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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| Hosting a WiFi hotspot? I'm interested in hearing end-user feedback and thoughts on hosting WiFi. We're experimenting with a solution that would allow customers to easily and securely host WiFi for free use by others, bandwidth capped so that it doesn't use much of your bandwidth. The free users would have an ad bar displayed in their browser, and there would be some revenue shared as credits to your DSL bill.
Any thoughts, concerns, ideas? What would it take to motivate you to participate? Are you interested? What worries would you have about this? Does it interest or excite you? Please, I'd love to hear things like "I'd participate if ...." type responses, or "I wouldn't participate because ...."
Thanks for any feedback!
-Dane | |
|  erifax
join:2000-12-14
Fort Collins, CO
 ·Comcast Workplace
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? I would host a hotspot if I could conveniently isolate the traffic from the rest of my network. It would also be extremely helpful if the device had longer range of broadcast or an antenna that could be used to to cast a wider net.
I've gone to enough places and wished I had WiFi access that I could legitimately use. I would participate if only to ease this burden on other folks. | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? Cool, thanks for your thoughts. Both of these items have been included. LAN isolation is part of the config, so you don't need to worry about your systems seeing traffic from the WiFi side.
Also, the radio has better than average output - BUT, the cool part is that it forms a mesh with other radios. So, you could put on at the front of the house, one at the back, one in the detached garage, the granny unit - the neighbor's house - etc. Each unit repeats the signal onward, growing the mesh.
-Dane | |
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JohnInSJ
Premium
join:2003-09-22
San Jose, CA
·Comcast
| Uh... I am hosting a hotspot, the old style one.
I would not mind at all continuing doing so in whatever form it takes. It would be nice if it didn't burn one of my 8 IP addresses, I think I'm now using 6 or 7 of em now (had no idea I would end up using so many of em!) but I can live with it.
I never get much traffic on mine, but I did already do the isolation/bandwidth capping myself, so if you're going to take over the bandwidth capping that would be fine as well.
I never did have a concern about security - the downside is minimal for most configurations - no different then anything else on 'the internet' as it looks the same to the rest of my out-facing machines.
So yep, count me in. A monthly base credit would actually be more incentive for me (doesn't have to be a ton of money - a buck or so is plenty - covers electricity and helps defray the cost of the Wireless gateway) vs actual use credit - and would simplify your accounting maybe...
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My place : »www.schettino.us | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? Thanks for the feedback John. This new solution would be far easier to use and would offer free access, so it might attract a lot more actual use - a key metric.
I do like the "everyone shares the same credit" concept. It means that those in high traffic (living above a coffee shop) and low traffic (on an acre in the country) both are encouraged to deploy and to promote use of the network.
What are your thoughts on equipment cost? The new gear plugs in to anything which offers an IP via DHCP, so there's no other config, and you can put it behind a router or a switch (if you have multiple IPs from us). The equipment costs us $49 today. As a host, what are your thoughts on buying this gear?
-Dane | |
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JohnInSJ
Premium
join:2003-09-22
San Jose, CA
·Comcast
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? Is it optional to buy it? I went out and bought a $15 802.11b gateway just for the hotspot when I set mine up a few years ago.
One way to do it "cost free" to those deploying it is to give it to them, then let them work it off via the usage payment - basically they'd get no benefit (but also have no cost) until they broke even on the kickback for usage (however that's payed out...)
I guess if I had a reasonable expectation to break even in a year or less I'd still be willing to fork out the $$ for it myself... but it sound like we have to use the one you're providing either way?
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My place : »www.schettino.us | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? Ya, that's a good idea. Basically, the units cost us $49, so we were thinking of offering them at a subsidized price point, perhaps somewhere between $25 and $39. For customers in key (downtown) locations, perhaps we'd go even deeper than this, if we think they'll get some significant use.
It's an interesting idea to offset the cost with the credit, but it might be a bit of a task to keep track. 
-Dane | |
| 
Djdeadly
join:2000-11-03
San Jose, CA
| Looks like your using Meraki hardware.
