Setting up a neighborhood WiFi network?

Okay, let's say I pick up an old Apple Airport Extreme (wireless router capable of handling 50 connections) and attach it to an unused computer, remove any log-on permissions and call it "Pine Hills Emergency Information". Wipe the memory of the computer except for what's needed to run it along with several files labeled "emergency phone numbers", "water purification", "food safety", "latest news", etc... Fire it up when the next hurricane comes and run the whole thing off solar panels. Have I made something useful?

I'm thinking of using this as a way to quickly disseminate information through the neighborhood during a period when phone and internet connections aren't functioning, like when hurricane Ike hit us. It would not serve as a connection to the outside world.

When Ike hit we set up a walkie-talkie network throughout the neighborhood, making sure every household had a radio. This gave people a way to call for help in an emergency, but I'm looking to set something up that allows more information to be transferred to each household. I'm the main writer for the neighborhood newsletter so it would be easy for me to get the word out about this emergency network well before any emergency. Heck even afterwards I could send neighboring teenagers out to post signs about the network.

Ideally some sort of bbs would be set up so people could post and receive responses. Enough people in my neighborhood have emergency power sources so that even if a particular family didn't they would know someone within a few houses who did and could pass/receive information through them.

-Blast



-Blast

Yes,I have been thinking along the same lines.

Only useful if you connect it in a way that makes it replicate.

WiFi Mesh networks are what you're thinking of here, and I've been thinking a LOT about this watching what happened in Egypt with the internet kill switch and reading in the news that the current majority party in the house is introducing a bill to try to get the same kill switch setup here in the USofA.

An ad-hoc wireless network running on cheap/older hardware, with "store and forward" routing sounds a lot like the old BBS platforms I used to frequent, in particular Fidonet is very close to this idea.

The main thing is Replication - like lotus notes used to do. That way you can get data, and replicate it in case your own connectivity is limited or cut off.

Bittorrent is also a very, very nice protocol for replication of data sets.

An easier and more secure system would be to use a dedicated Wireless AP/Router/NAS i.e. a one box solution such as the AirStation™ Nfiniti™ Wireless-N High Power Router & Access Point WZR-HP-G300NH, which would cost around $80.

http://www.buffalotech.com/products/wire...-wzr-hp-g300nh/

All your content can then be stored on an SDHC (8,16 or 32GB) card using a USB SDHC adapter. Power requirements would be much much lower than a PC/Apple Airport extreme combination as the off grid power supply costs will be much higher (Battery/charge controller/Inverter/Solar PV etc)

All the content including streaming video can then be accessed by your neighbours to keep them entertained. (assuming they are within a suitable range of the AP)

Yes if your neighbors have power to their computers and the notion to see what networks are available during an emergency. Not sure what the likelihood of that is.

this is making the rounds on other sites.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/218155/get_internet_access_when_your_government_shuts_it_down.html

Okay, I'm pretty much network illiterate. Replicate?

I'm probably wrong but I think the later versions of that Apple base station can automatically hook up with other Apple base stations to expand coverage. With several of those placed around the neighborhood we could cover just about everyone. I picture people accessing the network, seeing the files and downloading them as needed. Uploading info would be a bit trickier as I don't want it to become the neighborhood porn repository.

As for getting the word out, I'm one of the neighborhood captains and part of my responsibilities is making sure everyone in the neighborhood is kept up-to-date on items of importance such as "yard of the month", missing pets, and community block parties. It should be do-able for me to pass out info on a local net and hopefully find other volunteers.

-Blast

Hey, that's pretty cool, especially the part about being able to share files from any USB harddrive plugged in to it.
-Blast

This is an excellent low power idea and it would have much better range than the Airport router. Though it's overall range would still be pretty limited for an entire neighborhood.

I'm currently only getting one bar from a neighbors Linksys router 2 doors away. A signal booster on a tower/pole over 20ft outside might be able to reach for several blocks.

Only give Read rights to the files when you fire it up, then they can only download from your computer.

Your "old" Airport Extreme (at least the one you linked to) can also share data from any USB device connected to it - without needing a computer (well other than for initial setup).

You can set permissions on a USB drive (or thumbdrive) so that everything is read only and then basically share the drive. Pretty easy to do in the Airport Setup utility. You can also create what are essentially write only drop boxes for people to provide info that you can review and make public as you see fit.

Good idea but any wifi based system will be somewhat range limited unless your neighbors decide to extend your network with their wireless routers.

