UWIC DFIM - Nick Gerrard

Free open wireless networks

Free open wireless networks


Wireless open networks allow computer users to access the web or other machines in the local area network without being physically connected to a transmission device, small packets of information called ‘Beacons’ are transmitted by radio waves between the transmitter and receiver. The wireless use frequencies determined by the 802.11 standards with most networks using either the 802.11 B or G protocols, standardized at around 2.4 G/H. The cheapness and easy availability of wireless routers and wireless modems have made wireless networks commonplace in our homes and offices. In terms of free wireless networks a few different kinds are available; free community networks, free access offered by companies and access to unsecured networks obtained without permission

Community networks are set up as non profit organisations looking to bring benefits of the internet to those who either would not be able to afford the subscription cost or who live in an area (usually rural areas) which the internet providers do not consider financially viable to run cables to. A small club, society or co-operative organisation can divide the cost between all the users and offer broadband connection for around 7% of the cost it would have been for them alone to subscribe through the proper channels. They establish these networks by illegally magnifying the signal, often with home made antennas. These groups, such as www.wlan.org.uk and http://www.netequality.org/ seek not only to bring the net to the economically disadvantaged or those living in remote areas but many are motivated by the belief that the original principals of the internet are being threatened by the greed of big businesses and that the net is something we should all be able to share in (http://www.tompaine.com/Archive/scontent/6600.html). People in rural areas are increasingly frustrated with the service providers overlooking them and the poor speed of connection makes many local businesses uncompetitive, they feel they have no choice but to take matters into their own hands and set up their own networks (http://technology.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,803023,00.html). Of course these guerilla networks are bad news for the providers but there is little they can do to stop them and you can see from the growing numbers of these non commercial organisations that this isn’t a trend which is going to disappear anytime soon.

Some businesses are leading the way in providing free access to wireless internet as a means of cashing in on the boom in sales of wi-fi enabled laptops. While companies like mobile phone giant O2 are offering a pay service across their growing network of WLAN stations across the UK high street names like MacDonald’s (http://www.mcdonalds.com/wireless.html) and Starbucks are leading the way in offering access to truly free internet and many independent restaurants and coffee shops are following suit (http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2003/0,4814,86149,00.html). Interestingly although free Wi-Fi is ever more widely seen and used in these establishments some are concerned by the proliferation of non-customers and or those who only make a token purchase to sit for hours browsing the web or working on their laptops (http://wifinetnews.com/archives/005325.html).
Free wireless networks are becoming ever more common in many hubs of human activity like airports, universities, hotels and train stations. We are still some way off city wide saturation coverage, largely down to the limited range of over the counter routers and even though people living in big cities will have no trouble locating Wi-Fi hotspots it remains a distant dream for people living in rural areas.

The other way people can now access wireless networks without handing over a penny of their cash is simply by taking bandwidth from nearby WLANs without the owner’s knowledge or consent. Activity of this kind may range from the harmless use of a next door neighbour’s connection to do some online shopping to potentially hacking into personal information stored on a computer within the network. With private networks it would be easy to turn your open network into a closed one but many people do not know how or simply leave their router with its default password which makes it easy to hack into. It is even easy to tap into private networks when you are outside the usual range for the access point with an inexpensive directional antenna. People can also use easily available software like ‘IStumbler’ and ‘NetStumbler’ allow a user to ‘sniff out’ unsecured networks and then they will often post their locations on websites like http://wigle.net/ .

The ‘killer application’ of wireless networks is the convenience and mobility it allows you but for security and speed traditional cable connections still come out on top. Surely we have to expect a future where cable connections are fazed out and unless the big internet providers get their own way and are able to effectively charge per byte of information you receive from the net we will only see greater and greater wireless coverage. One company is making bold steps in this direction and defying 7 out of the ten leading UK service providers in the process. www.fon.com is a Spanish company selling subsidized routers on the condition that customers share their connection with other Fon users for the first 12 months of their subscription in order to set up wireless hotspots across our cities. Although, even these forward thinking ventures might be blown out of the water by plans to install free to everyone city wide connections to metropolises like San Diego and San Francisco which would totally alter the way we pay for and think about receiving the internet.

posted by nick_gerrard @ 1:12 PM