[nycwireless] Fwd: [DDN] Introducing Girls Club Ave. D Network (fwd)
they are looking for volunteers for a number of different technical and educational aspects. looks like a great project... -- Forwarded message -- From:Dave Pentecost [EMAIL PROTECTED] I am a 20-year veteran of the TV networks, now working with the Lower Eastside Girls Club in Manhattan to build a facility that will house their programs, including digital media, health center, and an initiative to provide free wireless broadband to the housing projects nearby. Avenue D is the digital divide for our community - gentrified East Village on one side, subsidized housing on the other. The Girls Club has an opportunity to create a diverse community network, while calling on the prosperous part of the neighborhood to help support the underserved area. Here is a description of the project as it is currently shaping up, with help from NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program and iEARN. Any suggestions are more than welcome. Thanks Dave Pentecost Avenue D Network A community web, based on free wireless access The Lower Eastside Girls Club and Public School 188 are forming a partnership to bring internet access, science and math education, and wireless broadband to a community that has been underserved in all of those areas. The main components of the project are: 1) A community technology center at PS188 (Houston and Ave. D) in what is presently the entry foyer of the school. This long, beautiful space, with arched doorways to the outside, will be filled with a wireless internet cafe open to students and parents of the neighborhood. It will also serve as the after-school and weekend headquarters for a project to get students interested and active in science, math, and information technology. Funding for the facility is in place. Architectural design has already been completed. System design and implementation will begin in January of 2005, with the center opening in the fall of that year. 2) A digital photography, video and internet radio center in the Girls Club building, to be constructed between 7th and 8th streets on Avenue D. This building will be certified green and will also house commercial spaces at street level and artist studios on the top two floors, in cooperation with FEVA, the Federation of East Village Artists. Groundbreaking on the building will take place in the fall of 2005. 3) A wireless community broadband network, with antennas on the Girls Club and PS188, that will provide free or low cost internet access to the housing projects on Avenue D. It will form the basis of a community -wide network, sharing audio and video programs, health information, business advertising, educational programs, and community news. First evaluations and tests of wireless equipment, range and coverage will begin in spring of 2005. Development of community-specific applications and first network broadcasts will also begin at that time. We are seeking volunteers, interns, and mentors with skills to contribute in many areas, including the following: Network design, implementation, and security Wireless broadband system design Social software, applied to neighborhood wireless communications Innovative educational approaches combining internet, math and science Training youth and adults in Information Technology Global collaboration, through web, VOIP, video conferencing Video, audio and music production and distribution on the web Website and weblog design, and training others in that area RSS, podcasting, bittorrent, and other emerging distribution methods Mobile sharing of media and information There will be opportunities for direct service and initiating educational projects with students and families from the Girls Club and PS 188 starting in Summer 2005. In addition, we need people who can pursue options for acquiring the bandwidth for the system - copper, fiber, point to point wireless - and develop partnerships with suppliers and manufacturers who would benefit from the visibility of the project and the development of new social software and other community applications. We are also open to any good idea that adds to the creative mix and serves the neighborhood. The first results of this effort will be the construction of the PS188 internet center and the creation of a database of resources and a first planning survey, all by the fall of 2005. The Avenue D Network will be designed by all participating partners, including PS188 students, parents and staff; NYU Interactive Telecommunication Program students and faculty; iEarn advisers; students and staff of the Bard High School; and members of the Lower Eastside Girls Club and FEVA. It will capitalize on and communicate the diversity and creativity of the Lower East Side, and will provide a model for centers in other communities. Project coordinator: Dave Pentecost, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe:
[nycwireless] Slate - How To Steal Wi-Fi: And how to keep the neighbors from stealing yours