- Eric

Im not an expert so yeah grain of salt i guess. The major issue with Wifi networks is range from my experience. Houses visually close have barely showing wifi signal. How many of your neighbors have laptops and ways to run them for more then 2 hours on batt power? Also most people do not plug in laptops or desktops during storms for fear of frying them.

It is a good idea to start with before the hurricane hits but during the storm actually hitting it would become a moot point. Also i would simply suggest setting up a web server using a old computer with a linux distro made for the job and making it open to your neighborhood via a password handed out. I think that would be simpler and more reliable considering the limited and more complicated ways of setting up a network for your entire neighborhood.

Another idea would be getting everyone to purchase a 1 gig or so pen drive and getting it updated at meetings there for no reliance on internet.

http://wiki.daviddarts.com/PirateBox
http://wiki.daviddarts.com/PirateBox_DIY

Couple of years ago on a tech forum I read of a person who was attempting to setup a neighborhood wi-fi network in his trailer park. Long story short, though the person was well versed in network technologies and had invested in some good equipment, he ran into quite a few issues in terms of range etc. In the end, he ended up creating a couple of centralized wi-fi hotspots under a picnic shelter type of setup and he found that the residents of the park actually enjoyed gathering around and under the shelter (depending on weather) with their laptops and being able to surf the net and at the same time enjoy some company and conversation with each other.

I would think this type of setup is more technically easier to setup in a centralized backyard of someones's home or local community meeting place then setting up a whole neighborhood wi-fi network in an age where most people struggle to find the Start button on their OS desktop. In a post disaster situation, it would also probably promote more of a community togetherness. As with anything, rules and polices would need to be established in terms of allotted connection time, hours of operation etc. To help save on bandwidth, a caching proxy server such as Squid could be easily implemented on an old laptop or pc.

See http://www.iServer.pro for software that let's you make your Mac a bulletin board for all to use.

Don't forget most phones have WIFI capability. Phones would be easy to recharge with a very small solar panel, 12V auto, emergency charger, etc.

I don't think that's true. I don't think there are many phones that can reach out and see local networks.

$999 for a fifty-person license? Ouch. I like my neighbors but not THAT much!

-Blast

The major issue with trying to set somthing up for that large of a amount of people is making sure everyone has the required tech to access it. You cant simply assume that everyone in the neighborhood has a high end smart phone with wifi abilities nor can you even expect them all to have a computer let alone a laptop a laptop with wifi abilities or a wifi adapter for desktop.

I know Blackberry, iPhone, and Droid have this abiltiy and I'm pretty sure all current smart phones do as well. But if most people in the area have phones more than a couple of years old that may be a problem.

It would depend on the area but I would bet most households will have either a laptop with wifi or a smart phone. Households with children or teenagers will almost certainly have laptops AND smartphones. As someone has mentioned, I think the biggest problem would not be access to the network but power to recharge the batteries. Of course you could always set up a 12V SLA community charging station that is constantly topped off with a solar panel and charge controller. That and a set of battery clamps with a 12V cigarette plug (and an inverter for laptops) could keep you running indefinitely.

While it's an interesting idea, it's a complicated one...which means there is a lot that can go wrong.

I mean, first it requires that you set it up so it works reliably, works during the worst of conditions, and has a signal strong enough to reach multiple homes. From there it requires every house to have the required devices and the knowledge how to use them. This can be especially tough if they don't have a way to keep them powered or run into a problem where their device fails in some way (say, if it gets wet during a flood).

Depending on the information you are trying to disseminate, it might end up being and easier and more reliable system just to stick to printed leaflets. Especially since a neighborhood setting means people are living relatively close to each other.

What I would do is start out by giving everyone in your neighborhood a nice bound notebook with the majority of pertinent emergency preparedness information. Then just supplement it as necessary with hand delivered fliers. It's a much simpler system and it doesn't required complicated equipment to use it. If necessary, it doesn't really require any technology beyond a piece of paper, a pen, and a messenger boy to make it work.

(On a side note, for the initial binder at least, I would make sure to either use rite-in-rain style paper and a laser printer or have the pages laminated. This way, they'll be durable and water-proof...which is something a computer typically isn't.)

OS X comes with apache and php built in, so you have the basics for web serving already available, assuming you want to leave a computer connected to your wireless. There are several free solutions available (XAMPP or MAMP to name a couple) for a more complete solution. I'm pretty sure there are similar solutions available for Windows or Linux. Biggest downsides to this approach is the extra power required to keep a computer running in addition to your wireless and a bit more setup/maintenance effort.

