Melbourne Wireless http://www.melbournewireless.org.au/

Contents What is Melbourne Wireless? Reasons to use Melbourne Wireless Potential benefits to the end-user What you need to get connected Types of Network connectivity How to get in touch

What is Melbourne Wireless? Melbourne Wireless is a not-for-profit community initiative to establish a, fast, free, unmetered metropolitan wireless broadband network! Melbourne Wireless is essentially a microcosm of the internet The stated objectives include: independence from commercially owned wired/unwired telecommunications networks, increased community participation through community led development and maintenance of services and installations, utilisation of existing readily available and ‘off-the-shelf’ equipment

Reasons to use Melbourne Wireless? The current status of broadband networks in Melbourne can be characterised by: Relative expensiveness in comparison to the same services offered internationally Slow network speed Minimal incentives to access local data incl. Traffic from local sources not being financially subsidized or free local upstream is capped the same as international upstream deterring local file sharing (speeds tantamount to 128kbps or double dialup in typical broadband connections) local network services not comparing with services offered internationally.

Reasons to use Melbourne Wireless? Logistically it is always more expensive and inefficient to access information and resources internationally then it is locally. Not only is it more expensive and inefficient it also means that support must be sourced from offshore, which equates to longer waiting time and fewer jobs for local Australians Given the stated long term objectives of the so-called conversion to a service economy. Investing in local networks can put to use our pool of IT professionals and serviceman in a local context and develop products and services for the export economy

Potential benefits to the end-user? Support available locally, possibility of home-grown apps, for our purposes by our people Increase the speed of the average persons connection relative to existing broadband solutions i.e. ADSL, CABLE, Wireless (minimum cable/2way). Possibility of sharing broadband internet connections across multiple households thereby reducing the total cost of subscription fees. Time and cost effective local filesharing; reducing the expense and total time it takes to transfer data locally, local versions of popular p2p services (emule, bittorrent, kazaa) Free local VOIP Possibility of sharing open-access satellite and digital television.

What you need to get connected? Physical Connection to Melbourne Wireless is no different to any other 802.11 wireless network At the bare minimum on both ends you need a wireless interface of some kind. Wireless interfaces come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from external USB dongles to internal PCI cards.

Readily available off-the-shelf wireless equipment Wireless Router/Access Point External USB Wireless dongle with Attachable Antenna Wireless PCMCIA/PC Card for laptops Wireless PCI card

Types of Melbourne Wireless connectivity Established hook-ups to the Melbourne Wireless network typically consist of a couple of radios, two antennas, a bunch of cables and perhaps an old computer. Most permanent installations employ two way traffic, mutliway traffic, game servers, file servers, web servers and VOIP .

Types of Melbourne Wireless connectivity Two-way traffic is achieved through the use of a radio attached to a directional-antenna pointing at an existing node. This method relays traffic back and forth between the network and homebase. Multi-way traffic is achieved through the use of a radio attached to an omni-antenna propagating locally across the street. This allows anybody within suitable range (depending on the strength of the equipment) to connect effortlessly to the network and the host-node with their off-the-shelf gear. Additional services are offered with the use of an old computer or in some cases embedded devices. The computer or embedded device handles all the routing tasks and hosting of services.

How to get in touch? Firstly visit the website: http://www.melbournewireless.org.au/ The simplest step would be (provided you have the relevant gear) to find somebody who’s already connected and then connect through that person to the larger Melbourne Wireless network. To do this you’d have to first register yourself as a node on the website, and then check your regional map to see whereabouts your location is in regards to the major nodes on the network. Email all nodes within reasonable distance from yourself and post to both the general and relevant regional mailing lists explaining your objectives. The Melbourne Wireless network itself consists of a rough backbone followed by loose meshing to fill in the gaps. The strongest link will always be through a backbone node (ie, Node GHO, GUR, HVA).

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