p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- Who needs the internet as provided by the likes of greedy, rip-off companies such as Bell Canada or Comcast across the border in the US?

“After reading William Keeley`s article on setting up a FreeWAN cell, I was intrigued by the possibilities of communicating over a network of FreeWAN cells. Would it be possile to connect to one outpost cell and use it to “hop” to another? Could a network of FreeWAN cells become searchable? Could this type of network be shut down in an instant by some nasty government authority?

“After a little bit of digging and it seems the answers come in at: Yes, Yes and Not Really.”

So said Alex H in a p2pnet post. He was at the time operations manager for an ATM (automatic teller machine) supplier in Sydney, Australia.

That was back in 2005 and today, Île sans Fil translates roughly to “wireless island” and it’s the name of a group of enthusiasts have given to the 150 hotspots they’ve carefully set up in central Montreal, Quebec, neighbourhoods with WiFi.

And, says The Montreal Gazette, “city hall seems poised to help them achieve that goal.”

“What`s FreeWan?” – asked William Keeley in 2005, going on »»»

FreeWan is a network of many home-built ad-hoc networks called cells which can be on a specific FreeWan network, on the Net or both.

Each cell is like a small community where people share data and information such as video and music in an environment of privacy, unrestricted by bandwidth caps or being forced to pay too much for broadband service. The bare minimum that`s required to set up a FreeWan cell is a router (preferably wireless) and one computer to act as the main server. The main server doesn`t necessarily need to be a very powerful because its main function is to provide a starting point for the exploration of the FreeWan Cell.

In June last year, “Is a three-tiered Net on the way?” – p2pnet wondered, continuing »»»

ISPs may start charging some sites for faster access to customers, says the BBC, quoting Jupiter Research.

This could, create a `two-tiered internet` which, while making money for providers would risk alienating consumers, says the report.

One way of creating a new revenue stream would be to supply faster, prioritised access to a select group of websites willing to pay.

Meanwhile, innovative Net users around the world, sadly watching what used to be an exciting and unrestricted means of communication being driven inexorably down the drain by steadily increasing advertising pollution and censorship, are developing their own third-tier underground alternative(s).

Like what? Like FreeWans being developed by the Cyber Maquis.

A FreeWan is a network of many home-built ad-hoc networks called cells which can be on a specific FreeWan network, on the Net, or on both, explains William Keeley in a p2pnet post.

Each cell is like a small community where people share data and information such as video and music in an environment of privacy, unrestricted by bandwidth caps or being forced to pay too much for broadband service.

Oh, the Horror!

Now, over on the Île sans Fil,  “The idea is that anyone who wanders into any of these hotspots with a laptop or handheld computer (a BlackBerry, for example) can get free Internet access as long as they have a Wi-Fi card,” says the Gazette.

Île sans Fil is what’s known as a community wireless networking group. Its members are students and professionals of varying ages who are interested in Wi-Fi’s potential “to empower individuals and to foster a sense of community,” according to the group’s website.

“At the core of this group are just some pretty nerdy people, early adopters of technology I guess we are called,” said Daniel Drouet, president of Île sans Fil.

“We all had Wi-Fi cards a long time ago, but we saw that people running the cafés and places we wanted to go hadn’t heard of Wi-Fi and had no idea how to install it,”the story has president Daniel Drouet saying, going on, “A lot of business owners seemed to want to offer it, but they were in the business of selling coffee, or whatever, and didn’t know where to start.”

Offering wireless access for free was a good way to attract customers, figured some of them, which led to Île sans Fil WiFi access, “at dozens of cafés and restaurants, some sports facilities, a couple of parks (Jarry Park, for example), a few doctors’ waiting rooms and at least one laundromat, says the story, adding:

“The group is impatiently awaiting the city of Montreal’s approval of their proposal to create about 250 more wireless hotspots, including many outdoor areas, such as city parks and public gathering spots like the Place des Arts.”

It’s hoping the city will contribute $200,000 a year for five years to the group, “to support the installation of 150 more wireless service points in outdoor locations, and at least another 100 points in local businesses”.

But why leave it there?

The Île sans Fil it is a fantastic idea and with with rapacious ISPs such as Bell Canada and Comcast sticking it to their own customers at every opportunity, it’d make equal sense to build non-commercial FreeWans purely to open People to People communications.

Maybe it’s time to turn William Keeley’s ideas into reality (perhaps incrporating Alex’s theories) not only in Quebec, but everywhere in Canada.

And in other parts ………..

Definitely stay tuned.

Jon Newton – p2pnet

(Cheers, Luvie)

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 15th, 2008 at 8:58 am and is filed under Freedom, P2P. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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