Re: Salvaging Unwire Portland

On Monday 30 July 2007 16:11, Russell Senior wrote:
> >>>>> "Michael" == Michael Weinberg <[email protected]> writes:
>
> Michael> [...] Food for thought: Russell Senior has long maintained
> Michael> that if we got 10% of the APs in Portland switched to open
> Michael> access mode with an obvious ssid (such as
> Michael> www.personaltelco.net) we would have virtually the entire
> Michael> city unwired tomorrow.
>
> Yes.  There is a LOT of 802.11 deployed in Portland (as elsewhere).
> Last summer, I determined that there were approximately 2500 wireless
> networks in the square mile centered on my house (and that doesn't
> seem unusual).  That is 100 times the density that MetroFi is planning
> to deploy.  I think that lots of those people would be willing to
> share.  We need to identify and address the things that are obstacles
> for those people.
>
> Someone recently asked who our biggest competitor was, and I said that
> it was "Fear", the fear that sharing might be dangerous and that the
> solution to that fear is education.
>
<snip>
>
> --
> Russell Senior, Secretary
> [email protected]

I've been lurking here for a while and rarely have anything to contribute. But 
a thought occurred to me as I read the above: What about offering an easy 
hardware+software or software-only solution for those interested in sharing? 
Like the free/cheap access points available from one company interested in 
revenue-sharing, I bet lots of people would add an inexpensive AP to their 
network to provide open access if they were assured it would keep their 
private network safe from the public.

Then there are likely a decent number of people like me, who have a 
Linux/Unix-based router PC but don't have the skills/time to configure a 
separate subnet with NoCat or some such for another wireless that won't 
interfere with normal routing.

A prepackaged solution, or set of howtos for a few major distros, may 
alleviate some of this. I could talk several businesses in the 
Tualatin/Hillsboro area into purchasing a plug-and-play AP if there was a 
simple web interface to control bandwidth throttling, and the device didn't 
allow access to the rest of their LAN.

I would be willing to acquire some skills and assist in developing some 
software or guides, but I don't have the time to lead a project like this.

As a second thought that occurrs to me: many local ISPs are _NOT_ 
open-wireless friendly. One of them starts with a C and most of the people I 
could talk into hosting wireless subscribe to their cable internet service. 
One possible resolution: Configure the plug-and-play APs suggested above to 
tunnel traffic out through openVPN to a remote server. Maybe this is 
infeasible or undesirable due to potential legal ramifications/possibilities 
for abuse? I think this would alleviate a person's responsibility at their 
ISP level.

-Aaron

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