[IP] more on Neighborhood Wireless Service (NWS)
Begin forwarded message:
From: Charles Pinneo <pinneo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: January 12, 2006 7:40:16 AM EST
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Neighborhood Wireless Service (NWS)
Dave,
Here's a short article from Popular Science Magazine entitled "Free
Neighborhood Wi-Fi." Talks about making your own neighbornode to get
to know your neighbors. Sort of a big city version of neighborhood
watch.
<http://www.popsci.com/popsci/
how20/6bfd37116bb95010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html>
Free Neighborhood Wi-Fi
Popular Science 1-11-2006
Get to know your neighbors by giving them a way to connect to the
Internet and to one another
By Ethan Todras-Whitehill
Dept.: Tech Lesson
Tech.: Community Internet
Cost: $60 plus monthly cost of Internet access
Time: 1 hour
Practical | | | | | Popcorn
When Tony Guagliardo moved to Manhattan’s East Fourth Street, he
didn’t know anyone in the neighborhood. Then one day, while trying to
get wireless Internet in his apartment, he noticed an open Wi-Fi
network named Neighbornode. He chose it, launched his browser, and a
message board popped up welcoming him to the Fourth Street Avenue B
Node. The network had been set up by a local resident who wanted to
share his Internet connection. Soon, Tony’s neighbors were using it
to discuss local restaurants, a community art project and even the
block’s homeless guy, Eddie.
The Fourth Street hotspot is part of a communal wireless project
called Neighbornode, started by then New York University grad student
John Geraci as a way to add a community-building aspect to the common
practice of using a neighbor’s Wi-Fi network to get online. Anyone
with a broadband connection can start a Neighbornode. When someone
uses the node to access the Web, he is first directed to a home page
with a message board, classified section and photo page to help
locals recognize one another. (You can use a second router to
maintain a private and secure Wi-Fi network for your home.) New York
City currently has 18 such hotspots, and eight other nodes have
appeared in such remote areas as Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and
Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Launch a node in your ’hood with the steps below.
Make your own Neighbornode
Some ISPs consider sharing your Internet connection to be a violation
of your terms of service, so give yours a call before setting up a
community hotspot. Also, typical Wi-Fi range is about 150 feet, so if
you have a big block, consider using an external antenna, such as
those available from Radiolabs (from $100; radiolabs.com) to boost
your signal up to 300 feet. Or check out wireless.gumph.org to build
your own.
[1] Purchase a Linksys WRT54G or WRT54GS Wireless Broadband Router
(around $60 in most stores), and set it up according to the Linksys
instructions.
[2] E-mail doityourself @neighbornode.net to request the special
Neighbornode firmware.
[3] Access your router setup by typing “192.168.1.1” into the address
line of your browser (leave the username blank and type “admin” for
the password).
[4] Navigate to the Administration tab and click “Upgrade Firmware.”
Browse to the location where you saved the Neighbornode firmware, and
click “Upgrade.”
[5] Connect to the network and configure the Neighbornode as
prompted. Now let your neighbors know it’s there!
---------------------
On Jan 9, 2006, at 2:00 PM, David Farber wrote:
Begin forwarded message:
From: h_bray@xxxxxxxxx
Date: January 9, 2006 1:47:47 PM EST
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Neighborhood Wireless Service (NWS)
This sounds like a job for Speakeasy NetShare, a service which lets
residential users share their DSL bandwidth with their neighbors.
http://www.speakeasy.net/pdf/rc/Netshare_Overview.pdf
Hiawatha Bray
Technology Reporter
Boston Globe
135 Morrissey Blvd.
P.O. Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819 USA
617-929-3119 voice
617-929-3183 fax
617-233-9419 cell
bray@xxxxxxxxx
watha@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Recent writings: www.boston.com/business/technology/bray
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