I'd be interested, We are located 1 block from the SJSU campus with tons of students during the school. Yet the signal is too poor to reach over here so having some access points setup around here would be good but I'm not sure how you would compete with metrofi here. They offer free net access but the service is slow and the banner ad sucks. I would think of using a captive banner every couple minutes because I hate seeing that iframe when browsing. Another thing that would be nice is the option to add our own ad campaigns in something like openads. | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? Yes, we're considering Meraki as a potential solution. The goal is to work together with many customers to create a large mesh, with everyone sharing the revenue upside when it's used.
How fast is the Metrofi service, and how large is their advertisement banner space?
We're thinking of less than 1Mbps service for free, with an ad bar which would be the same shape, size and location as the "pop-up blocked" or "active-x script blocked" bar that you'll see come up now and then in most browsers. The ad bar displays an ad, and also has a local search input window that does a google search with the lat/long of the nearest AP pre-loaded.
-Dane | |
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Djdeadly
join:2000-11-03
San Jose, CA | Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? I'll get you the banner size and speed when i get in range of the signal hopefully later on today. | |
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guhuna
R.I.P Mike
Premium
join:2001-03-31
Brentwood, CA | Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? Same here, when I had mine setup no one logged into it. I had 2 dish type antennas pointing outside my window yet no one ever connected.
I have my own equipment also just for the hotspot. | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? Our challenge is that this is a mesh network - so it requires a specific bit of hardware and firmware. There ARE some folks hacking this OS/software into other hardware, but it's complex and not very well supported.
So - one issue may be that customers already have APs, and would like to offer access but cannot become part of the mesh network. We'll keep that in mind.
The benefits of the Meraki hardware are of course the mesh, plus security and authentication. It also promises to provide tiers of access, free bandwidth limited access which is ad supported as well as faster access which might be WPA authenticated.
The security portion is important - an open AP can be a magnet for abuse, and having logs showing who used what IP and when is very useful when the authorities come knocking. In other words, being able to prove that you, the DSL end-user who is hosting the gear was NOT the person who did the bad thing saves an awful lot of explaining.
-Dane | |
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guhuna
R.I.P Mike
Premium
join:2001-03-31
Brentwood, CA
 ·Covad Communications
·SONIC.NET
 ·PAXIO
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? said by DaneJasper  : There ARE some folks hacking this OS/software into other hardware, but it's complex and not very well supported. -Dane I'd like to know a little bit more on that subject.  I have 3 different wireless A/P's I can fool around with. One linky one Netgear and one that's literally homemade that runs DD-WRT. | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? I might have it backwards - you can hack the Meraki to run OpenWRT, but I'm not sure if the Meraki OS will run on other hardware.
»wiki.openwrt.org/OpenWrtDocs/Har···aki/Mini
-Dane | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? You might be surprised by the usage. We've found that most units do get some use, despite being in residential areas and completely un-marked, so to speak. It will vary based upon density of the area - nodes in apartments seem to get one to two daily users, and we just turned up two nodes in a duplex in San Francisco that are getting 10 users per day!
That said, obviously having density is good - if it's city wide, you can promote it city-wide, etc. This requires a lot of participants, which we're not likely to get in very many locations outside of Sonoma County and San Francisco perhaps.
That said, we DO want to encourage everyone to participate, so the idea is a banner ad revenue share for the entire network, despite the fact that your particular site might get less (or no) use in a given month. If the network earns $5,000 in a month, and there are 1000 hosts, the concept is for us to share evenly, 50% split, then split between all of the hosts. This would, in this example, result in a credit of $2.50 toward your service - regardless of actual use of the access point.
Hopefully this fosters a community feeling, encourages many folks to deploy, and encourages people to encourage others to use the network as well.
-Dane | |
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bobrk
You kids get offa my lawn
Premium
join:2000-02-02
San Jose, CA | Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? First two links are down at this time. | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs: | Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? Working okay for me, FYI.
-Dane | |
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bobrk
You kids get offa my lawn
Premium
join:2000-02-02
San Jose, CA
2 edits | Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? Have you tried them from a customer IP? 
I seem to be hitting service issues. Working now.
And now, not. Intermittent 503s. Definite capacity issues. | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs: | Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? Interesting. Call it "beta".
-Dane | |
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JohnInSJ
Premium
join:2003-09-22
San Jose, CA | So, when can we join in? You need a pushpin in san jose
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My place : »www.schettino.us | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? We're somewhat pre-launch right now, but within some narrow parameters, additional participation is possible:
Only a single free tier is available, currently set at 1Mbps downstream at 200kbps upstream. This tier is intended to be ad supported, and that ad revenue would be split with all hosts of the network, but ad support isn't yet online. This free tier may be reduced in speed to somewhere between 500kbps and 1Mbps in future.
