Re: [chat] Sydney Wireless Network

[jon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2001 15:41:29 GMT
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On Mon, Nov 05, 2001 at 12:58:39AM +1100, Antony Clarke wrote:
>
>
>
> > This one time, at band camp, James Peter Gregory wrote:
> > >On Mon, 5 Nov 2001, Jamie Wilkinson wrote:

</SNIP>
> > You could hunt around www.cse.unsw.edu.au, but I make no guarantees that
> > they've documented any of it.   It's only on campus, the CSE wireless is
> > only in a short range around the building.
> >
> The Seattle group seem to have a working set-up of sorts as well as some
> mention of software. From the looks of their effort and the Melbourne effort
> they seem to be having trouble getting it off the ground probably partially
> due to different hardware components. It would probably be wise to set a
> standard based on a tested card and antenna.
>

Absolutely not. This implies a lack of choic for the user, we want as much
choice as possible. Also, since prices are ever changing, and good deals on
certain cards come around every so often. Same for antennae.
Recommendations, yes, standard, no.

> A search of some archives seem to identify the major problem with this
> technology is LOS to the nodes. Someone would really need access to a tower
> hooked up to a access point. A lot of providers in the US seem to be heading
> this way as fiber to many offices and high bandwidth private users is not
> available and/or too expensive as well as *dsl and cable are very sloooow
> upstream.

The more people we get, the more gaps are filled, and therefore the more
coverage. More people = good.
>
> Although quite expensive to set-up this could be a very viable project if
> users pay a small fee per month. A licence still may not be required if it's
> a non-profit community based project. As I stated earlier I believe to be a
> success internet connectivity would have to be achieved with rules blocking
> video, voice etc outside of  the wireless WAN. The biggest problem is still
> the cost of data in Australia.
>

Absolutely no fees. That's gotta be up there with the top 5 rules for a
successful community wireless network. Charging fees is not feasible, and makes
the idea of an unmetered not-for-profit network redundant.

Also, I do not envision public shared Internet access over the wireless network.
We already have Internet connections.
I don't feel like paying multi-million dollar fines anyway.

> It would be interesting however too see the pricing of the equipment such as
> bridges and access points too get something like this off the ground. Could
> a splitter be used to provide both a bridge and an access point off the same
> machine?

I personnaly dislike APs and bridges, as they are just extortion prices. *nix
boxes with wireless cards are a much more flexible solution. However, if you
want to splash out, feel free.

A splitter? Splitting what, exactly?

Hope this helps,

-- Jon Teh - Sydney Wireless Network