In recent years, the Open Source software movement has gained a lot of friends (and a few enemies), as well as tons of media attention, pushing the idea that cooperatively built, peer reviewed software can outmatch corporate code, at a fraction (or even none) of the cost. Now a similar movement is growing around the country (and world), with thousands of evangelists spread from Seattle to Austin to Boston, that's pushing the idea of democratized wireless connectivity. These optimistic technophiles want to build a social movement around a new class of hardware that makes it possible to share network bandwidth between computers: easily, freely, and wirelessly. Call it Open Bandwidth or Metropolitan Area Networking or Neighborhood Area Networking or Free Metro Wireless Data Networking or Community LAN. Or how about wireless freenets, parasitic grids, piranha nets, broadband bootlegging -- the movement is so new it still hasn't settled on a name for itself.

The lack of a fixed identity for this movement is ironic, since it sprang from the work of a technology standards committee. When the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) designated the 802.11 wireless standard, it aimed to create a uniform protocol for wirelessly connecting corporate and home computers, and chip-equipped appliances, together at high bandwidth speeds.

Following on a wave of reasonably-priced 802.11 devices that appeared on the market in early 2001, many American companies installed wireless networks in their offices for file sharing between employees as well as for laptop access to corporate networks. Today, according to research firm Gartner Dataquest, approximately 30 percent of all U.S. companies with a local area network have gone wireless -- either officially, or thanks to employees rolling their own. And with an increasing drop in hardware prices for 802.11 hardware, and a growing industry focus on a positive "out-of-box experience" for consumers, wireless is becoming the home networking solution of choice for many multi-PC households.

But the technology has also gained a wholly unexpected legion of devotees: idealistic deep geeks who hope that sharing bandwidth could not only help save them money, but also build more resilient networks and even create a richer sense of community in America's urban centers. They've discovered easy ways of amping up the sensitivity of wireless network cards -- using anything from US$113 parabolic grid antennas to repurposed Pringles cans that can extend the range of communication between 802.11b devices from feet to miles. They've organized community wireless projects such as Seattle Wireless and the Bay Area Wireless Users Group, which aim to blanket major metro areas with redundant, always-on, and FREE high-bandwidth wireless.

Currently, 802.11b devices offer transfer speeds of 11 megabits per second -- fast enough for the transmission of music and video. The forthcoming 802.11g (which also operates in the 2.4GHz range) and some new variants of 802.11a reach transfer speeds of up to 56Mbps. Today's community wireless projects utilize 802.11b, so if you want to play with the other propeller beanies on your block, that's your best bet for a wireless network card or home network. However, with the better bandwidth of the newer 802.11a and the future 11g, it might be worth shelling out a few extra bucks, whenever possible, for equipment that's upgradable to the newer standards. For example: some home gateways use a plug-in PC Card for the 802.11b wireless receiver that can eventually be swapped out to an 11a or 11g card. Buying this type of gateway will mean that you'll only have to upgrade the PC card, not the entire gateway.

While this may sound like a lot of technobabble to some, the reality is that these devices are relatively simple to set-up and use. The Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA) has created a certification standard dubbed "Wi-Fi" (Wireless Fidelity). All components with the Wi-Fi label are guaranteed to interoperate seamlessly. Thus, when shopping for the gear you need to set up an 802.11b network, you simply need to look for the Wi-Fi logo to know that all of the 11b components you're buying (even from different manufacturers) will all work together.

If you wish to create a wireless network within your own home, you need to install a wireless gateway that connects to a cable or DSL modem (and then to one of your PCs) and then a compatible wireless networking card on all of the other machines you wish to network. With off-the-shelf cards and a gateway, devices within range (up to 300 feet) can share a broadband Internet connection or transfer files between computers.

