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Posts with tag meshnetworking

San Francisco to test wireless parking sensors, cause rat races to momentarily open spaces

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 15th 2008 at 10:42AM


We dig the idea in theory, we really do, but we can definitely see this causing more harm than good. Starting this fall, San Francisco will begin a trial involving wireless parking sensors in 6,000 of its 24,000 metered spaces, enabling antsy drivers to be alerted via street signs or cellphones when a spot becomes available. Only one problem -- give 50 anxious motorists the same message that a single spot is unoccupied, and you've just created a bona fide mess. Though it'd probably be fun to watch from the sidewalk, wouldn't you agree?

[Via Core77]

Oklahoma City claims world's largest municipal WiFi mesh network, leaves public out

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 4th 2008 at 9:25AM


With just about every other US city shutting down any Muni-Fi project that managed to get off of the ground, we can't help but have mixed feelings about this one. Oklahoma City is boasting of having the world's largest municipal WiFi mesh network, but for whatever reason, it's being reserved exclusively for "public safety and other City operations." In other words, it's not there to provide wireless internet access to the general public -- yet, at least. The network itself covers 555 square miles with 95% service coverage in the city's core, took two years to construct and was funded with $5 million from "public safety capital sales tax and City capital improvement funds." Talk about a tease.

[Image courtesy of OKWebCenter]

Meraki promises free, citywide WiFi network for San Francisco

by Donald Melanson, posted Jan 4th 2008 at 2:34PM

It looks like the folks at Meraki are angling to the fill in the WiFi gap left after San Francisco pulled the plug on the much-hyped Google / Earthlink deal, although, conveniently for them, that doesn't amount to them doing anything all that different than what they've always been doing. Still, with a fresh $20 million in funding, the company is certainly better positioned to put the citywide mesh network into place, which they say could eventually use as many as 15,000 wireless antennas to bounce WiFi signals around the city (quite a boost from the 500 repeaters now providing service to a few neighborhoods). If the network spreads as far as the company hopes, it would apparently be the largest mesh network in the US and, obviously, be quite the showpiece for the company to use to attract business elsewhere.

[Thanks, Paul B]

Saxnet intros Meshnode III mesh networking router

by Darren Murph, posted Oct 27th 2007 at 4:52AM


Lookin' for a WLAN router with a 500MHz AMD processor within? If you're frantically waving your hand in a futile attempt to say yes, Saxnet's got your goods. The German firm's Meshnode III is a well-spec'd mesh networking router that features a "full x86-based system" within, four radio modules and "an integrated heating and cooling system" to boot. Additionally, this thing packs 256MB of RAM (expandable to 1GB), a pair of 512MB CF cards (expandable to 16GB each), 802.11a/b/g support, twin USB 2.0 ports, a rugged, water-resistant enclosure and Debian GNU / Linux runnin' the show. As you may expect, such a loaded device comes with a fairly stiff pricetag, but at least you've got a few months to save up the $1,150 it'll take to snap one up when it lands in January.

[Via LinuxDevices]

Meraki price hikes leave some customers disillusioned

by Donald Melanson, posted Oct 8th 2007 at 12:11PM

It looks like Meraki's latest move may be having a few repercussions the company hadn't foreseen, with GigaOm now reporting that a number of customers are feeling irked that some folks will now have to pay a premium price for the once bargain-priced mesh networking gear. At the heart of the brouhaha in the making is a new tiered pricing structure that breaks customers down into Standard, Pro, and Carrier groups. While individuals will pay the same $50 per router they always paid, those in the Pro group (which includes property owners and hot spot operators) will now have to fork over a full $150. As GigaOM points out, that has left some users of Meraki's forums feeling more than a little dejected, with one going so far as to say that he was "drawn in by a cost effective method just to be slapped in the face by an uncaring company that used us as pawns." What's more, while those in the lower tier will still be able to get their routers on the cheap, they will have to put up with advertising on the landing pages for their networks. On the upside, the company does apparently have plans to share advertising revenue with network operators, although details on that seem to be light at the moment.