Two higher tiers are intended:
A 1.5Mbps tier for any Sonic.net customers, authenticated via WPA, at no additional cost. Ad supported.
A 3.0Mbps tier, also WPA, exclusively for use by those who host a gateway node on their DSL line (that's you!).
These two are not yet online either.
Hosts today must have either:
Static IP DSL service and an available switch port and IP address for assignment via DHCP. Note that we assign DHCP from the top of the block to the bottom, so if you have statically set a system on your first and second IPs, and you plug in the Meraki hardware and it asks for an IP, we'll give it the last one in your block. Careful if you mix and match hard set and DHCP!
..or a router which offers a private IP via DHCP.
With all of these things in mind, if you'd like to join the testing, the (subsidized) hardware cost is currently $40 (which we'll just place on your account), and we'll cover the shipping. Email me if you want one, dane@sonic.net, with your Sonic.net login, DSL service address, and if it's different, UPS shipping address. I'll send you a little care package.
-Dane | |
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JohnInSJ
Premium
join:2003-09-22
San Jose, CA
·Comcast
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? Oooooo Presentesesss... we likes those, they're our precious
I'll get it set up tomorrow!
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My place : »www.schettino.us | |
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guhuna
R.I.P Mike
Premium
join:2001-03-31
Brentwood, CA | Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? Can you post any pictures of the unit? I'd like to see what one of them looks like. | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| The "network" of member units is configured for bandwidth limiting at 1Mbps downstream - this should help prevent anyone from freeloading all of your DSL bandwidth. In future, we may limit this further.
Ad support isn't online yet, but is "coming soon". Tiers of access that would allow other Sonic.net customers a faster service, and hosts faster yet, are also in progress. The whole thing is beta, so expect changes.
The fun part happens when you've got two or three of them near each other. If you've got a neighbor or out building you want to cover, etc.
-Dane | |
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Djdeadly
join:2000-11-03
San Jose, CA
| I couldn't connect to MetroFi's system but
»www.metrofi.com/advertising_solutions.html
and speed is up to 1 mbps but its extremely slow most likely overloaded with freeloaders.
JohninSJ, bobrk, and I can create the San Jose network | |
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rsempell
join:2004-12-28
Eureka, CA | Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? im located in eureka ca very close to downtown | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? In a region like yours, if you tell a neighbor about it and they get a unit, there will be at least one user, but otherwise, you may or may not get any. We've scattered units around and found that some do get lots and lots of use, and some get a little or none.
Our model for this is to EQUALLY share any ad revenue from free users to everyone who is hosting, regardless of their particular success at their location. I'm hoping that this causes more folks to choose to deploy, as opposed to only those who think they're likely to get high usage.
As for equipment cost - we're going to subsidize it, but I don't know how deep we will end up going. The retail on the Meraki indoor is $49, and the outdoor is $99. I expect we can get a bulk/wholesale rate that's a bit lower, then we could subsidize. One way we've considered pricing this is to offer one to any DSL user at a deep discount, maybe $25, then they could buy additional units for $40 or something. this would allow you to put one on your DSL line at one end of the house, and one at the other end to improve coverage in your home. Another could go in an outbuilding (studio, apartment, etc). They're great even just for solving the upstairs/downstairs (kid's room) problem.
Obviously, we're still in a testing phase, and the business model is not yet completely figured out. We have a few ideas, but Meraki has not implemented nor yet committed to implement a few features which we believe are key to broad deployment. We'll continue to work with them toward these goals, while testing the gear in the real world at the same time.
The feedback and ideas are great, keep 'em coming!
-Dane | |
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Djdeadly
join:2000-11-03
San Jose, CA | Our first access point is online. At the 100 Block of Paseo De San Antonio Next to San Jose State, We're setting up our outdoor unit tomorrow. | |
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bobrk
You kids get offa my lawn
Premium
join:2000-02-02
San Jose, CA | Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? 100 block? That's on the 4th street side of SJSU, right? | |
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Djdeadly
join:2000-11-03
San Jose, CA
1 edit | Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? Yup between 4th and 3rd. Its just indoor unit so you might have to sit by it. Outdoor unit will be installed tomorrow, might get better signal off that.
