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 cheap, standardised 802.11b (Wi-Fi) devices to build growing clusters of linked, citywide networks. Some are being used to link to the wider Internet, particularly where individuals can obtain unmetered ADSL and/or cable modem internet connections 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.

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. As of mid-2002, most such networks remain embryonic, with small groups of people experimenting and gradually interconnecting with each other and thus expanding the domain and utility of the networks.

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 linkups is the use of high-gain antennas. Commercially-available examples are relatively expensive and not that readily available, so much experimentation has gone into homebuilt antenna construction. One striking design is the cantenna, which performs better than many commercial antenna designs and is constructed from a steel food can.

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 by region

Some wireless community network projects are:

North America

United States

Atlanta FreeNet, Atlanta, GA - http://www.atlantafreenet.org
Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois - http://www.cuwireless.net/
BARWN, Bay Area, California, http://www.barwn.org/
BAWUG, San Francisco - http://www.bawug.org/
City Heights Wireless Network, San Diego, CA, USA - http://www.sdfutures.org/services/specialprojects.htm
DetroitCONNECTED, Detroit, Michigan, USA - http://www.detroitconnected.org/
Detroit Wireless Project, Metropolitian Detroit, Michigan, USA - http://www.dwp.org/
Dowza Directory & Community, Global - Free & Provider Listings - http://www.dowza.com/
FREE WiFi Downtown San Jose San Jose, CA, USA - http://www.sanjose.org/wifi/
GuerillaNet - http://205.159.169.11/
Newbury Open, Boston, Massachusetts, http://www.newburyopen.net/
NoCatNet, Sonoma County, California, http://nocat.net/
NYCWireless, New York, New York, http://nycwireless.net/
PDX Wireless, Portland, Oregon - http://www.pdxwireless.org/
Personal Telco, Portland, Oregon - http://www.personaltelco.net/ (wiki)
Seattle Wireless - http://www.seattlewireless.net/ (wiki)
SFLAN, San Francisco - http://www.sflan.org/
SoCalFreeNet, San Diego, CA - http://www.socalfreenet.org
Wireless Community Networks, Chicago, IL - http://wcn.cnt.org/
Wireless Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA - http://www.phila.gov/wireless/

Canada

BC Wireless Project, British Columbia, Canada - http://www.bcwireless.net
Île Sans Fil, Montréal (Québec) Canada, http://www.ilesansfil.org/
Wireless Toronto - http://www.wirelesstoronto.ca
Toronto Wireless Community Network - http://www.esoterraka.com/twcn/

Europe

Austria

Funkfeuer, Vienna - http://www.funkfeuer.at

Czech Republic

CZFree.Net, Czech Republic - http://www.czfree.net/

Croatia

RiWireless, Rijeka - http://www.riwireless.net/
WirelessKZ, Krizevci - http://www.wirelesskz.net/
ZGWireless, Zagreb - http://www.zgwireless.net/

France

Fédération France Wireless - http://www.wireless-fr.org/
Wifi Montauban, France - http://www.wifi-montauban.net/

Germany

Freifunk.net, Berlin a.o., Germany - http://www.freifunk.net/
OpenNet Initiative, Rostock, Germany - http://www.opennet-forum.de/
mobileaccess, HotSpots and wireless communities in Germany - http://mobileaccess.de/wlan/

Greece

Athens Wireless Metropolitan Network, Athens - http://www.awmn.net/
Ioannina Wireless Network, Ioannina - http://www.ioanninawireless.gr/
Patras Wireless Network, Patras - http://www.patraswireless.net/

Hungary

Hungarian Wireless Community, Budapest - http://www.huwico.hu/

Serbia and Montenegro

Lozničani Community, Loznica - http://site.loznica.net

Netherlands

Wireless Leiden, Leiden, Netherlands - http://www.wirelessleiden.nl/english/ and http://wiki.wirelessleiden.nl/ (wiki)

Spain

MadridWireless, Madrid, Spain - http://madridwireless.net/
RedLibre, Spain - http://www.redlibre.net/
TorreviejaWireless, Torrevieja, Spain - http://www.torreviejawireless.org/
Guifi.Net, Osona, Catalonia, Spain - http://www.gifi.net/
Mataró Sensefils, Mataró, Catalonia, Spain - http://www.matarosensefils.net/

Sweden

Elektrosmog, Stockholm - http://elektrosmog.nu/

United Kingdom

Bristol Wireless,Bristol, UK - http://www.bristolwireless.net/
Consume the Net, London - http://consume.net/
TottonWireless.net, Totton, UK - http://tottonwireless.net/
Manchester Wireless, Manchester - http://www.manchesterwireless.net/
WLAN ORG UK, Bath, United Kingdom: original promoting site - http://www.wlan.org.uk/
Arwain.net, Cardiff- http://www.arwain.net/

Other

Australia & Oceania

Queensland, Australia

Darling Downs Wireless, Toowoomba - http://ddwireless.net
Brishmesh - Brisbane - http://www.brismesh.org
Cairns Wireless - http://cairns.wireless.org.au

Canberra Territory, Australia

Air.Net Canberra - http://www.air.net.au

Western Australia

WAFreeNet, Perth - http://www.wafreenet.org
E3, Perth - http://www.e3.com.au/

Tasmania, Australia

TasWireless, Tasmania - http://www.taswireless.net

Northern Territory, Australia

The Mesh, Darwin - http://the-mesh.org
Darwin Wireless, Darwin - http://www.darwinwireless.com

New Zealand

NZWireless, New Zealand - http://www.nzwireless.org
New Zealand Wireless - http://nz.wireless.org.au

Africa

South Africa

Community Owned Information Network, South Africa - http://csircoin.blogspot.com
AirHive community Mesh and low-cost internet access networks (http://www.airhive.net)

External links

FreeNetworks.org (http://freenetworks.org/), a project attempting to bring together diverse community projects from all over the world
Matt Westervelt's FreeNetworks Blog (http://seattlewireless.net/~mattw/)
nodeDB FAQ (http://www.nodedb.com/wiki/index.php?FAQ)
Personal Telco's list of Wireless Communities at [1] (http://www.personaltelco.net/index.cgi/WirelessCommunities)
Building a Wireless Community Network (http://dingo.uwaterloo.ca/~ihoward/papers/WirelessCommunities.html)
The Cloud Report 50+ City Clouds (http://www.dailywireless.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3032)
Sam Churchill's DailyWireless Blog (http://www.dailywireless.org)
Sam Churchill's Wireless LAN Revolution (http://www.teleport.com/~samc/psuwireless/)
The National Summit for Community Wireless Networks (http://www.communitywirelesssummit.org)
Airshare.org - Community Wireless Resource for Newbies and Experts (http://www.airshare.org)
Wireless Warrior (http://www.wireless-warrior.org/) - WiFi information resource for WLAN admins and advanced wardrivers
WiFiMaps.com (http://www.WiFiMaps.com) - Interactive maps of Wi-Fi installations and coverage
[http://www.airhive.net/modules.php?name=Web_Links&l_op=viewlink&cid=7 Community Networks User Groups Links - Mainly South

African]

[2] (http://www.jawug.za.net) - Johannesburg Area Wireless Usergroup
The State of Wireless London (http://informal.org.uk/people/julian/publications/the_state_of_wireless_london/) - from informal (http://informal.org.uk)