Hastings Wireless: An Introduction
2002 Oct 15 - Brian Kloppenborg
Introduction
Hastings Wireless is a group of computer and radio enthusiasts who are pushing the limits of technology to the max! Our objective is to provide 802.11b wireless networking in public spaces in the city of Hastings, NE. First, we intend to create a backbone network using packet radios or long-distance wireless links and then deploy small local access points (Nodes) using standard consumer-grade 802.11b technology.
Mission Statement and Development
It is the objective of Hastings Wireless to:
- Create a backbone network to allow participants and users to connect with their home internet connection throughout the city of Hastings, Nebraska and surrounding communities.
- Educate the citizens of Hastings and the surrounding community about the benefits and risks of wireless networking
- Provide a network in which new technologies and protocols may be developed.Provide information on the development and deployment of the project.
Methods
The backbone for Hastings Wireless will be established using directional Packet Radio Technology for which users MUST have a FCC license to operate. The current plan is to create a backbone that offers T1 like speeds (1.536 Mbps) using a radio design created by Clint, KA70EI a radio enthusiast. Additional information about this radio can be found at http://www.ussc.com/~turner/t1modem.html
The backbone will connect to local node servers which will relay network traffic using standard 802.11 wireless networking technology. Each server will be required to run a caching server to further reduce the demand on the backbone.
Whenever possible 802.11 networking will be used in lieu of packet radio for establishing directional links due to lower costs and time for construction and deployment.
The Future
If Hastings Wireless grows to the extent that is hoped, a larger network and more options will become available. Commercial resale of bandwidth has been among our considerations where we believe we can offer the masses a better option for internet connectivity in rural areas. The founders of Hastings Wireless believe that many of the local ISP’s do not offer what we feel is a fair market price for internet when significantly more bandwidth is offered for the same price only a few miles away. It is for this reason that the development of Hastings Wireless is a community effort. Hopefully, members from outside the city of Hastings will participate and push their local ISP’s to be competitive with a community networking project.
Subnets
Each node will be required to use a separate subnet within the 192.168.x.y range. The value of “x” will be assigned by Hastings Wireless to prevent networking conflicts and the values of “y” may be assigned via DHCP or static assignments.