NSW is about to roll out a free Wifi service… Oh wait, that was last years’ news. Did Unwired get picked for the Sydney free Wifi? Nope, as apparently “Complexity delays free Sydney wireless network“. Unwired just introduced their pre-paid plan, which is a nice idea but pretty slow (320k), limited and expensive (starting at 150Mb over 7 days for $10 AUD). If they were to provide the free Wifi, how would that fit in with their business plan? Where does Unwired actually fit into Channel 7’s business plan?
It is pretty easy though, just pick up a Meraki for 49 USD (+ shipping), and hook it up. Then your neighbor does the same. You’ve got a network. Although a business district does need a decent Wifi provider of course, as community Wifi doesn’t provide any warranties for service. And the free Wifi network would seem to be only covering the CBD’s, so that leaves the regular folk out in the cold. So, yes, in the end, we need to do it ourselves.
As Mark Pesce’s keynote already made clear, technology shapes everyones lives, not only here but in the third world too. Technology is transforming humanitarian relief—and is shifting the balance of power between donors and recipients, as outlined in this the Economist article:
Now, when an emergency occurs, the first people on the ground are often computer geeks, setting up telephone networks so other aid agencies can do their stuff.
Télécoms sans Frontières (TSF), a French voluntary agency (total staff: a dozen), goes in with the UN team that does the first needs-assessment in the hours after disaster strikes.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge in the U.K. and MIT have published a paper titled “Architecting Citywide Ubiquitous Wi-Fi Access” where they propose creating a cooperative of trusted Wi-Fi access points:
“We argue that citywide ubiquitous Wi-Fi access can be architected at near-zero cost because the network infrastructure is already in place: A majority of city dwellers have a broadband connection and a personal Wi-Fi AP at home.”
You too can help SydneyFreeNet grow by putting a Meraki Mini in your front window, balcony or rooftop.
If you have a broadband Internet connection, you can share (part of) your bandwidth, by having your Meraki set up as a internet gateway. If you don’t have a broadband Internet connection, you can still help out by extending the network if you can see the SydneyFreeNet wireless network signal, by setting up your Meraki as a repeater.
If you already provide free wireless Internet (that’s great!), you are welcome to join SydneyFreeNet by adding Meraki Minis to your existing access point(s). By combining our efforts, you’ll become part of a larger wireless network, improve the quality of service for your visitors and be helping to build a unified and robust wireless network.
If you are a business or property owner (cafe, bakery, restaurant, bar, laundromat, hotel, apartment complex, conference center, etc.), you can attract new customers that stay longer by providing them free internet access.
You can get one or more Merakis from the Meraki website. We don’t sell them.
Again, we are not affiliated with Meraki, and we don’t make any money selling them. We just like their technology, which is cheap and easy to set up and manage.
“At ThinkGeek we’re pretty lazy when it comes to technology. We expect our gadgets to do all the busywork while we focus on the high level important tasks like reading blogs. That’s why we hate to have to crack open our laptops just to see if there is any wi-fi internet access about… and keychain wi-fi detectors, we would have to actually remove them from our pockets to look at them. But now thanks to the ingenious ThinkGeek robot monkeys you can display the current wi-fi signal strength to yourself and everyone around you with this stylish Wi-Fi Detector Shirt.”
Presentation by Mark Pesce on the Meraki Mini and mesh networks.
The convergence of hyperdistribution and DIYnets – both broadcasting and physical networks – are about to reshape the economics of telecommunications. Part Five of Five.
Not to turn you of in using any open Wifi hotspots, but NO, it is not secure using an open Wifi hotspot. After all, it is ‘open’ for anyone to join. That means anyone could read along with what you are reading (given some specific network sniffing tools).
In a secured, closed wireless network, the data exchange between your device and the access point would be encrypted, so people wouldn’t be able to snoop in. That makes it a lot safer to read your emails, log into your Facebook account, or whatever.
Because of openness of the network, you should avoid connecting to any Web site or service that requires password authentication that is not specifically secured using SSL (the little lock that appears in your browser). This includes email that does not requires an SSL connection, and FTP. You should therefor limit your wireless usage to general Internet surfing.
So how can you make accessing an open network more secure?
Enable your email client to use SSL, both for incoming and outgoing messages.
Use SFTP (Secure-FTP) if you need to transfer files. Or encrypt the files before you transfer them.
If you need to check in on a web-based email account, make sure you connect over SSL/HTTP, not only for the login but for all message exchanges. For example, GMail’s login is over SSL, but the rest of GMail is by default unsecured. Make sure you connect to GMail (or whatever email service) over SSL/HTTPS.
Don’t do your internet banking on free, open access points, and don’t do your online shopping where you need to provide your credit card details. Although these services should be over a SSL connection, you could be connected to a rogue access points, operated by some unscrupulous people. The access point could act like a man-in-the-middle, intercepting your communication with your banking service.
But in the end it is strongly advised you can connect to a VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection at a free Wifi hotspot. Using a VPN connection will greatly improve your privacy, as all data is encrypted between you and the VPN server. Actually this improves security on secured access points as well because the security is only between the device and the access point, but from the access point onward it’s open again…
And as always, you may want to take the necessary precautions to secure your computer as well. Make sure your computer is up to date with the latest security fixes, and use an anti-virus and anti-spyware software as well as a software firewall to protect against intrusions. Make sure you don’t have any shared folders, and password-protect access to your computer.
“Mesh networking is a powerful way to blanket any area with wireless Internet access. In most wireless networks each access point is plugged directly into an Internet connection. But Meraki mesh networks are different. Our repeaters communicate wirelessly with each other, meaning that each repeater can provide Internet access, even without its own direct connection. In fact, in an average Meraki mesh network, only one of every 10 repeaters needs to be physically connected to the Internet. This makes it possible to build a bigger network that’s surprisingly affordable and more reliable.”
A comprehensive overview of what a “Wireless Community Network” is at Wikipedia:
“Wireless community networks or wireless community projects are the organizations that attempt to take a grassroots approach to providing a viable alternative to municipal wireless networks for consumers.”
SydneyFreeNet, community driven, free, wireless access all across Sydney.
Credits
Occasionally cared for by Jean-Jacques Halans and the Free Sydney Wireless and Free Australia Wireless communities.
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“At ThinkGeek we’re pretty lazy when it comes to technology. We expect our gadgets to do all the busywork while we focus on the high level important tasks like reading blogs. That’s why we hate to have to crack open our laptops just to see if there is any wi-fi internet access about… and keychain wi-fi detectors, we would have to actually remove them from our pockets to look at them. But now thanks to the ingenious ThinkGeek robot monkeys you can display the current wi-fi signal strength to yourself and everyone around you with this stylish