Post by cjm on Nov 13, 2016 8:11:17 GMT
I get seriously lost in the terminology but the set-up touted in the article seems to me but an extended wifi area. In other words, you get into the system via Telkom but then distribute your access to a wider community.
I cannot see that there are major benefits, apart from emailing your neighbour without going through the main internet access.
As we are in a bad spot for internet access, I have played around with the idea of tapping into the system at a strategic point and then relaying the signal to us (some 10 km). This seems feasible at a relative modest price. Friends and family members can then tap into the main access along the way. The one main access point should cut costs as well. From a practical point of view it means that there has to be a basic computer running 24/7, most likely in the home of an acquaintance. The situation of the redistribution stations is a problem in our crime infested country - particularly the power supply. It is said that in SA when putting up solar panels, the first thing to do is to erect an impenetrable fence around the installation. A local internet service supplier had solar panels stolen from atop a hill serviced by the company by helicopter. The thieves accessed the site by simple mountaineering!
So far, the practicalities have deterred me more than the technology.
I am not sure what the legal implication of such set-up is.
I cannot see that there are major benefits, apart from emailing your neighbour without going through the main internet access.
As we are in a bad spot for internet access, I have played around with the idea of tapping into the system at a strategic point and then relaying the signal to us (some 10 km). This seems feasible at a relative modest price. Friends and family members can then tap into the main access along the way. The one main access point should cut costs as well. From a practical point of view it means that there has to be a basic computer running 24/7, most likely in the home of an acquaintance. The situation of the redistribution stations is a problem in our crime infested country - particularly the power supply. It is said that in SA when putting up solar panels, the first thing to do is to erect an impenetrable fence around the installation. A local internet service supplier had solar panels stolen from atop a hill serviced by the company by helicopter. The thieves accessed the site by simple mountaineering!
So far, the practicalities have deterred me more than the technology.
I am not sure what the legal implication of such set-up is.
DIY Networks – how to create your own Internet access
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A wireless router, in essence a special purpose computer, can do more than just connect your devices to the internet. It could host a wide variety of web services, from a simple site to a fully fledged collaborative platform, accessible only to those in physical proximity.
These include a virtual announcement board for a block of apartments, an online guestbook for an urban garden, a file-sharing platform for a workshop, and many more creative uses of “self-hosted” web applications, like WordPress, Owncloud and Etherpad that anyone can host on a private web server.
These services are accessible through the router’s wireless antenna announcing a network name, a Service Set IDentifier (SSID), exactly as it works when you connect to a free or home wifi. They can appear automatically on a splash page or captive portal when you open you browser (as is often the case in airports, cafes and hotels).
If the router is equipped with a second antenna, it can easily connect to a similar router residing in the coverage area whose size depends on the type of antenna and environmental factors.
The first antenna can then be used to allow people with their personal devices to connect. And the second to exchange information with the neighbouring router. Each router then becomes a “node” in a small network: anyone who connects to one of them can access the services offered by, and people connected to, the other as well.
As more nodes get connected, larger areas are covered, and a community can be formed, initially by the owners of the nodes and eventually by everyone in the area.
Of course, you cannot easily build a whole such network by yourself, but you can build yourself a single network node using cheap hardware (such as a Raspberry Pi) and free self-hosted software for installing the set of local services and applications of your choice.
...
...
A wireless router, in essence a special purpose computer, can do more than just connect your devices to the internet. It could host a wide variety of web services, from a simple site to a fully fledged collaborative platform, accessible only to those in physical proximity.
These include a virtual announcement board for a block of apartments, an online guestbook for an urban garden, a file-sharing platform for a workshop, and many more creative uses of “self-hosted” web applications, like WordPress, Owncloud and Etherpad that anyone can host on a private web server.
These services are accessible through the router’s wireless antenna announcing a network name, a Service Set IDentifier (SSID), exactly as it works when you connect to a free or home wifi. They can appear automatically on a splash page or captive portal when you open you browser (as is often the case in airports, cafes and hotels).
If the router is equipped with a second antenna, it can easily connect to a similar router residing in the coverage area whose size depends on the type of antenna and environmental factors.
The first antenna can then be used to allow people with their personal devices to connect. And the second to exchange information with the neighbouring router. Each router then becomes a “node” in a small network: anyone who connects to one of them can access the services offered by, and people connected to, the other as well.
As more nodes get connected, larger areas are covered, and a community can be formed, initially by the owners of the nodes and eventually by everyone in the area.
Of course, you cannot easily build a whole such network by yourself, but you can build yourself a single network node using cheap hardware (such as a Raspberry Pi) and free self-hosted software for installing the set of local services and applications of your choice.
...
