(engadget.com) And we thought we were serious about our internet access, what with that $50 check and spotless goat we offer to the cable co. each month. Seems like a certain small-town Canadian man has us beat — with a 60-foot tower and 14,000 pounds of cement. After suffering with a 56k connection for long enough, he was excited to hear of a new wireless ISP in his area, but couldn’t establish a line of sight due to a nearby church that stood in the way. But not one to give up so easily, our Canadian protagonist proceeded to erect a 60-foot tower in his yard, complete with a 6-foot deep concrete anchor. What have you done with your week?
Read Full Story: Man builds 60-foot tower to nab some wireless broadband - Engadget
Man builds 60-foot tower to nab some wireless broadband - Engadget
Posted Friday, March 3rd, 2006 by JustinNew Orleans is up and running with muni Wi-Fi
Posted Thursday, December 1st, 2005 by Justin(zdnet.com) Does it take the worst sort of disaster to provide a city with a glimmer of modern technology? New Orleans will become the first city to operate municipally owned Wi-Fi today, with a system deployed in the French Quarter. Launched with donated equipment, the network will meet a number of crucial public safety needs.
Read Full Story: New Orleans is up and running with muni Wi-Fi | ZDNet Government Blog | ZDNet.com
Quinn Awards $20,000 Wireless Main Street Grant To Historic Business District In Quincy
Posted Thursday, August 4th, 2005 by Justin(illinois.gov) Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn awarded a $20,000 Wireless Main Street grant today to Historic Quincy Business District’s Executive Director Karol Ehmen for the group’s innovative approach to deliver a wireless network to the community.
Twelve Illinois Main Street communities applied for the grant but only Quincy and Mt. Vernon won the nod. A unique component of Quincy’s proposal aims to extend the wireless network from the downtown business district to the Mississippi River, so boaters can also log on to the World Wide Web.
Read Full Story: QUINN AWARDS $20,000 WIRELESS MAIN STREET GRANT TO HISTORIC BUSINESS DISTRICT IN QUINCY
My EVDO will beat your WiFi any day (well just about)
Posted Thursday, August 4th, 2005 by Justin(zdnet.com) Instead of hunting for hotspots, I pay $45 for unlimited data transfer on a 3G-rated EVDO network that lets me connect most anywhere. Is it worth the price? You tell me.
Read Full Story: » My EVDO will beat your WiFi any day (well just about)
» Getting beyond the WiMAX hype
Posted Thursday, July 21st, 2005 by Justin(zdnet.com) WiMAX (World wide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a standardization process for the IEEE 802.16 Ethernet standards, much like Wi-Fi is the standardization process for the IEEE 802.11 standards. WiMAX has been one of the most prolific buzz words of wireless networking for nearly two years and it is probably one of the more hyped and misunderstood technologies in recent memory.
Some of the misunderstandings of WiMAX are:
- WiMAX is longer range than Wi-Fi
- WiMAX is faster than Wi-Fi
- WiMAX will compete with and replace Wi-Fi
- WiMAX is more secure than Wi-Fi
Read Full Story: » Getting beyond the WiMAX hype | George Ou | ZDNet.com
FAQ: Wi-Fi mooching and the law
Posted Friday, July 8th, 2005 by Justin(zdnet.com) The recent arrest of a Florida man on charges of unauthorized use of a wireless network could set legal ground rules for open Wi-Fi access.
A man sitting in a Chevy Blazer in a residential neighborhood reportedly was poking around nearby wireless networks in violation of computer crime laws, according to local police.
This appears to be the first arrest in which the sole offense was allegedly accessing a wireless network without prior authorization, and it’s already being viewed as a probable test case. CNET News.com interviewed legal scholars to ask what rules apply to Wi-Fi (also called 802.1x) hot spots.Read Full Story: FAQ: Wi-Fi mooching and the law | Tech News on ZDNet
Man Charged With Stealing Wi-Fi Signal - Yahoo! News
Posted Thursday, July 7th, 2005 by JustinFound this one on Mike’s blog:
(yahoo.com) Police have arrested a man for using someone else’s wireless Internet network in one of the first criminal cases involving this fairly common practice.
Read Full Story: Man Charged With Stealing Wi-Fi Signal - Yahoo! News
UAL Passengers OK to Surf Web in Flight
Posted Friday, June 10th, 2005 by Justin
(eweek.com) United Airlines on Monday said it received government approval to install equipment on planes that eventually will give passengers wireless Internet access on flights.
United, a unit of UAL Corp., is the first domestic airline to win Federal Aviation Administration approval to equip its planes with technology that provides Wi-Fi, a short-range signal used for connecting laptop computers to the Internet.
Read Full Story: UAL Passengers OK to Surf Web in Flight
The six dumbest ways to secure a wireless LAN
Posted Wednesday, June 1st, 2005 by JustinThere’s some good stuff in here about setting up a wireless network.
(zdnet.com) For the last three years, I’ve been meaning to put to rest once and for all the urban legends and myths on wireless LAN security. Every time I write an article or blog on wireless LAN security, someone has to come along and regurgitate one of these myths. If that weren’t bad enough, many “so called” security experts propagated these myths through speaking engagements and publications and many continue to this day. Many wireless LAN equipment makers continue to recommend many of these schemes to this day. One would think that the fact that none of these schemes made it in to the official IEEE 802.11i security standard would give a clue to their effectiveness, but time and time again that theory is proven wrong. To help you avoid the these schemes, I’ve created the following list of the six dumbest ways to secure your wireless LAN.
Read Full Story: » The six dumbest ways to secure a wireless LAN | George Ou | ZDNet.com
Should cities offer free Wi-Fi? - Internet
Posted Friday, May 20th, 2005 by Justin(cnet.com) Let’s face it: the United States has very spotty broadband coverage. Except in major markets, regular consumers have little or no choice of a broadband provider. And even in cities with several providers, the incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) and cable companies have little financial incentive to deploy anything really exciting, such as total wireless coverage with support for roaming.Read Full Story: Should cities offer free Wi-Fi? - Internet
Behind the scenes of Intel’s Vegas-wide WiMax network
Posted Monday, May 9th, 2005 by Justin
Intel has installed the first city-wide WiMax network in Las Vegas. Using 4 antennas mounted on the top of the Stratosphere, the network covers 500 square miles.
In what Intel and Interop officials are calling the first live demonstration of a metro-wide WiMax wireless network, Intel Mobility Group executive vice president and general manager Sean Maloney took to the stage for an early evening keynote here in Las Vegas to prove that WiMax is for real.
» Behind the scenes of Intel’s Vegas-wide WiMax network | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com
Wireless live audio and video feeds reach the desert, a golf course, and a traveling mobile home.
PCWorld.com - Intel Demos WiMax Technology