Information about Wireless Community Network
Wireless community networks or wireless community projects are the largely hobbyist-led development of interlinked computer networks using wireless LAN technologies, taking advantage of the recent development of low-cost, standardised 802.11b/g (Wi-Fi) devices to build growing clusters (group of the same or similar elements gathered) of linked, citywide networks, or in rural areas where conventional DSL services are unavailable [1]. Some are being used to link to the wider Internet, particularly where individuals can obtain unmetered internet connections such as ADSL and/or cable modem at fixed costs and share them with friends. Where such access is unavailable or expensive, they can act as a low-cost partial alternative, as the only cost is the fixed cost of the equipment.
These projects are in many senses an evolution of amateur radio, and more specifically packet radio, as well as an outgrowth of the free software community (which in itself substantially overlaps with amateur radio), and share their freewheeling, experimental, adaptable culture. The key to using standard wireless networking devices designed for short-range use for multi-kilometre Long Range Wi-Fi linkups is the use of high-gain directional antennas. Commercially-available examples are relatively expensive and not readily available, so much experimentation has gone into homebuilt antenna construction. Examples include the cantenna, which performs better than many commercial antenna designs and is typically constructed from a Pringles potato chip can, and RONJA, an optical link that can be made from a smoke flue and LEDs, with circuitry and instructions released under the GFDL.
Community networks differ from other wireless hotspots, which are usually put up for commercial purposes, often offering paid-for internet. They also differ from independent privately owned open wireless access points offering anyone within range free internet access.
Many of these community networks are run on a voluntary basis and can be compared to other voluntary groups focussed around local issues. Like other voluntary groups they have sometimes found their greatest challenges are not technical (e.g. developing affordable internet access in a local area) but social; encouraging and sustaining volunteer input, a critical mass of users, and devising a sustainable organisational model. Some groups have splintered as individual participants follow their own goals, or found it difficult to maintain a user base when large corporate internet service suppliers have reduced the price of broadband connectivity and increased availability.
An alternative to the voluntary model is to use a co-operative structure. This is the model which has been encouraged by Community Broadband Network in the UK. A successful example is the Alston Cybermoor in Alston, UK.
It may be that community networks represent an alternative model to corporate broadband provision in niche markets, or that they represent the early adaptor phase of a new technology moving into the marketplace.
The biggest community network is CZFree.NET, which connects more than 20,000 computers in Prague and other cities.
Government efforts in the U.S. to develop public-private partnerships or sole efforts in pursuit of the community wireless and wired network have not always succeeded. When initially voted in by the public they are sold as utopian endeavors. Once financed, Municipal Wireless Networks may fail to deliver due to poor implementation, competition and poor product offerings. [2]
As with other wireless mesh networks, three distinct generations of mesh networks are used in wireless community networks.
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History
Such projects started to evolve in 1998 with the availability of 802.11 equipment, and are gradually spreading to cities and towns around the world. In mid-2002 most such networks have been still embryonic, with small groups of people experimenting and gradually interconnecting with each other and thus expanding the domain and utility of the networks. As of mid-2005, wireless community networks have become increasingly popular and exist throughout many cities. Such networks have a distributed rather than a tree-like topology and have the potential to replace the congested and vulnerable backbones of the wired internet in most places.These projects are in many senses an evolution of amateur radio, and more specifically packet radio, as well as an outgrowth of the free software community (which in itself substantially overlaps with amateur radio), and share their freewheeling, experimental, adaptable culture. The key to using standard wireless networking devices designed for short-range use for multi-kilometre Long Range Wi-Fi linkups is the use of high-gain directional antennas. Commercially-available examples are relatively expensive and not readily available, so much experimentation has gone into homebuilt antenna construction. Examples include the cantenna, which performs better than many commercial antenna designs and is typically constructed from a Pringles potato chip can, and RONJA, an optical link that can be made from a smoke flue and LEDs, with circuitry and instructions released under the GFDL.
Free
Most wireless community network projects are coordinated by citywide user groups who freely share information and help using the Internet. They often spring up as a grassroots movement offering free, anonymous Internet access to anyone with WiFi capability.Community networks differ from other wireless hotspots, which are usually put up for commercial purposes, often offering paid-for internet. They also differ from independent privately owned open wireless access points offering anyone within range free internet access.
Many of these community networks are run on a voluntary basis and can be compared to other voluntary groups focussed around local issues. Like other voluntary groups they have sometimes found their greatest challenges are not technical (e.g. developing affordable internet access in a local area) but social; encouraging and sustaining volunteer input, a critical mass of users, and devising a sustainable organisational model. Some groups have splintered as individual participants follow their own goals, or found it difficult to maintain a user base when large corporate internet service suppliers have reduced the price of broadband connectivity and increased availability.
An alternative to the voluntary model is to use a co-operative structure. This is the model which has been encouraged by Community Broadband Network in the UK. A successful example is the Alston Cybermoor in Alston, UK.
It may be that community networks represent an alternative model to corporate broadband provision in niche markets, or that they represent the early adaptor phase of a new technology moving into the marketplace.
The biggest community network is CZFree.NET, which connects more than 20,000 computers in Prague and other cities.
Government efforts in the U.S. to develop public-private partnerships or sole efforts in pursuit of the community wireless and wired network have not always succeeded. When initially voted in by the public they are sold as utopian endeavors. Once financed, Municipal Wireless Networks may fail to deliver due to poor implementation, competition and poor product offerings. [2]
As with other wireless mesh networks, three distinct generations of mesh networks are used in wireless community networks.
See also
- Computer network
- Metropolitan area network
- Generations of mesh networks
- List of wireless community networks by region
- Netsukuku
- Wireless mesh network
- Wireless LAN Security
- Multiple-input multiple-output communications
External links
- Analysis of Mesh Architectures Why all mesh products are not created equal.