Don't you live by Topdog and Naglee Park Garage? Be nice to get free internet there while eatting a bird dog. | |
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bobrk
You kids get offa my lawn
Premium
join:2000-02-02
San Jose, CA | Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? Heh, I'm way over on 16th. Stumbling distance, but pretty far for WiFi. | |
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Djdeadly
join:2000-11-03
San Jose, CA
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? said by bobrk :Heh, I'm way over on 16th. Stumbling distance, but pretty far for WiFi. That is far haha lots of trees so can't put your mini on a huge pole. | |
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JohnInSJ
Premium
join:2003-09-22
San Jose, CA | Yay 2 dots in San Jose! bobrk, you getting one too? We can slowly fill in coverage
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My place : »www.schettino.us | |
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bobrk
You kids get offa my lawn
Premium
join:2000-02-02
San Jose, CA
·SONIC.NET
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? said by JohnInSJ :Yay 2 dots in San Jose! bobrk, you getting one too? We can slowly fill in coverage We'll see...
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Iraq Coalition Deaths | bobrk | |
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bobrk
You kids get offa my lawn
Premium
join:2000-02-02
San Jose, CA | Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? It's interesting to see that Djdeadly 's hotspot is two hotspots. Why is that?
I'll PM you my info, Dane. | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? said by bobrk :It's interesting to see that Djdeadly 's hotspot is two hotspots. Why is that? I'll PM you my info, Dane. I think he's got two units - an indoor one and an outdoor one.
-Dane | |
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See 6 replies to this post | |
JohnInSJ
Premium
join:2003-09-22
San Jose, CA
·Comcast
| Apparently, at some point we'll get access to the WPA-secured side of these buggers as sonic users, or something... but I don't think they're far enough along on the whole idea just yet.
These are rate limited already (1mbit max? did I remember that right?)
All I know for sure is, I had the old hotspot up for, what, three years now and I think I had one log-on the whole time. Free is definitely more attractive.
Due to an oddity of the way I monitor my site, I can see the hotspot traffic by comparing the modem stats and the main router box stats (»schettino.us/stats) looks like it's using 1.4% of my uplink, and 0.1% of my downlink (on average)
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My place : »www.schettino.us | |
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See 8 replies to this post | |
bobrk
You kids get offa my lawn
Premium
join:2000-02-02
San Jose, CA | Oh, and thanks for the goodies, Dane. | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? We're still at a pretty early stage, but it's ramping up fast. We've got about 40 units going out to San Francisco residents in the next week or so, plus Santa Rosa is getting a big launch tomorrow. In Santa Rosa, we're soliciting customers in a specific area, where we'll be deploying about 50 units on street light poles in a single square mile. Should be interesting.
-Dane | |
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JohnInSJ
Premium
join:2003-09-22
San Jose, CA
·Comcast
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? Well, I can tell you the uptake in my residential area is far better with the new hotspot vs the old one - I never got more then a rare usage out of the "pay as you go" hotspot. Apparently, free is much more desirable
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My place : »www.schettino.us | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? said by JohnInSJ :Well, I can tell you the uptake in my residential area is far better with the new hotspot vs the old one - I never got more then a rare usage out of the "pay as you go" hotspot. Apparently, free is much more desirable Yup, and that makes SO much sense. The challenge was to work out a way to monetize that free use. Ad bar display is going to be interesting. We'll also likely launch friendly NXDomain handling for WiFi users which provides another revenue opportunity using search results.
-Dane | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| We've gotten some nice press on our WiFi project. There's a video, here:
»link.brightcove.com/services/lin···78173339
And an article, here:
»www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs···SINESS01
A new look at Wi-Fi
By NATHAN HALVERSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
At the Starbucks coffee shop across from Santa Rosa Junior College, an employee suggested a patron go downtown if he wanted free wireless Internet access. Starbucks offers a wireless connection through T-Mobile, but it costs money.
"I want it, but I won't pay for it," said Nick Maricle as he left Starbucks. "Free Wi-Fi would be awesome."
Maricle might soon get his wish.
Sonic.net plans to expand its free wireless Internet access from downtown Santa Rosa into the adjoining junior college neighborhood.
