At unimelb, fibre was put under the tram lines in early 90's (between the earth sciences building - which used to house Computing Services - and the main campus). Other off-block links were by laser (was always dodgy - rain, spiders, anything) and - also early 90's - microwave to RMIT (hail and thunderstorms permitting). I was given to understand there were illicit spread-spectrum radio links - this is before wi-fi was called wi-fi - by directional antennae from the Elec Eng tower to residences in Carlton. cheers, Douglas

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Graeme Cross<gcross@fastmail.fm> wrote:

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We have quotes from a couple of wireless point-to-point providers, but I am also looking at alternatives, such as laser, as I am concerned about wireless performance, especially with a tramline running between the two buildings! Am I right in assuming that the roadway rules out the possibility of running a fibre cable between the buildings? I don't know what form of state/local government approval you would need for that, even if you could easily run it high overhead for example. Hi Jason.

We looked into fibre initially, and it seems to not be an option - especially if you want to go above a tram line instead of underground!

Regards Graeme

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