Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Wi-Fi power to the people--a how-to guide

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 23:34:03 -0400

Wi-Fi power to the people--a how-to guide
By David Coursey, AnchorDesk
September 2, 2003 9:00 PM PT

I think AnchorDesk readers can be divided into three groups: Those who have a
broadband Internet connection, those who want but can't get a broadband Internet
connection, and a small group of Luddites who think life at 56kbps is already too
fast.
TODAY'S COLUMN is written for that second group (the broadband wannabes) as well
as for members of the first who'd like to make their broadband connections work
harder by extending them outside their offices and homes.

First, of course, the obligatory anecdote to set the stage: The town to which I
moved last year has limited high-speed Internet services. Fortunately for me, DSL
arrived to my community within 90 days after I did, and just as I started trying
to convince my friend Karl, who runs Tracy Internet, a local ISP, into letting me
link to his office (and network) using 802.11b--even though three or four miles
separated my home office from Karl's place.

Problem was that while I knew it was possible to use directional antennas to make
flea-powered Wi-Fi signals travel surprisingly long distances, I lacked a good
tutorial on how to actually set them up. Of course, now that I don't have the
problem, one such solution lands on my desk.

Rob Flickenger's book "Building Wireless Community Networks" (O'Reilly, Second
Edition, June, 2003) struck me at first as an example of the kind of feel-good,
"We Are the World" utopianism that always sounds better than it plays out.

THE BOOK IS primarily aimed at the idealists who'd like to create wireless
networks providing free Internet access to whole communities. The dream is to
create a neighborhood hot spot, then connect that to other neighborhood hot spots,
and eventually turn the entire community into one big hot spot.

Not surprisingly, there's an ongoing effort to build just such a wireless wide
area community network in parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. With such a
network, 802.11b coverage would be extended to wherever network participants
wanted to install them, such as public buildings, parks, and downtown areas.

Like many forms of socialism, this is a laudable goal but unlikely to be widely
achieved.
The problem is that building a large wireless network involves considerable time
and not inconsequential expense, even if everyone who wants to participate chips
in to provide the hardware. Then there are ongoing administrative issues-- which
also takes someone's time.

As a result, this has to be a business. No matter how well-intended or motivated
the wireless community's volunteers may be, nearly ubiquitous connectivity will
emerge only from the for-profit corporate sector.

I'm looking forward to the day when cellular customers will get high-speed
connectivity from a variety of handsets, devices, add-on cards, PDAs, and such,
all for one low monthly fee. The cellular companies are already stepping up to
this, which is great news for people who think paying for Hot Spot connectivity is
generally a rip-off.
THAT DOESN'T STOP the utopians, however, which is probably good since it provides
competition to the cellular oligarchy.

I'm occasionally asked to comment on this kind of project, usually by emergency
preparedness officials who see it as a potential solution to some of their
communications problems. My answer is that I'd hate to be dependent on such a
system, but that--like ham radio--it might save the day when the chips are down. A
free community network would be good to have around, but is not worth a major
public investment.
At the same time, whenever I think about being gouged to use the Hot Spot down at
my local coffee shop, I wonder why merchants don't put up free networks for their
customers to use? Seems to me like a good way to build business (and steal it from
places that charge).

But let's put philosophical differences aside. However you feel about the
practicality of community networks, this is still a good book. In fact, if you
only read one book about Wi-Fi technology and what you can do with it (and I've
read several), "Building Wireless Community Networks" would be a good choice.

Along with his explanations of how to create a community network, Flickenger's
book does a good job of describing how networks in general operate. You'll learn
about DNS, DHCP, and other acronyms necessary to make any network function. And
even though the book drifts into Linux wonderland (utopians can't help but include
Linux in every project, I suppose), Microsoft and (especially) Apple OS X users
will feel reasonably at home.

OF SPECIAL INTEREST are the chapters dealing with antennas, 802.11b channels and
interference, how to link networks up to 20 miles apart, and how to create a
network for covering a small neighborhood or campus. Also discussed are the legal
issues involved in staying on the right side of both the FCC and your Internet
Service Provider, who may not be thrilled with a free network service for people
who'd otherwise be paying customers.

This book accomplishes a lot in 168 pages, including providing "how-to"
instructions for creating a point-to-point Wi-Fi antenna out of a collection of
parts that mount inside a Pringles can--and cost less than $10.

You don't have to be bent on saving the world to find the book useful. If you only
want to bring wireless Internet connectivity to anything larger than a home or
small office, or if you need to wirelessly connect your network over a distance,
this is the hands-on, how-to book you should buy.

http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2914596,00.html

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