The proposed free network would cover an area roughly the size of one square mile. It uses an innovative technology originally intended to provide Internet access for low-income families.
The expansion comes at a time when other free wireless projects have fallen apart.
In San Francisco, the EarthLink-Google plan to build a citywide network crumbled in late August due to the unexpectedly high cost of wireless networks. Other projects in cities from Chicago to Houston have either failed or stalled too.
Sonic.net hopes to avoid a similar fate by taking a unique -- and less expensive -- approach.
Where other projects cost anywhere from $100,000 to $190,000 a square mile to build, Sonic.net hopes to spend less than $25,000 a square mile.
Sonic.net will rely on community involvement. It is using a new technology that allows it to team up with its customers, who will contribute a slice of their Internet connection to feed powerful relay devices mounted atop light poles.
Sonic will split the cost -- and the profits -- of the project with individual customers who will help it build the network, one connection at a time.
Customers who agree to participate in the project will purchase a bundle of easy-to-install hardware for $30, with the remaining $50 covered by Sonic.net. The hardware splits the customer's DSL line, sending some of it to the free network and some of it to their home network. For security, the networks are kept completely separate.
Dane Jasper, president and founder of Sonic.net, said customers rarely use all their bandwidth and likely will not notice any slowdown in their Internet connection.
"We find that typical end-users consume about 2 percent of the bandwidth in their link," he said. "The excess is what we're seeking to leverage."
If a particular zone is getting overused, Sonic.net could supplement it by establishing a dedicated DSL line for the free network, Jasper said.
But to function at all, Sonic.net needs some of its customers to step forward.
"If we get a relatively small number of customers participating, it will work," Jasper said. "The more gateways, the faster the pathway."
Participating customers will receive 50 percent of any advertising revenue generated by the Wi-Fi network. Sonic.net will help pay for the project by placing ads on the browser bar of people who use the free network.
Also, the bundled hardware functions as a wireless Internet connection inside the home. So rather than buying a Linksys router for $60, users can buy the bundle for $30. However, the bundle lacks some basic functions of a router, such as the ability to link home computers or printers in a wireless network, because it contains a safety firewall to prevent outsiders from accessing customers' computers.
San Francisco residents will also be eligible to buy the hardware at a subsidized price, but Sonic.net is not authorized to install relay devices atop lamp posts in San Francisco. And it is the relay devices that make the network zing.
Sitting atop lamp posts, the relay points take the relatively weak signals from people's homes and blast it across the neighborhood. The pole-top units communicate together, creating a web-like mesh so if one fails another can cover it. Signals get weaker and slower with distance.
Sonic.net has access to light poles in Santa Rosa under an agreement it struck with the city to provide free wireless Internet access in select locations such as Howarth Park -- although the city provides the equipment in those areas. It has a similar deal with Petaluma, but that deal is limited to the downtown area.
Sonic.net plans to install the relay nodes in Santa Rosa in late September or early October.
Eric McHenry, chief technology officer for Santa Rosa, said the Wi-Fi expansion is good news for residents.
"What we've been missing is a way to extend our broadband appetite as we leave our homes and offices," McHenry said. "Wi-Fi is emerging as the connectivity option of choice for mobile devices -- not just laptops as previously thought, but also now for popular devices such as Apple's iPhone and new iPod Touch."
People will be able to look up a business address, the weather, or download music while sipping coffee or waiting for the bus.
Everytime someone logs onto the free network and clicks on a Google ad in the banner, the revenue will go into a pot that Sonic.net splits with its participating customers.
Sonic.net is setting its expectations low for the amount of revenue that will be generated, Jasper said. A customer who pays $18 a month for DSL could have their bill reduced by 50 cents to a few dollars, he said.
"There will be money; we just don't know how much yet," Jasper said. "It's an experiment."
The project is also a way for Sonic.net to market itself. Everytime someone logs onto the network they will see Sonic.net's home page.
Still, some analysts are skeptical that any communitywide Wi-Fi will work.
"It may be that Wi-Fi is not the ideal way to go," said Stan Schatt, vice president of broadband and wireless network research for ABI Research. "There are other technologies that are coming in."
Once 3G mobile Internet access provided by cellular phone companies becomes faster and more ubiquitous, Wi-Fi might not be necessary, Schatt said. Another technology known as WiMAX might also take the place of Wi-Fi, he said.
