> Point-to-point microwave latency should be the same as fiber latency at the same distance.
Actually, it's often less because the microwave travels in a straight line while the fiber has to follow the utility poles or trenches (which often aren't in a straight line due to right of way issues). High frequency traders performing latency arbitrage use microwave dishes instead of fiber because it's a fraction of a second faster than using fiber connections on a cross-country connection.
Microwave dish systems are, however, a nightmare to support because transmission can be affected by the weather, birds, and a whole lot of other things. They also aren't very high bandwidth, and if you have a lot of dishes that means a lot of interference. I'd say they're perfectly fine for things like extending your LAN to your cabin up on a mountaintop, but not great tech to run an ISP off of (though people still try).
"Free" access to right-of-way and waived fees for permits are a small price to pay.
Better yet, cities should eliminate them entirely to encourage even more competition. All those rules do is create barriers to entry that prop up the existing players.
"Netflix made us do it." Ok, I agree that is a bit too cynical.
If anyone recalls Anonymous threatening to 'take down the internet' by DDOSing DNS servers, who knew they could have done it much more simply by dumping 100K BGP paths into the network.
It is relatively easy to trace who injected new BGP routes though, versus a DDoS from a botnet of machines that are difficult to link to an individual.
Multipoint systems used by most WISPs are TDMA-based and should have a fixed latency well below 10ms depending on how many active users are on a cell.
HOAs aren't allowed to prohibit antennas under 1 meter in diameter per OTARD [ http://www.fcc.gov/guides/over-air-reception-devices-rule] You should educate your board and contact the FCC if they balk.