Robert X. Cringely abandons satellite Internet in favor of long-distance 802.11b: Bob got the religion, found a line-of-sight neighbor and gave him free DSL, and spent about $1,400 to build a working relay. If Bob had been at the free wireless networking summit I attended last weekend, he might have learned how to do it for about $500 to $700 less! (More on the summit soon.)
Extend your range by miles and miles: SMC Networks introduces some new high-gain antennas that can extend the range for point-to-point applications of 802.11b to miles. However, pricing does not yet appear to be set. Many manufacturers make antennas, and I hope to survey offerings in the near future.