Esme Vos, founder of Muniwireless.com, strongly disagrees. She pointed out that Apple added Wi-Fi technology to its latest round of iPods and its CEO, Steve Jobs, gave the technology a glowing endorsement.
"Steve Jobs just said yesterday how great Wi-Fi is," Vos said. "Everything is being Wi-Fi enabled now."
Vos said it was very interesting that an Internet service provider was actually subsidizing a product that other Internet providers such as Comcast and Verizon forbid their customers to use.
"A big company is not going to do this. They don't want people sharing. They want each house to get a connection," she said.
The Junior College neighborhood has the largest concentration of Sonic.net users. About 22,000 residential customers use the company for DSL service across California, with about 6,000 of those households in Santa Rosa.
But Jasper said he is not concerned about losing customers. Dial-up customers are vanishing. And increased competition from cable, telephone and satellite companies mean Sonic.net is experimenting with several business models.
"This is the kind of diversification we need if we are going to survive," Jasper said.
You can reach Staff Writer Nathan Halverson at 521-5494 or nathan.halverson@pressdemocrat.com. | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? Coverage map for our pole top units in Santa Rosa. | |
| | | ankh
join:2001-09-08
Albany, CA
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? I have some older neighbors (80' and about 200' away, line of sight across/down the street) who might use web access if I brought them an old Mac with Firefox set up, and got a usable signal.
What would be next, do they then get led to a signup page for Sonic? | |
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JohnInSJ
Premium
join:2003-09-22
San Jose, CA
·Comcast
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? I use my own hotspot sometimes
It's just a click-through on the first web access, and then the occasionally inserted ad at the very top of a page. Very easy and unobtrusive to use.
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My place : »www.schettino.us | |
| | | | | ankh
join:2001-09-08
Albany, CA
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? Can you tell if you're 'throttled' as an outsider, when you use your own hotspot? I gather getting this rig _instead_ of an ordinary wireless access point makes sense, but am wondering if --- either now or eventually --- the owner's Ethernet devices can be registered on it so they get full use of the bandwidth while the free riders get the ads and the speed cap. I understand that all the programming has to be done from the Sonic end for this hardware. | |
| | ankh
join:2001-09-08
Albany, CA
| How about the "$100" (now $200, coming in November) laptop?
Can the Sonic wireless talk to this one? If so I can buy these for my elderly neighbors (and for each, also send one to one of the startup countries for kids).
Such a deal!
»news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6679431.stm
"Using standard wireless protocols, the laptops are automatically able to form a "mesh network" where each machine acts as both laptop and router, able to pass information between computers.
"If one laptop is switched on in range of an internet connection (usually at a local school) all other laptops on the network can share the access. " | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs: | Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? Ya, I saw the "give one get one" program for the OLPC project too, sounds kind of neat.
Small screen and keyboard though - really just a good device for kids, not elderly folks.
I can't imagine it won't use WiFi.
-Dane | |
| | | ankh
join:2001-09-08
Albany, CA
| Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? OK, I put in (at sonic's website) for an indoor unit, and am waiting to hear when an outdoor one comes available.
Next time I'm in the attic, I'll run Ethernet up and put a hole under the eaves by the chimney. And I won't forget the drip loop.
I think I'll run firewire at the same time so it's easy to eventually stick a webcam up there. The view's a lot better from the roof. Maybe 2 webcams for stereo.
I know lightning's not much of a risk but would appreciate any thoughts about isolating any conductor that's out there in the weather, just in case. | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs: | Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? My suggestion would be Cat-5 for a camera rather than firewire. FYI.
-Dane | |
| | | | | ankh
join:2001-09-08
Albany, CA | Re: Hosting a WiFi hotspot? I'll puzzle over that (don't know how I'd wire it, but I'm using a Mac). But it would be fun to share cameras up and down our street too, and might cut the car breakins a bit come to think of it. Hmmm ... | |
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bobrk
You kids get offa my lawn
Premium
join:2000-02-02
San Jose, CA
·SONIC.NET
| said by DaneJasper :My suggestion would be Cat-5 for a camera rather than firewire. FYI. He's probably got one of the old iSights, as I do.
It'd probably be even better to use one of those wireless cams that runs its own website.
--
Iraq Coalition Deaths | bobrk | |
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