From: Robert Currey (R.P.Currey_at_leeds.ac.uk)
Date: 04/06/03 10:50
Posted following to Campaign for CALDER VALLEY BROADBAND's forum
http://calder-valley-broadband.pcuk.co.uk
There are a small group of us in the Calder Valley interested,
technically able and enthusiastic in creating a fast local wireless
network. As I see it:
Cheap when you're up and running: *free*, need computer, wireless
card =A340 (and possibly antenna =A340 if not in a great density of
people wanting to use it.)
Community minded, automatically - it works like a bucket brigade, no
big central transmitter, just neighbours passing the connection
chinese whispers style.
No great admin hassles - free so no billing. Laisez Faire ad-hoc
organisiation - just put a card in, join in and it makes the network
better. No convincing a central BT to play ball, no applying to
committees (you may have to persuade someone else down the road to
join in just so you can reach the network though.)
If we have this network we can share any internet connectivity around
- for the 20 or so quid a month we're allowed to share our connection
with up to 20 other computers on some contracts. If the likes of BT
don't provide ADSL to Mytholmroyd, this wireless network is a good
way of sharing a leased line connection to the Internet (but maybe
thats an issue for the GVCC.)
This network is fast about 1Mbyte in 2 seconds practically
(11Mbits/sec in theory.) Easily enough for local radio and some
streaming video (not TV quality.) The technology is rapidly
increasing this speed.
We have the idea of having a workshop where we show/help people how
to set up a machine for this kind of network and later in the
afternoon we use this network to play network games between teams,
one in a cafe, one in a pub over the road. The venue(s) are going to
be the java lounge and Inn on the Bridge and scheduled for Saturday
12 July .
If you want to read our previous chats look at
http://lists.gink.org/hb_wireless/.
If you want to see a map of existing nodes wirelessly offering
connections:
http://www.consume.net/nodedb.php?pos_x=3D399315&pos_y=3D427592&action=3Dr=
ec
enter&old_scale=3D20&scale=3D50&old_size=3D480&size=3D480&map.x=3D240&map.=
y=3D240
I would love to extend this network outwards in every direction and I
have a Marconi-esque vision of a coast-to-coast ping: laptop on the
sand in Scarborough and another in Blackpool talking to each other
though a symbiotic anarchic network of computers holding wireless
hands across the country.
Robert
------------------------------------------------
Robert Currey
Computing Officer
School of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
University of Leeds
+44 (0)113 3433033
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