Sonic.Net aiming to provide another WiFi option for San Franciscans

by Darren Murph, posted Sep 3rd 2007 at 10:17AM

For those paying attention, you'd know that betting the farm on San Francisco's muni WiFi project ever coming together wouldn't exactly be the best move, but it appears that Sonic.Net is stepping in to provide an alternative. The California-based ISP has reportedly conjured up an initiative to bring an ad-supported MuniFi model to San Franciscans, and would utilize hardware from Meraki. Apparently, Sonic.Net customers can snag a Meraki wireless mesh router "at a subsidized cost," which would enable them to share "up to 500kbps" of their DSL line. Users of the service will spot a Google ad bar atop their browser, and there's even mention of ad revenues being shared with customers in order to reduce their monthly bill in the future. Notably, the platform could even expand to "other areas" outside of SF if it proves successful.

Turtles don solar-powered communicators in the name of science

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 6th 2007 at 2:41PM


For biologists who aren't down with tracking blazing fast cheetahs and computer engineers who aren't keen on their hardware just galloping away, strapping solar-powered communicators on none other than a 40-pound turtle was a no-brainer. Dubbed M16, the giant snapper commandeered by scientists from the University of Massachusetts is now sporting a "postcard-sized waterproof computer" that tracks and records data about the endangered species and beams it back to the campus when the creature moseys on by a base station. Much like a few military applications we've seen, the idea here is to "create a network of constantly moving devices (or animals) that record and store information, transmit data from one device to another," and finally upload it into a database. No word on whether webcams or high-powered lasers will get added in to the second wave of shell-bound rigs.

LANdroids offer autonomous radio relay on the battlefield

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 13th 2007 at 11:53PM


DARPA's proposed LANdroids won't be the first installation to offer up expendable data gathering pawns on the battlefield, but these "intelligent, autonomous radio relay nodes" could be used to "establish and manage mesh networks in urban settings." Essentially, these critters would be cheaply produced and handed out en masse for warfighters to drop at random in order to create temporary and continually evolving network infrastructures that could lead to better communication over various occupied regions. It even sounds like these creatures will sport self-healing design cues, and while we're not sure if they'll be immune to imminent EMP blasts, we can already envision bored soldiers futilely hooking these things up to their PSPs and searching for an open game room. [Warning: PDF read link]

[Via El Reg]

Control4's Home Controller HC-300 outputs GUI in HD

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 12th 2007 at 12:58PM

For those looking to make the leap to home automation whilst making sure that elegance is taken into account, Control4 is hoping its newfangled Home Controller HC-300 will fit the bill. The relatively low-cost IP-based home controller offers up a multitude of serial, infrared, and video sensing ports, plays nice with standards-based communication technology including Ethernet, WiFi, and ZigBee mesh networking, and can dictate multi-room music, smart lighting, advanced temperature control, and security without breaking a sweat. Most notably, however, is its ability to output the graphical user interface in sparkling 720p, meaning that you will no longer be ashamed of flashing your home controller's GUI on the big screen. Additionally, Control4 revamped the device by adding an anodized black aluminum chassis and a glossy black faceplate, and it plans on shipping these things out sometime in July for a respectable $699.

[Via CEPro]

Boingo set to roam on FON's worldwide WiFi network

by Darren Murph, posted May 25th 2007 at 9:32AM


Boingo, which just recently flashed its Boingo Mobile services in your grill at 3GSM, has now made its somewhat sensational claims seem a bit more justified by partnering with FON to roam on its worldwide network of WiFi hotspots. Once the agreement is executed, Boingo's customers will reportedly have "access to an additional 130,000 hotspot locations," which will more than double the company's network size. Of course, this isn't the only partnership FON has inked in recent memory either, and while one may expect to fork over slightly more than the previously advertised $7.95 per month for an expanded Biongo Mobile network, it looks like the rates are staying put. No word yet on when the WiFi roaming will go live, but if you happened to be swarmed by Foneros in your neck of the woods, Boingo Mobile just might be worth the effort.

