[ILUG] Local Community Lan WiFi for Our areas?

[Sean Mac Suibhne]

Just saw an item on Democracy Now 
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/13/1437255 (You can either 
read the transcript, Listen to the Item or view the video stream.) entitled  	

	"Affordable Wireless Internet For All: How Media Activists Are Making 
	Champaign-Urbana Illinois A Model For Community Wi-Fi"

CUWireless.net have the software you need it seems to start your own! 

They say: "The software the Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network 
(CUWiN) project releases is a complete operating system for wireless, meshing 
nodes. They start with a stock NetBSD distribution and add wireless drivers, 
routing code, and specialized systems which allow the nodes to work in 
harmony to route traffic for each other."

The Bold AMY GOODMAN interviews Sascha Meinrath, project coordinator of the 
Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network, a member of the Champaign-Urbana 
Indymedia Center, (In the USA somewhere)


Some quotes

	SASCHA MEINRATH: So what we are talking about offering is bulk broadband for 
	cheap, so you can imagine speeds that are 10 times faster for prices that
	 are10 times less. We are not talking about pie in the sky, someday we will
	 have this; that's what we are delivering right now today.

	SASCHA MEINRATH: Yeah, not just online. We are talking about a local area
	 network, so imagine things where you can do streaming audio, live video,
	 community web hosting, all of the resources, all of the different mediums
	 that people use in their everyday lives within the local community, so
	 everything from, say, the jazz club’s show to live footage of video from the 
	local high school football game delivered for free over a local network
	 wirelessly to the local community.

	SASCHA MEINRATH: We have a website, CUWireless.net, where there’s a lot of
	 information. There's also groups WifiNetNews.com and MuniWireless.com which
	 has lots of resources and information on this. This is a major battle
	 happening right now because these technologies are available but are being
	 pushed out of the limelight.

There also discussion on how local lawmakers are trying to outlaw local lans 
and commercial practices that would make the days of the good old P7T seem 
like heaven! Whats is the craic here .ie? would this be legal or possible? 
Should I put an old pentium with a wireless adaptor on my chimney? 

See for more info
	
	CUWireless.net
	WifiNetNews.com 
	MuniWireless.com 
	democracynow.org

Seán Mac Suibhne
(Hoping this is on topic!)