How To Steal Wi-Fi: And how to keep the neighbors from stealing yours. By Paul Boutin Posted Thursday, Nov. 18, 2004, at 2:16 PM PT When I moved into a new neighborhood last week, I expected the usual hassles. Then I found out I'd have to wait more than a month for a DSL line. I started convulsing. If I don't have Net access for even one day, I can't do my job. So, what was I supposed to do? There's an Internet caf on the next block, but they close early. I had no choiceit was time to start sneaking on to my neighbors' home networks. Every techie I know says that you shouldn't use other people's networks without permission. Every techie I know does it anyway. If you're going to stealno, let's say borrowyour neighbor's Wi-Fi access, you might as well do it right. Step one: Lose the guilt. The FCC told me that they don't know of any federal or state laws that make it illegal to log on to an open network. Using someone's connection to check your e-mail isn't like hacking into their bank account. It's more like you're borrowing a cup of sugar. (Unless you hog their bandwidth by watching lots of streaming videothat's like hijacking a sugar truck.) In the end, it's your neighbor's Internet service providernot your neighborwho will pay for the added traffic, and the ISP has already factored a small amount of line-sharing into their price plan. It is true that your surfing could cause the folks next door to break their service contractmany broadband providers do specifically forbid home customers from sharing a connection. But let's deal with those abstract ethical issues lateryou have important mail to answer! If you want to find a Wi-Fi network, don't start by looking on the sidewalk for chalk marks. Warchalking, a technique for writing symbols in public places to alert neighbors to nearby wireless access points, is a cool concept that's been undermined by the fact that no one has ever used it. The best method to find some free wireless is to treat your laptop like a cell phone. Since Wi-Fi and cell phone signals travel on a similar radio frequency, the same tricks you use for getting a better phone connection might work on your computer. Sit near a window, since Wi-Fi signals travel better through glass than through solid walls. Stay away from metal objects. Pay close attention to your laptop's orientationrotating your machine just a few degrees could help you pick up a network that you couldn't see before. Raise your laptop over your head, put it flat on the floor, tilt it sideways while leaning halfway out the windowget out the divining rod if you have to. You might get a reputation for being some sick laptop yoga freak, but isn't free Internet worth it? If you live downtown or in a suburb where the houses are close together, a few minutes of laptop gymnastics will probably reveal several Wi-Fi networks. Certain names are a giveaway that a network probably won't be password-protected. Look for linksys, default, Wireless, NETGEAR, belkin54g, and Apple Network 0273df. These are the default network names for the most popular wireless routers. If a network owner hasn't taken the time to change the default name, that's a good clue that they probably won't have a password either. You should also look for signs of hacker culture. Since hackers love giving away Net access, an all-lowercase name like hackdojo is most likely an invitation to log on. On the other hand, a name in all caps is typically a network under corporate lockdown. If you do get prompted for a password, try publicthat's the default on many of Apple's AirPort units. You can also try common passwords like admin, password, and 1234or just check out this exhaustive list of default passwords. You should also try using the name of the network in the password space. A generic password could mean that the network's owner didn't have the sense to pick something less obvious or that they've decided to welcome outsiders. But who cares? You're in. And again, there's no specific law barring you from guessing the password, as long as you don't crack an encrypted network and read other people's transmissions. You can tell that you've successfully joined a wireless network when your laptop's IP address changes as it's assigned a local number by the network's router. To watch it happen on a PC, keep the Network control panel in Windows open; if you have an Apple notebook, look at the Network section of the System Preferences program. (And if you're running Linux, I don't need to tell you where to look.) Once your laptop has an IP address, your next hurdle is getting DNS to work. DNS stands for Domain Name Serviceit's what translates Internet domains like slate.com into IP addresses like 207.46.141.216. On most networks, DNS works automatically. But if you get a browser error like Cannot find server, go back to your network menus and configure your laptop to use a public name
[nycwireless] November meeting followup - FCC Universal Licensing A/K/A Gulfross Vyyo
Good Afternoon, I was finally glad that I had a wed. night free to attend a nycwireless meeting, after being here in the city for almost 1 year. The Yellowarrow and presentation and Placelab presentations were wonderful! The discussions at the bar were great as well.. It was nice to meet everyone. Anyway, I finally had a chance to dig out my URL's and email the list regarding a number of the things that I discussed or brought up during the meeting. During the meeting, Ian mentioned the use of databases for determining the locations of signals. I said the FCC database was free and open to the public. I called it Gulfross. Gulfross was the old name of the system/server that they used. The database has now been simplified and renamed - it's now called the Universal Licensing System (ULS). http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls/ One of the basic uses of ULS is to determine the owner and location of a particular frequency. For example purposes, say that I am a MMDS frequency owner in Traverse City, MI and I am receiving interference on an adjacent channel. It looks like the transmitter on E1(2596-2602Mhz) is having problems and it's spraying all over adjacent channels, but I can not remember, because I have been up for 72 hours working on other problems, who the owner is and where their transmitter is.. I suspect that they pulled the output filters... so I use the uls system to look up the owner. Here's the results: http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/license.jsp?licKey=2587067 Ok, it's those guys Grand Wireless... that is enough of a kick to my mind that I recall who their RF engineer is and how to contact him. Problem solved. I am also including several additional links to the FCC that are relevant: ASR (Antenna Structure Registration) ASR allows you to search for information about an existing tower, you can use a number of search criteria to search, including lat and long. This is helpful if you know the loc of a site and want to determine who the tower owner is so you can inquire about attaching an antenna or determining who owns equipment that you suspect is interfering with you. