outdated, high-maintenance infrastructure (like copper) with new technologies requires capital investment to prop up legacy networks
- Huge service and support operations are required to maintain and expand old technology
- Many of today’s largest providers carry heavy debt burdens tied to towers, copper, fiber, and other legacy investments
OmniMesh suffers from none of these drawbacks. Using proven, modern technology and our decentralized storage and service model, we provide a highly flexible and capital-efficient operations ecosystem that can leverage the existing core service provider networks while scaling access and content delivery to improve performance.
Myth: Mesh is not secure.
Truth: Mesh is inherently more secure than common centralized networks or storage systems. With data and communications paths distributed across a mesh of devices, accessing secure data is nearly impossible. Instead, hackers are much more likely to be successful breaching the security of one massive data center.
This advantage can be envisioned when you picture a puzzle with thousands of pieces. If the puzzle were stored in one box at one site, a thief would only have to pick one lock to gain access. If, on the other hand, it were spread out across many boxes, the thief would have to find all the boxes, all the pieces, and then pick all the locks simultaneously. To steal content from an OmniMesh network, pirates must crack not one network, but thousands.
Myth: Mesh is slower to deliver content than fiber, 5G, or other competing technologies.
Truth: OmniMesh stores content at the edge, with little pieces of each content file spread across many nearby devices. Each OmniMesh access point continuously indexes content, gathering puzzle pieces ahead of time – so that when the homeowner or her neighbor signs in, content is delivered at blazing speed from these neighboring devices, eliminating the bottlenecks of long-distance fiber delivery and data centers.
Myth: Decentralizing the network (e.g., giving up control) exposes content creators to piracy.
Truth: They’re already exposed. And while it’s true that sometimes decentralized networks (e.g., BitTorrent, Limewire) have been used against content creators, mesh solutions can provide consumers with a service they want at a price they want to pay, undermining the demand for piracy and creating new markets.
Think about the climate from which iTunes was born. At the time, Napster had all but taken over. Artists and content producers were not being compensated for their efforts. And many people were not running out to purchase new CDs. Steve Jobs offered a solution that effectively took that same streaming technology and created a platform where it was convenient, secure, and priced in terms that most consumers found agreeable, cutting deep into the demand side of piracy.
I hope this dispels some of the misconceptions surrounding wireless mesh. When combined with the technology, smart contracts, and military-grade security employed by OmniMesh, the results are reduced risk and improved performance that benefits both consumers and providers.