These pages have moved to http://www.air.net.au/
Canberra Wireless Network
The Canberra Wireless network is an effort by a bunch of Linux
enthusiests to build a high-speed wireless network in some parts of
Canberra. Initially we are looking at North Canberra but some people
have expressed interest in other parts of Canberra.
If you are interested then I suggest that you start by looking at the
mailing list
archives and join the mailing
list. By reading through the archives you'll get an idea of what
progress we've made.
Hardware
The wireless cards we are using are old full-length WaveLan ISA cards,
sold by Integrity Data
Systems for $150 each. The cards operate in the 2.4GHz range and
give approximately 2Mbps with 2.2ms round trip latency.
The antennas we are experimenting with are home made helical antennas
as well as some commercial conifer antennas. The Galaxy TV antennas
from the now defunct pay TV service in north Canberra are also good,
with some minor modifications.
Map
Anthony Wesley has setup a interactive map
where you can mark your location in Canberra so we can all see who is
close by. We have established successful links up to about 2km and we
can probably do quite a lot longer distances with better antennas.
Linux User Group
Most of the people involved are also involved in the Canberra Linux
User Group. If you want to be involved in the wireless network then it
is a good idea to come along to CLUG
meetings
Helical antenna design
Jason has an excellent web page on his helical antenna design
Other resources
Chris has a web page up at http://www.ecomserv.net.au/~chris/air.net/