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home > features > The 56k Hamster
The 56k Hamster
One rodent, one wheel, one tiny ISP
By the Petz.com editors · Monday, December 13, 1999
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In a garage in Boise, Idaho, a dwarf hamster named Megabyte runs four miles a night on an exercise wheel. His owner, a retired ham radio operator named Gus Thibodeaux, has wired that wheel to a bicycle generator, a car battery and the modem bank for HamsterNet, a small internet provider serving eleven households and one church.
"He does the evening peak," Gus explained. "After midnight we switch over to the regular power. Megabyte needs his rest."
Customers say HamsterNet connects at a steady 28.8 when Megabyte is fresh and drops to about 14.4 around 2 a.m. Nobody has complained. "It's still faster than the cable company," said one subscriber, "and the cable company never sends a Christmas card with a hamster on it."
Want to start your own ISP? We can't help with the modems, but we do sell a very good Spin Cycle hamster wheel and a Hamster Hacienda with room for a server rack (a very small one).
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