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistrationSearch.jsp Example search result showing old inaccurate data, ie. World Trade Center Tower 1. Building with Tower: http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=97472 ULS-GIS This shows you in a GIS view the locations of BTA's (Basic trading areas) and other forms of geographic based licensing, ie MTA's. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/ULSGis/ULSearchGis.jsp Example: http://wireless2.fcc.gov/ULSGis/ULSearchGis.jsp;jsessionid=BiGjPFQ6Tz2pGKCcz pR6PnO33cajTbjrlOEgmVp8Qx1aRQ0xeKyT!-1525260243 Near an Airport and need to determine if your tower / mast is too high? Does it need an FCC engineering study done? Etc.. TOWAIR (or Landing Slope Facility Calculator) http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/towairSearch.jsp Who was that equipment manufacture that I use? It's Vyyo. A large majority of supercell MMDS/ITFS/MDS deployments in the Us all use this equipment. It's a system that is Docsis based. They made a few modifications to the standard to deal with the harsher RF conditions found in the wireless environment. You can take a standard docsis modem and it will work most of the time, but it will be more sensitive to the signal fades thus rebooting often. http://www.vyyo.com/ Btw, if you know anyone that is looking for a IP wireless guy or network admin please contact me. My resume can be found on my web site: http://www.dbeery.org/ -- David Beery -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] broadband over wireless
Hello, I am running some DV over IP tests. Most of the tests I am running are over cable but I would like to run some tests over a wireless connection. I need to cover 100 feet at a minimum of 35Mbps. Is there any hardware out there that can provide that sort of coverage? Thank you, Kim -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] broadband over wireless
Well if you want to do it with unlicensed equipment using standard 802.11a/b/g it's going to be impossible to push 35Mbps. Although you can consider one of the proprietary speed boost technology for Wifi. 1. Linksys Speedbooster 2. Dlink/Netgear Extreme-G 3. Belkin Wireless Pre-N Router Although some reports are putting the real world performance much lower then the advertised speeds (http://www.techworld.com/mobility/features/index.cfm?FeatureID=641). One of these *might* help you get up to the desired speed but require proprietary pairing of AP and wireless card. When attempting to get any of these up to full speed disable 802.11b compatibility which always slows things down. Also when running one of these don't expect any nearby standards based equipment to work properly anymore. - Dustin - Grinfeder, Kim wrote: Hello, I am running some DV over IP tests. Most of the tests I am running are over cable but I would like to run some tests over a wireless connection. I need to cover 100 feet at a minimum of 35Mbps. Is there any hardware out there that can provide that sort of coverage? Thank you, Kim -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] broadband over wireless
For a university application you may be able to get early access to a Ultra Wide Band products. http://www.ultrawidebandplanet.com/ Although it's not really designed for any real distance. - Dustin - Grinfeder, Kim wrote: Hello, I am running some DV over IP tests. Most of the tests I am running are over cable but I would like to run some tests over a wireless connection. I need to cover 100 feet at a minimum of 35Mbps. Is there any hardware out there that can provide that sort of coverage? Thank you, Kim -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
[nycwireless] Pennsylvania legislature gets suckered(?)
Some said making all downtown Philly wireless was too ambitious (not me), but now according to muniwireless.com the Pennsylvania legislature has passed a law that prohibits its and gives the whole game to players like Verizon: As Harold Feld puts it: It looks like a public subsidy to build infrastructure, but, thanks to the statute, THE ONLY PLACE YOU CAN BUY IT FROM IS VERIZON! It's on the governor's desk, awaiting his signature: http://www.muniwireless.com/archives/000509.html Rob __ Do you Yahoo!? Meet the all-new My Yahoo! - Try it today! http://my.yahoo.com -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
Re: [nycwireless] Pennsylvania legislature gets suckered(?)
Verizon and the other carriers have been blocking municipal telecom infrastructure build out for years. This is nothing new. - Dustin - Rob Kelley wrote: Some said making all downtown Philly wireless was too ambitious (not me), but now according to muniwireless.com the Pennsylvania legislature has passed a law that prohibits its and gives the whole game to players like Verizon: As Harold Feld puts it: It looks like a public subsidy to build infrastructure, but, thanks to the statute, THE ONLY PLACE YOU CAN BUY IT FROM IS VERIZON! It's on the governor's desk, awaiting his signature: http://www.muniwireless.com/archives/000509.html Rob __ Do you Yahoo!? Meet the all-new My Yahoo! - Try it today! http://my.yahoo.com -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