A lot of this boils down to what service are you trying to provide. If all you want is a simple file server (file sharing), a wireless router that can share attached USB devices (like the airport extreme or the other one mentioned above) is probably good enough. Most wireless routers will let you setup a guest account and honor file permissions on attached devices. In OS X with an Airport Extreme it is very easy to setup a DropBox folder with write only permissions along with a read only information folder. I just tried this using my personal setup and then connected to it using my work laptop (Windows XP) with no problems at all.

Range will be an issue with any Wifi system. 802.11g can reach about 300' outdoors while 802.11n can maybe reach twice that. Indoor ranges are maybe half the outdoor range. Differences between individual routers are fairly minor since the driving factor will probably be your computers capabilities/limitations. A non-standard, standard called WDS does allow additional base stations to repeat a wireless network. Interoperability between brands of routers/access points is a problem. Several years ago I used an Airport Express to extend a Linksys wireless network for internet access and file sharing though other services didn't work through the Airport Express. Check with your neighbors and see what they have/try it out, you might find enough compatible routers to cover the area.

I think the simple approach would probably be best, though the engineer in me leans to the more complicated (i.e. fun) web solution.

-Eric

I think Paul810 has the best idea. Keep it simple.

We have discussed something similar in my area. My neighbors range from young, tech-savvy couples to older, retired folks that still pine for their old rotary phone. It would be a huge task to get everyone up to speed on a network and have back-up power / batteries.

As an alternative, the idea of a pen-drive or thumb-drive with the information on it seems an easier idea. Plus, it gives everyone the chance for some face-to-face contact during the update process.

I use a neighborhood network daily. Using it now as a matter of fact. We winter in a desert area in Southern AZ. There is a wi-fi node in a building about half a mile from me. It is nothing special except it has a directional antenna mounted on top of a one story building.

Most of the users (probably 50 or more) also use some sort of directional antenna. Some are 3/4 miles from the node. Works fine.

None of us have grid power, all solar. The node is on the grid.

We don't use it as a local network, although we could. Just wi-fi to the internet.

Nomad.

In the absence of directional antennas or mesh wireless you'd be lucky to get a range of more than 100 yards. Improving the base station antenna has only limited efficacy, as bidirectional communication is required to pass packets. Similarly, increasing power at the base station has almost no effect on range.

The fifty dollar license would probably fulfill your needs. You won't need more than five people to collaborate on building the site. Viewers without editing powers are not limited; they don't count in the five. If I understood the guy correctly at MacWorld, you can allow comments with unlimited users that don't count against the five collaborators.

His point about why iServer is worth the fifty bucks has some merits. As another has said, sure you can do it with freely available software, but with iServer it's plug and play. Install the software and you're set to go, more or less. You don't kneed to know Apache, PHP, or any of the other apps you need to hook together. I'm sure this is trivially easy for many people, but I'm uninterested in getting under the hood to build a server.

I stand corrected!

The Issue I have with this kinda thinking is it easily alienates People Who either cannot afford such things or do not wish to have such things for their own personal reasons. The Groupthink that just cuz most people you know has one everyone on earth has one is just bullocks. The last thing you wanna do For emergency purposes is automatically Think you know what everyone in your neighborhood owns.

I see your point, but really this is just a thought exercise.

A lot of people have this gear, so it's worth exploring. Is it possible? Does it add value? Maybe in Blast's local neighbourhood, it does. In others, not so much. Though if someone has a connection to the outside world, others will definitely be interested.

Given that many neighbours have never spoken to each other, a community BBQ with hot dogs and handshakes might actually be the smart tech solution, or at least the starting point. And if they're interested in some hardcore (and carefully disclaimered) info, the ability to share and discuss would be brilliant. And from there, a volunteer corps steps up ....

Note that there are no bears or lawyers in our scenario.

Understood. I'm not a tech junkie either. I actually prefer CB radio for short range communication. But not many people even know what a CB radio is much less own one. At least around here. Finally got around to tuning my radio (new SWR meter) and no one to talk to.

I know of some people who only talk to the houses directly around them. The "neighborhood" to them is the 1 house distance square around um. Sometimes even then its hard to get the 9 households together for a cookout or the impossible lets talk about preparing for the worst meetings.

