Re: [PLUG] PLUG Wireless/ Co-op?

[Noah silva <nsilva@atari-source.com>]

On Thu, 25 Apr 2002, Kevin Brosius wrote:

> Noah silva wrote:
> > 
> > >
> 
> ...
> 
> > The practical problems I had were:
> > a.) (minor) Using the serial port, the modems can only get to 115.2 kbps.
> > b.) (not so minor) Using the serial port on the older sparcs, it only
> > works up to about 33.6.
> > c.) The sparcs don't have USB.
> > d.) We can't use people existing windows PCs with USB because STARMODE is
> > only supported under windows (and I wanted to be sure that the network
> > nodes would be fairly untouched).
> 
> 
> So, we need someone to write a windows driver...  I was running ricochet
> starmode at home for a little while, and considered seeing if any of my
> neighbors wanted a cheap modem and faster than 56k connections.  But
> then I realized most of them would need a win driver to make it work. 
> It seemed like overkill to ask them to install a linux router and
> ethernet.

Yes, this may have been true if you just wanted to provide access to THEM,
but I more or less wanted to deploy a network of the "base
stations" (Linux or BSD Box +  Ricochet).  Then the bases could connect to
to each other, and mobile users could connect to the base.  

So the deal would be: Cheap internet access at speeds approaching 256kbps
(up and down), no setup fee, but you have to keep this box in your house.

If it were a big noisy PC, this might be another matter, which is why I
thought the older sparcs were a good idea:
a.) They are very small (shoebox size).
b.) They are fairly quiet.
c.) They use little electricity
e.) They all have precisely the same hardware configuration (so I can dupe
a disk image to all of them).
f.) They are extremely reliable
g.) People wouldn't tend to tamper with them, since they don't have VGA or
PS/2 ports, etc.

So if I give one to a friend a block away, I just extended the range of
the network for mobile users by 1 block too.

Theoretically you could do this with their PCs too, but:
a.) Some people run mac os, most others run windows.
b.) Each PC would need to be set up individually.
c.) People tend to screw up their PCs, turn them off, etc.
d.) It would be nice to be able to ssh in.

I am thinking now that older pentium speed laptops (with USB) might be a
acceptible choice.

BTW: I checked last night on the network status with a Ricochet GT modem.
The towers still have power, I can pick up their info, including signal
strength, lat. and long., network number, etc.

I don't get "Nameserver registered", meaning that their IP network is most
likely down.  (The nameserver works somewhat like DNS and translates a
symbolic radio name like "3333" into a specific radio MAC address.)

I don't think they can turn off the pole-top radios can be disabled
without cutting power.

 -- noah silva 

> -- 
> Kevin Brosius
> 
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