History
At the turn of the 21st Century, a group of interested techies, created a wireless internet network, in the hills of Western Sonoma County.
They called themselves NoCat, from a quote by Thomas (Dr. Seuss) Einstein, and met in the facilities of O'Reilly Associates in Sebastopol, California.
Much of this wireless concept is described in the book “Building Wireless Community Networks”, by Rob Flickenger, published by O’Reilly.
Rob was instrumental in the NoCat effort, but unfortunately, he, and other drivers, moved away, and the organization dissolved.
The remaning technical folks wanted to demonstrate that high speed connections, in rural areas, were practical. In January,2003 WSCICC incorporated as a Cooperative.
The first link was an enhanced DSL connection from the Victorian Christmas Tree Ranch to a hilltop home on Tilton Road. The Tilton Road owner was interested in getting a few neighbors connected, and, over time, the network expanded.
The first major relay point was a home on Goldridge Road. This point connected to a residence at the intersection of Cherry Ridge and Grandview, which offered a broad view north toward Graton.
Grandview also connected to a relay point on Dusty Lane which served a number of members.
Tall water towers on Thorn Road provided the next major relay point and this connected members in western Santa Rosa.
WSCICC then leased a high speed link, from Access Port, to connect Thorn Road to Silver Crest Towers in Santa Rosa. This line was difficult to bring up, but success was achieved in 2007.
While the WSCICC network was evolving, finding adequate antennas, reliable radios, good connectors, etc., was a frequent challenge. Bad weather often brought problems.
With time, WSCICC, found better equipment and network reliability increased. Today more than 50 members receive high speed connection.
Network support is still a major issue. A few technical folks, who were key to WSCICC’s creation, remain the technical backbone and support of WSCICC. Expanding the support corps will be important to maintaining the WSCICC Cooperative
WSCICC is not interested in competing with commercial companies and does not actively solicit members.
WSCICC prefers to add members that have no other means of getting high-speed internet connections, and are willing to take a role in maintaining the WSCICC Coop.