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#216313 - 02/03/11 02:48 AM Re: Setting up a neighborhood WiFi network? [Re: Frisket]
LED Offline
Veteran

Registered: 09/01/05
Posts: 1474
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. frown

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#216314 - 02/03/11 02:48 AM Re: Setting up a neighborhood WiFi network? [Re: dougwalkabout]
Frisket Offline
Addict

Registered: 09/03/10
Posts: 640
Originally Posted By: dougwalkabout

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.


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.
_________________________
Nope.......

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#216317 - 02/03/11 03:18 AM Re: Setting up a neighborhood WiFi network? [Re: Frisket]
dougwalkabout Offline
Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3219
Loc: Alberta, Canada
Originally Posted By: Frisket
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?

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#216319 - 02/03/11 03:29 AM Re: Setting up a neighborhood WiFi network? [Re: Frisket]
Teslinhiker Offline
Veteran

Registered: 12/14/09
Posts: 1418
Loc: Nothern Ontario
Originally Posted By: Frisket

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.


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.
_________________________
Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.

John Lubbock

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#216330 - 02/03/11 12:05 PM Re: Setting up a neighborhood WiFi network? [Re: Blast]
MichaelC Offline
Stranger

Registered: 12/19/06
Posts: 15
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.

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#216352 - 02/03/11 06:44 PM Re: Setting up a neighborhood WiFi network? [Re: Frisket]
MartinFocazio Offline

Pooh-Bah

Registered: 01/21/03
Posts: 2203
Loc: Bucks County PA
Originally Posted By: Frisket

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.


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.

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#216364 - 02/03/11 09:03 PM Re: Setting up a neighborhood WiFi network? [Re: MartinFocazio]
Blast Offline
INTERCEPTOR
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 07/15/02
Posts: 3760
Loc: TX
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
_________________________
Foraging Texas
Medicine Man Plant Co.
DrMerriwether on YouTube
Radio Call Sign: KI5BOG
*As an Amazon Influencer, I may earn a sales commission on Amazon links in my posts.

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#216368 - 02/03/11 09:44 PM Re: Setting up a neighborhood WiFi network? [Re: Blast]
Eugene Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/26/02
Posts: 2995
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.

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#216380 - 02/03/11 11:01 PM Re: Setting up a neighborhood WiFi network? [Re: Eugene]
Eric Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 09/09/06
Posts: 323
Loc: Iowa
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
_________________________
You are never beaten until you admit it. - - General George S. Patton


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#216383 - 02/03/11 11:48 PM Re: Setting up a neighborhood WiFi network? [Re: Eric]
Frisket Offline
Addict

Registered: 09/03/10
Posts: 640
Originally Posted By: Eric
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.
_________________________
Nope.......

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