[chat] Sydney Wireless Network

["Marcel Kunath" <kunathma@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,

well I am sure people are aware of the recent Telstra changes. I can live with
3 Gig but having to watch myself (and the other 5 people on this one cable
modem) is not easy. At times I want to sporadically download a gig may it be
KDE's new release or a distro or something.

I have been reading about these localized wireless networks in metro areas for
the past year and I find the idea very interesting. The most organized
information and network seems to be seattlewireless:

http://seattlewireless.net/


There is mentioning of two networks in the Sydney area:

http://hwy.com.au/~bigmoe/wlan/

http://www.nepean.air.net.au (dead link)

and a few more in Oz and around the world:

http://www.wirelessanarchy.com/



I do not know where the Sydney based networks are in terms of development. I am
pretty much uneducated when it comes to wireless overall. I still have a keen
interest to get access to data outside from the ISP network to be able to
attain data and/or provide data and not pay my ISP for it. The Seattle network
seems to have it figured out and be sound in their structure without risk of
falling asleep/apart due to lack of human support.

So basically I want to ask what people know about wireless in Sydney and if
people are as frustrated as me and want a separated network from their ISP to

- download data
- upload data
- play games
- share data (programs, source code, rpms, ftp servers with distros on them)
- connect their home network with their business network
- build a free network independent of Telstra (w/ with fully functional DNS and
DHCP ?)

I am aware that there are security issues and you can't protect a wireless
network from being accessed and it would be open to any person who wants to
access it. I still think its limited internal uses are great and would provide
a good service for the Sydney area.

There are costs involved but I think it would pay off just as much as learning
Linux paid off for me. Fact is though a network needs multiple nodes to
function and make sense. Hence I am writing this if there are people who are
curious and want to invest time, effort and a little money to have something in
addition to their ISP connection.

Thanks,

Marcel