Yes, that's true. Though when the various grids and most information sources go down for a while, all those things that keep us so connected and so apart, the permafrost will tend to thaw out a bit, you know?

You would be surpised on how most communities pulls together in the face of a adverse situation whether on a small or large scale. Over the years, I have personally been both the recepient of my neighborhood's (including many we had never met) generosity and I have also been on the giving side of generosity when others needed help.

To use the neighborhood wireless network as an analogy in a hypthetical situation. I don't think there is one member on this forum who if by chance had the requisite computers and access to the internet during or in the aftermath of said hypothetical situation would refuse any good neighbor who did not have a computer, reasonable access to their computer and internet access.

I think it's a great idea. I'd use linux as my server since it's free and I'm familiar with it. You could also install a mail server and a web mail front end to make it easy to use. Or maybe a message board. There's a ton of free software for linux.

You'd want your wireless router, or the antenna connection outside the house to get decent range.

There's a similar concept called community wireless networks that people have been working on for years. There may be some software or ideas from that movement that you could use.

If you chose to not participate in the use of mass communications devices, which these days also means a computer with an internet connection or ability to connect to the internet, then you are opting out of mass communications, and all that this action implies.

As an Emergency Management Coordinator, I take into account the facts about reaching a mass audience as quickly as possible with timely, accurate information. The facts tell me that 77.3% of the US population has internet connectivity (and penetration my my area is closer to 98%) 93% of the people in the USA have mobile phones, and 24.5% of the American population does not have a landline. This makes internet and mobile phones (texting) not only a viable mass communications medium, it makes it mandatory.

While broadcast media (television, radio) remains for the foreseeable future a viable and important communications tool, the reality is that information moves faster and wider via Texts and Twitter than it does via News Radio. Yes, most people don't use Twitter, and many people still think of it as a vacuous, self-serving platform for narcissistic babbling, but the reality is that it - and other mass texting tools such as Group.me are turning into vitally important tools in emergency planning. The LAFD and the American Red Cross know and use the power of these tools. The governments of Egypt and Iran know this and fear it.

In an increasingly online world, the concept of creating an "outernet" that allows for the use of semi-autonomous networks for replicating the functionality and protocols of key communications tools of the internet makes good sense.

I think that the rough winter of 2011 and the political upheaval in the Middle East have many people thinking seriously about building a more decentralized and robust alternative system of peer to peer and point to point communications based on Internet protocols and without the vulnerability of power failures, bandwidth caps or politically motivated kill switches.

It would be utterly foolish to not plan now for a very near future where the whole idea of "broadcast media" - for example, Weather Radios - is antiquated and even obsolete, having been replaced by "multicast data streams" picked up by devices that today we call smart phones, but in 5 years (or less) will be our "communicators" in every sense of the word.

Already I'm seeing dockable "phones" from Motorola - you carry it around and it's a smart phone, you park it in a dock and it's a laptop - and couple this with the rising tide of digital broadcast services and LTE data networks, it's not hard to see 50% or more market penetration for multipurpose internet based multimedia communications devices.

In this scenario, which is hardly unrealistic, it's smart to be planning out how you'd keep these devices connected and accessing useful information in localized or regionalized emergencies.

A new feature on Verizon's iPhone allows it to be used as a stand-alone WiFi base statin capable of allowing up to five other WiFi devices (laptop, iTouch, iPhone, etc) to connect to the internet.
Full Article Here

Technology is cool.
-Blast

Its not a new iphone feature, the droid x, droid2, etc did it before. My droid (1) doesn't officially support being a hotspot but I have an app that lets me do it.

yep and it's not really new to the iphone either. The technical capability and sw have existed since I think the iphone 3. It just requires a carrier that is not AT&T or jail breaking the phone. Internet tethering is even an option in the menus for my iphone 3gs (and has been for as long as I have had it), but you had to go pay a lot more to AT&T to enable it.

Never understood why since I have an unlimited data plan. Maybe more carriers will continue to improve the competitive landscape.

- Eric

Unlimited Data for a cellphone is much different then unlimited data for a computer. Cellphones Often Use mobile websites that are scaled down in size to reduce the data use. Computers eat data like no other that one song you download is prolly two days worth of moderate internet use on a cellphone. Of course this all depends on the cellphone you have and your habits. The Cellphone companies Most likely predict that with most peoples Computer based internet habits they would more then overdo the predicted use Threw cellphones. Its all Thought out in great depth before they create new plans of any sort. They need Cash back per kilobyte you use and thats their main goal.