The Search for Hot Spots!

Sorry... I didn't mean nightclubs. As wireless LANs based on WiFi (802.11b) became more and more popular, a significant concern arose when it was discovered that the built-in security wasn't quite as tight as people had assumed. WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) has some flaws that can make it very easy to break into a WiFi LAN. Of course you can add more layers of security to lock the network down and WiFi developers are also working rapidly to plug the holes in WEP. We link to several articles in our web excursions section that cover the vulnerabilities of WEP and points on how to truly secure your wireless network.

One person's weakness is another person's business opportunity...

An interesting trend in WiFi networking is the idea of hunting through neighborhoods to find Hot Spots — places where a WiFi Access Point is available for accessing the Internet. You can install software on your wireless device that actually alerts you to an available WiFi signal! While some of the owners of these Access Points have no idea that their security is not tight enough to protect them from being used this way, others PURPOSELY open their networks up for shared Internet access.

Coffee shops, restaurants, bookstores, airport lounges, hotels, and other businesses are installing access points specifically to encourage wireless visitors.

Companies like WayPort and Boingo are helping wire such locations to the Internet, installing the Access Points, and providing a business model for making a profit from the growing number of wireless users.

Some of these companies charge an hourly or flat fee, while others offer the service for free just to get the customer through the door. WiFiMetro.com, for example, just set up the entire downtown area of Palo Alto, California with comprehensive wireless access. For only $19.95 a month, you get the software you need for your PC and wireless card to access their hot spots in Palo Alto and all over the country in other cities and towns that are similarly hooked up.

Recently, IBM, Intel, AT&T Wireless, Verizon and Cingular began discussions about building a nationwide network of hot spots. The initiative is known as "Project Rainbow" according to CNET News. Lucent and Nortel, traditionally more interested in the telephony markets and enterprise networking, have also announced that they plan to help wireless phone companies move into the WiFi hot spot market! Such giants getting behind this initiative could make it a reality quickly, especially considering how simple the tools for creating hot spots have become to install and support. Given the slow pace of 3G deployments, there's a good chance that WiFi will get there first!

Community Networks

Throughout the world, people are beginning to discover that with the addition of external antennas, WiFi networks can be extended beyond a single home or office to another home or office. Community networks are springing up with one member of the community getting a high-speed wired connection to the Internet (DSL, Cable Modem, Frame Relay or T1), and sharing that connection with the neighbors through a wireless community network. Each house or office installs an Access Point that supports an external antenna so the signal can go whatever distance is needed. Of course there are limits to these distances (up to 6 miles line of site with the right weather conditions).

One early method of extending the reach of a wireless access point actually involves attaching an empty Pringles can as part of the antenna!

If using a Pringles can seems a little unbusinesslike, check out how Mountain Wireless, for example, using Motorola's Canopy Broadband Wireless products, offers Broadband Internet Access as easy as 1, 2, 3....

But is it legal?

Broadband Wireless Internet access can be sold legally with the proper licenses and by obeying appropriate FCC rules.

However, if you are a home user, trying to add neighbors and friends to an ISP account designed for one user or one family, you may be on slightly more shaky ground.

Telephone companies, cable companies, and fixed broadband wireless companies are all rightfully concerned about this "sharing the network" trend since it could erode their profits. Plus, such community networks may be illegal if the wired Internet access provider prohibits sharing the connection, so one should read his or her contract carefully before participating in such an endeavor. (That said, our lawyers should be happy.)

One wag recently wrote to us here at WKMN to say that he never signed any contract with his ISP and therefore was under no legal obligations not to share his connection. If you are using an ISP, somewhere, somehow, when you didn't even realize it, you agreed to terms and conditions either by signing something or clicking an OK button on some web page.

CNET News recently reported that major cable companies are planning to crack down on people sharing their cable modem connections. See the link to the story in our links section below.

Many ISPs, though, don't really care if you share the connection as long as you don't use more than your fair share of the bandwidth. In fact, they can use bandwidth management products to ensure that you only use your allocated share. We have a link below to a listing of ISPs that don't mind you sharing.

Soon, the FCC may weigh in on the use of WiFi. Today, the frequency band used by WiFi (2.4 GHz) is unlicensed. The FCC may severely limit the allowed signal strength of WiFi which would therefore limit the ability of people to be able to share their connections from house to house or business to business. The cable companies and incumbent phone companies are certainly hopeful that the FCC will do this.

People want it, but will they really pay?

As our society continues to be more and more mobile, and the demand for information anywhere anytime continues to grow, and the price of incorporating wireless connectivity into devices continues to go down, the demand for access is going to skyrocket. The key question is, will people be able to figure out a way to make a good profit offering that access? Only time will tell...

Check out some of these links related to WiFi Security, Hot Spots and Community Networks.

WiFi Security

• National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication on Wireless Network Security - July 2002 (requires Acrobat)
• Network Computing - Wireless LAN Security
• Cisco Wireless LAN Security White Paper
• NASA Overcomes WEP Flaws
• RSA Offers WEP Patch
• AirSnort Breaks WEP
• Previously Known WEP Security Flaws
• Wireless LAN Security from NetMotion

Hot Spots

• CNET Story on Hot Spots (July 02)
• War Chalking (hobo language for marking hot spots)
• eWeek Story on Hot Spots
• See chalk on the sidewalk? Could be a hot spot!
• Wireless Hacker Trap (watch out war-chalkers!)
• Network World Story on Hot Spots
• WiFi Hot Spots (database for Europe and Middle-East)
• Wayport
• Boingo
• WiFiMetro.com's Palo Alto "Hot Zone"
• WiFi Free Spots (find free wireless access)

Community Networks

• Community Networks
• Cable Companies Crack Down on WiFi
• Wireless Internet Technology by Wi-Pipe
• Want to share (your ISP connection through) WiFi? Just ask!
• Wireless-friendly ISPs (OK to share your connection via WiFi)
• The Pringles Can Approach
• Community Networks - The Wireless LAN Revolution
• Adam Shand's Community Networks Project
• How Bob and His Binoculars Found More Bandwidth and
  Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bond
• How Michael Erskine Moved His Access Point Outdoors (1-mile P2P link)
• University of Tennessee at Martin Wireless Network for S.A.C.S.
• 3Com Offers Wireless Bridge To Expand WiFi Networks
• 1Km, 2Mbps, 802.11b Wireless Link Using Linksys WAP11 & Yagi
• Building Community Networks with WiFi (book from Amazon)
  Note: WKMN donates 100% of our Amazon Associate Fees
  to programs that help feed the homeless.