London to become Europe's largest WiFi hotspot

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 16th 2007 at 8:15PM


As if blanketing the rim of the River Thames with WiFi wasn't good enough to get us out of the office and into the park, the Evening Standard is reporting that the whole city of London will soon becomes "Europe's biggest wireless internet hotspot." As expected, some 130 base stations will be arranged in a sophisticated mesh networking setup, which will span "the entire Square Mile," subsequently giving about 350,000 employees in the area access to unadulterated wireless internet. Wireless gurus from The Cloud are working in conjunction with city officials to tie off the final steps, and while initial coverage areas will dwarf Soho and Barbican City, the map above shows just how broad the service could get. Unfortunately, this edition of citywide WiFi will not come gratis, as users who plan to take advantage will be kindly asked to fork over about £11 ($22) a month for access.

[Via Inquirer]

Autonomous robotic fleas could create distributed sensor network

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 5th 2007 at 2:49AM

We've seen a fair bit of mesh networking approaches lately, and thanks to a unusual project going on at the University of California, Berkeley, the next great ad hoc network could be started by a horde of bugs. Sarah Bergbreiter has developed an "autonomous robotic flea has been developed that is capable of jumping nearly 30 times its height," thanks to what could possibly be hailed as the "world's smallest rubber band." Interestingly, the creator hopes that the minuscule bugs could eventually be used to "create networks of distributed sensors for detecting chemicals or for military-surveillance purposes." The Smart Dust initiative could eventually be expanded to grow wings, but for now the solar-powered bugger will stick to hoppin' via a "microcontroller to govern its behavior and a series of micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) motors on a silicon substrate."

[Via BoingBoing]

River Thames' banks now WiFi-enabled via mesh networking

by Darren Murph, posted Mar 31st 2007 at 12:54AM


This one is most definitely for the kid in all of us. C'mon, at age seven, visiting the River Thames in central London is probably on the top ten most unexciting ways to spend a crucial week of summer vacation, but if you could snag a WiFi signal whilst the 'rents oohed and ahhed at all the lovely sights, now we're talking. Thanks to the Thames Online mesh networking system, bored children and internet addicts alike can disregard the beauty around them and focus more on things that truly matter, as the service stretches 22-kilometers (about 12.5-miles) along the banks from Millbank near the Houses of Parliament to the Millennium Dome in Greenwich. The system utilizes equipment from Proxim Wireless -- namely the company's 100 ORiNOCO AP-4000MR mesh access points -- and adding CCTV video surveillance cams, VoIP channels, and GPS capabilities are all in the cards. Sadly, this turnkey service is far from gratis, as users will be forced to hand over £2.95 ($5.79) for one hour, £5.95 ($11.68) for a day, £7.95 ($15.61) for a week, or £9.95 ($19.53) for a month of quasi-unlimited service.

[Via WiFi-Planet]

SEEMesh and WiMA come together on 802.11s mesh networking

by Ryan Block, posted Apr 20th 2006 at 12:51PM

In a move all but totally shocking to these jaded writers, two wireless standard groups, SEEMesh (backed by Intel, Nokia, Motorola, NTT DoCoMo and TI) and the Wi-Mesh Alliance (backed by Nortel, Philips, and Thomson, among others) have actually come together in peace and love to combine their proposals for the IEEE 802.11s mesh networking standard into one single draft. Now, we all know how wack tech forums can delay standards ratifications -- or sometimes circumvent the process from occurring entirely -- which is why it's so nice that these guys took 802.11n's lead, kissed, made up, and came together to put the technology before the royalties. Oh, so what exactly is the 802.11s mesh networking standard do, you ask? It's a few things to a lot of companies, but it'll first be a boon to metropolitan WiFi networks, so base-stations will have a standard method of communications both to nodes (802.11a/b/g) and to each other (802.11s) when moving around data. Of course, that doesn't help cities that have already rolled out WiFi, but pre-S gear getting sold to cities rolling out in the near future could probably be expected to cut costs and increase speed to nodes.
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