Building Wireless Community Networks

The book covers Rob's experience with the Sebastopol Community Network (NoCAT), a multi-tiered network that provides wireless access for O'Reilly employees and free Web browsing to anyone in the area who has a Wi-Fi card in his or her computer. He describes his experience in using 802.11b, selecting the appropriate equipment, finding antenna sites, and coping with the general problems of outdoor networking.

Building Wireless Community Networks starts off with basic wireless concepts and essential network services, while later chapters focus on specific aspects of building your own wireless networks. The final chapter is a detailed journal of Rob's experiences in building his first community network. He begins with his first attempts at using a wireless card at a conference, covers the real-life experience of trying something new, and ends with notes from the Portland Summit, a national gathering of wireless aficionados.

If you want to join the grassroots effort to build freely available wireless Internet infrastructuresin your community, this book is invaluable.

Contents

Preface

1: Wireless Community Networks
2: Defining Project Scope
3: Network Layout
4: Using Access Points
5: Peer-to-Peer (Ad-Hoc) Networking
6: Wide Area Network Saturation
7: Other Applications
8: Radio Free Planet
9: Radio Free Sebastopol

Appendix

Index