You don't need a home network to connect to a community wireless node. All you need is a Wi-Fi card on the computer you wish to network and you need to check to see if there are any publicly available Wi-Fi access points within range of your rec room. Now, it's well documented that a surprising number of corporate wireless LANs are accessible for bandwidth bootlegging or even more nefarious purposes. However, it's also only a matter of time before corporate America wises up to this serious security hole and effectively shuts down unauthorized access. If you're looking for a reliable source of bandwidth, you'd do better to look around for a neighbor who is wanting to share bandwidth. Probably the most comprehensive map of volunteer access nodes in existence is the one at PersonalTelco.net. Many of the local wireless users groups also offer their own maps.

Next to consider when buying a wireless network card is the type of interface you need in order to connect to your network. There are now many different types of PCI and PC Card (PCMCIA) compatible Wi-Fi devices available for desktop and laptop computers. There are cards that plug into a PCI slot in your desktop computer and then accept a PCMCIA card (again, so you can more easily upgrade the wireless card), there are USB-based Wi-Fi units that plug into the USB port on either a desktop of laptop machine, and there are PC Card units that plug into the PCMCIA slot on your laptop. These base stations and cards can be had for between $100 and $200 each. Cards for Visor's Springboard module, Cardbus, Mini PCI, and CompactFlash Type 1 interfaces are also available. For a good overview of available hardware, check out this chart at Seattle Wireless.

While the tech specs on 802.11b gear can make for dense reading, perhaps the most important thing to consider when looking into a card that'll connect to a community network is the "receive sensitivity." In essence, this is the amount of signal-strength necessary for the card to function at various speeds. Higher receive sensitivity means less signal is needed to be able to acquire a connection. Freenetworks.org offers a reasonably current and inclusive chart of the receive sensitivity for various cards.

You also want to look for network cards that allow external antennas to be attached to them. Since even the most sensitive cards aren't capable of connecting to networks located more than a few hundred feet away, the addition of an external antenna is a must. Most network cards are cluelessly oriented in such a way (horizontally) that half of the signal is broadcast onto your desk or onto the floor where it's useless! An omnidirectional external antenna allows you to move it around until you find the strongest possible signal. There are literally hundreds of antenna designs available. Wlan.org.uk offers one of the most comprehensive lists of available antennas and signal amplifiers, including everything from DIY kits to off-the-shelf Yagi antennas. Most listings include fairly good documentation on the strengths and weaknesses of the various designs.

It's unlikely that broadband providers will ever come to love the community wireless movement. Indeed, it could quickly become the Napster of bandwidth, giving users an easy end-around mounting broadband subscriber fees. It is likely that providers will take an increasingly active role in discouraging this practice by canceling the accounts of customers who share bandwidth. But just like P2P networking, it's unlikely that the Comcasts of the world will be able to completely squelch this movement. If the open bandwidth idealists have their way, wireless freenets -- or whatever we're going to end up calling them -- could help pave the way for creating a new spirit of neighborhood togetherness through bandwidth sharing. Hey, when you think about it like that, it's almost patriotic!

- Joe Ashbrook Nickell [2/20/02]

Building Wireless Community Networks Implementing the Wireless Web By Rob Flickenger 138 pgs, US$25, O'Reilly This slim volume is packed with info on what you need to know (and acquire) to use the 802.11b standard for community wireless. Author Rob Flickenger is the man behind NoCat, the Sebastopol, CA wireless project, and the programs WRP (a wireless router-on-a-floppy) and NoCatAuth (a community LAN authentiction system). He shares his considerable expertise in this burgeoning open source movement in a style that's at once rigorous and accessible. This is not a book for the average user, but it is straightforward and readible enough that any moderately technical person can be brought up to speed in a hurry. The book includes a basic introduction to 802.11, a brief history of community wireless initiatives, the nuts and bolts of accessing or hosting a community access point, off-the-shelf hardware considerations, cool hack how-tos like the Pringles can antenna, and lots more. URLs throughout the book link you to all of the rapidly changing resources that make this movement so exciting. A lot of what's in this book can be dug up online, but it's nice to have it all gathered together between tree skins and explained in such an intelligent can-do manner. At $25, it is a bit overpriced. - Gareth Branwyn

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