[CAnet - news] Get to know your neighbours through WiFi

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[From Dave Farber's IPer list. I can personally attest to the benefit of
keeping an open WiFi as a great way to meet your neighbours especially new
families that have moved into the neghbourhood.  It is also convenient for
the elderly or for those who cannot afford a connection.  Yes there are some
security issues with an open WiFi, but there is a number of practical things
you can do to mitigate against that - the easiest to mind is port forwarding
through SSH -- BSA]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Charles Pinneo 

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: [email protected]
> Date: January 9, 2006 1:47:47 PM EST
> To: [email protected]
> 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
> [email protected]
> [email protected]
> Recent writings: www.boston.com/business/technology/bray


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