Broadband Through a Pringles Can
The idea of wireless networking is not all that new. Long before Free Wireless emerged, several breeds of
wireless technology had attained consumer success. Remember the HAMM radio craze in the 1970s? Or
how about infrared direct access, also known as IrDA? In the early 1990s, most computers and laptops
came equipped with IrDA, which allows you to transfer data between machines. (Got a Palm Pilot? Many
PDAs use it to beam messages between handheld devices.) The broadband offered through Free Wireless
operates similarly, on a small chunk of unlicensed spectrum the FCC set aside in 1993, which goes by the
clunky name of "802.11b." Originally, 802.11b---also called "wireless fidelity" or WiFi---was designed for
home networking, allowing you to simultaneously link several computers to a single Internet connection.
Place a base station in your den, connect it to your modem, and it will generate a wireless network
throughout your home---sort of like a baby monitor.
When technology designed to utilize 802.11b arrived, the idea once again was to use it as a low-cost, in-
home wireless network. For about $300, you can buy Apple's Airport Base Station, which will beam a
signal to any nearby computer equipped with a $100 Airport card. The pitch for Airport and similar
devices is that mom, dad, brother, and sister can all surf the net simultaneously. On a standard, 56K dial-
up connection, that's about all it's good for; there isn't much extra bandwidth to siphon off for additional
users. But as the number of folks with DSL, cable modems, and T-1 broadband connections grew, the
extra bandwidth meant they could now share their super-fast Internet connection with dozens of other
users without any noticeable loss in speed. Since 802.11b works through walls, around corners, is rarely
corrupted by interference, and can, with a makeshift antenna, have its range extended thousands of feet
beyond the base station, hackers quickly realized there was no reason to limit the signal to their home or
office.
By the middle of 1999, Free Wireless pioneers had discovered how to boost and retransmit their
broadband signal up to several miles beyond their base stations. That meant a single user could pay an
Internet service provider for a DSL, cable, or T1 connection, then broadcast access to it to everyone in
their building or, in rural areas, to neighbors miles away. Today, city blocks once doomed to
temperamental AOL dial-up connections are enjoying lightning-fast 802.11b-powered networks. While
lawmakers bicker over how to spread broadband, engineers, computer scientists, and various geeks and
hobbyists the world over are one step ahead, setting up wireless broadband networks in at least 25 cities,
including New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Denver, as well as in remote regions of Alaska and
Maine. It's also popping up in South American, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Canada.
The Do-It-Yourself Economic Stimulus Package
One thing that everyone can agree on is that broadband spurs innovation. To understand how, look no
further than your local college campus. Colleges and universities were some of the first places wired for
broadband access. In the late '90s, at Northeastern University in Boston, a freshman named Shawn
Fanning decided to take advantage of the bandwidth at his disposal and created a program to trade
electronic music files with friends. The result was Napster, which launched a revolution in how the
Internet is used. It's no coincidence that many of Napster's heaviest users were college kids with
broadband access; Napster created such high demand that many schools banned students from swapping
music files because their servers were overwhelmed.
It's this kind of innovation and subsequent demand that has business types so eager to spread broadband.
While lobbyists and telecom conglomerates arm wrestle over ownership and policy decisions, Free
Wireless is demonstrating why the excitement over broadband is justified. "I find that nearly everyone I
tell about it comes up with some new idea, application, or use of the technology," says Anthony
Townsend, a co-founder of NYC Wireless, one of the nation's largest and fastest-growing Free Wireless
networks. "We have had artists who want to use 802.11b for interactive sculptures, community activists
who want to use it to bridge the digital divide in poor neighborhoods and public housing projects, and
many other ideas we would have never thought of alone." Within days of the attack on the World Trade
Center, when phone lines and cables were severed, NYC Wireless members established an ad hoc high-
speed network at Ground Zero, linking rescue workers and survivors to the outside world.
Beyond coffeehouses and parks, the Free Wireless movement has been critical in bestowing broadband
on regions where geography renders landline Internet access impossible. In Owl's Head, Maine, for
instance, Jason Philbrook, founder of Midcoast Internet Solutions, employs a version of this technology
to beam wireless Internet access to some of the most remote regions of his state. Midcoast charges for
its service, placing it just outside the definition of Free Wireless. But it demonstrates the amazing
possibilities for wireless broadband in areas where traditional ISPs would be loathe to invest.
More ambitious plans are also afoot for 802.11b. The Swedish company SAS has announced its intention
to use 802.11b on Boeing 737 commercial airliners to give passengers in-flight wireless Internet access.
Delphi is equipping cars with 802.11b-compatible dashboard entertainment centers. In January, at the
International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Delphi demonstrated 802.11b-ready cars that can
download music wirelessly from a home network to an MP3-compatible audio deck, which will let you
load up your car stereo with MP3 tunes for a long road trip or even trade songs wirelessly with other
cars during a traffic jam. The possible business applications for wireless broadband are practically
limitless, something the Free Wireless movement is helping to demonstrate.
2
