Re: Salvaging Unwire Portland

>>>>> "Aaron" == Aaron Ten Clay <aaron-SxzhPLGv44pWk0Htik3J/[email protected]> writes:

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

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

That is essentially what i've been doing recently with the Buffalo
WHR-G54S plus OpenWrt devices i've been using for new nodes.  My most
recent purchase cost me $53.17 each.  I set them up with wireless and
lan ports on separate networks that can be iptable'd off from each
other.  Wifidog (the captive portal i've been using) runs only on the
wireless interface.

Some people (the 2500 in my square mile) have already invested in a
wireless access point though.  Not all of those access points are
capable of being reflashed with OpenWrt.  Many probably are.  We can
start with the low-hanging fruit and then move on.

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

Currently, I don't have anything developed for throttling on these
devices, but it sounds pretty tractable.  Maybe someone would like to
help me?

Aaron> As a second thought that occurrs to me: many local ISPs are
Aaron> _NOT_ open-wireless friendly. One of them starts with a C and
Aaron> most of the people I could talk into hosting wireless subscribe
Aaron> to their cable internet service. [...]

Perhaps a better solution is to convince people that have a choice to
stop giving such unfriendly ISP's their money.  That might have the
effect of producing an attitude readjustment over time.  In any case,
in locations where there is a choice, I don't think this is the
biggest obstacle.

The obstacle that I don't have a ready answer for, at least that
wouldn't require additional node-host investments is where the
prospective node host is doing "unsafe" things like using windows
fileshares from a laptop over wireless.  I am somewhat clueless about
the state of windows networking these days, but that sounds unsafe to
me.  The solution that I know would work would be to get a separate
device to provide the open wireless, and do their fileshares over an
encrypted network.  This would have the drawback of requiring
additional investment by the node host, which would be a disincentive
for them.  Maybe someone else has a better solution.  Not everyone is
going to be doing that though, so it's an obstacle for only a subset
of the population.


-- 
Russell Senior, Secretary
[email protected]

-- 
The Personal Telco Project - http://www.personaltelco.net/
Donate to PTP: http://www.personaltelco.net/donate
Un/Subscribe:  http://lists.personaltelco.net/mailman/listinfo/general/
Archives:  http://news.gmane.org/gmane.network.wireless.portland.general/
Etiquette: http://www.personaltelco.net/index.cgi/MailingListEtiquette