- What is Third Generation Mesh? Review of three generation of mesh networking architectures.
- Ugly Truths About Mesh Networks Performance issues of First and Second Generation Mesh products.
- CUWiN One of the leading Wireless Community Network R&D outfits.
- Free Networks Global Free Networks Site
- NetEquality Non-profit provider of mesh networks for low-income neighborhoods
- WiND - Wireless Nodes Database an open-source project targeted at wireless community networks. WiND can display node information, map nodes and wireless links, manage ip addresses and dns zones, and much more.
- Free Global Wireless Community Newswire
- Video about Free Culture, Free Software, Free Infrastructures!, Interviews with Klohjschi, Jürgen Neumann (Freifunk Germany), Kurt Jansson (Wikimedia Germany), Rishab Aiyer Ghosh (United Nations University), Lawrence Lessig (Creative Commons), Allison, Benoit (Montréal Wireless Community)
References
as a college campus, industrial complex, or a military base. A CAN, may be considered a type of MAN (metropolitan area network), but is generally limited to an area that is smaller than a typical MAN.
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wireless LAN or WLAN is a wireless local area network, which is the linking of two or more computers without using wires. WLAN utilizes spread-spectrum or OFDM modulation technology based on radio waves to enable communication between devices in a limited area, also known as
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This aricle needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article.
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Wi-Fi (pronounced wye-fye, IPA: /ˈwaɪfaɪ/), also unofficially known as Wireless Fidelity
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Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government
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Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) is a form of DSL, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide.
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cable modem is a type of modem that provides access to a data signal sent over the cable television infrastructure. Cable modems are primarily used to deliver broadband Internet access, taking advantage of unused bandwidth on a cable television network.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1960s 1970s 1980s - 1990s - 2000s 2010s 2020s
1995 1996 1997 - 1998 - 1999 2000 2001
Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII
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1960s 1970s 1980s - 1990s - 2000s 2010s 2020s
1995 1996 1997 - 1998 - 1999 2000 2001
Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII
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Internet backbone refers to the main "trunk" connections of the Internet. It is made up of a large collection of interconnected commercial, government, academic and other high-capacity data routes and core routers that carry data across the countries, continents and oceans of the
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Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is both a hobby and a service that uses various types of radio communications equipment to communicate with other radio amateurs for public service, recreation and self-training.
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Packet radio is a form of digital data transmission used to link computers. The most common use of PKT is in amateur radio, to construct wireless computer networks.
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Free software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions only to ensure that further recipients can also do these things.
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A directional antenna is an antenna which radiates greater power in one or more directions allowing for increased performance on transmit and receive and reduced interference from unwanted sources.
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cantenna is a directional waveguide antenna for long-range Wi-Fi used to increase the range of (or snoop on) a wireless network. Originally built using a Pringles potato chip can, a cantenna can be constructed quickly, easily, and inexpensively using readily obtained materials:
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Pringles are a brand of potato snacks produced by Procter & Gamble. Pringles were first sold in the United States in October of 1968; they were not rolled out across America until the mid-1970s[1].
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Ronja may refer to:
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- Ronia the Robber's Daughter (Ronja Rövardotter), a children's book by Astrid Lindgren.
- Reasonable Optical Near Joint Access, an optical point-to-point Free Space Optics data link.
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A flue is a duct, pipe, or chimney for conveying exhaust gases from a fireplace, furnace, water heater, boiler, or generator to the outdoors. In U.S.A. and for water heaters and modern furnaces, they are also called 'vents'; for boilers they are 'breeching'.
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light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor diode that emits incoherent narrow-spectrum light when electrically biased in the forward direction of the p-n junction. This effect is a form of electroluminescence.
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An electronic circuit is an electrical circuit that also contains active electronic devices such as transistors or vacuum tubes. They can display highly complex behaviors, even though they are governed by the same laws as simple electrical circuits.
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GNU Free Documentation License (GNU FDL or simply GFDL) is a copyleft license for free documentation, designed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for the GNU project.
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Grassroots democracy is a tendency towards designing political processes where as much decision-making authority as practical is shifted to the organization's lowest geographic level of organization.
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Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government
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A hotspot is a venue that offers Wi-Fi access. The public can use a laptop, WiFi phone, or other suitable portable device to access the Internet. Of the estimated 150 million laptops, 14 million PDAs, and other emerging Wi-Fi devices sold per year for the last few years,
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wireless access point (WAP or AP) is a device that connects wireless communication devices together to form a wireless network. The WAP usually connects to a wired network, and can relay data between wireless devices and wired devices.
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A cooperative (also co-operative or co-op) is defined by the International Co-operative Alliance's Statement on the Co-operative Identity as an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and
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There are several places in the world with the name Alston:
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- Alston, Cumbria
- Alstonvale, Quebec, Canada
- Alston, Georgia
- Alston, Devon, UK
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Municipal Wireless Network (AKA Municipal Wi-Fi, Muni Wi-Fi, Muni-Fi or Mu-Fi) is the concept of turning entire city into a Wireless Access Zone (WAZ).
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A wireless mesh network is a mesh network implemented over a wireless network system such as wireless LAN.
Whereas the Internet is mostly a wire-based, cooperative electronic communication infrastructure similar to the international postal agreement, in that messages
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Whereas the Internet is mostly a wire-based, cooperative electronic communication infrastructure similar to the international postal agreement, in that messages
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Wireless mesh networks allow users to access network resources by routing data via nearby peers. Some early-generation mesh networking products performed poorly in the substantially "multi-hop" (involving many node-to-node connections) environments in which they were deployed.
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