Some basic questions from a new visitor ...

[speedmaster]

I'm seriously considering building my own receiver for fr24.

But I wonder about competitors like FlightAware. Do they have a separate, parallel network of ADS-B receivers around the country (world) that they use to get data? How does that work?

Thanks!

[Anmer]

FlightAware and others have similar ADS-B networks, usually a mix of free receivers and sharers' own equipment.

You can usually find a section on their websites explaining what's available. With respect to FR24 I won't post links to these here.