inbox

Let’s Share a Little

July 25, 2008 BY Mark Evans

While I’ve been able to find Wi-Fi in Bayfield, Ont. (mystery solved!), a comment that resonated was whether there’s a way to share a little bit of your Internet access with people who want to check e-mail and check out a few sites.

Everyone is seemingly terrified about leaving their Wi-Fi networks wide open amid concerns that nefarious people will download copious amounts of music and porn. That’s fair enough but what if you could allocate 100MB to 500MB of your 60GB data package a month to share with anybody and everybody?

A measly 100MB won’t let anyone go too wild but it does provide enough bandwidth do check e-mail and surf the Web. Sounds like a reasonable proposition to me.

Technorati Tags:

Subscribe to

canada__red_maple_leaf_stickers (165x)A weekly newsletter featuring news about the Canadian startup scene, as well as great startup content. You'll also get an e-book featuring more than 100 of the leading digital marketing services.

This entry was posted in Wireless. Bookmark the permalink.
  • http://prkeener.blogspot.com Kerri Birtch

    Sounds like a good idea too me!! It would give me even more reason to want an Ipod Touch.

    Don’t think Bell would be too fond of the idea though ;)

    -Kerri

  • http://productwiki.com/omar Omar Ismail

    I’m a a very strong proponent of open wifi. I run an open router at my house to spread the wealth as it were.

    The thing is, if EVERYBODY opened up their wifi then the chances of something bad happening to YOU are extremely low. The low gets shared by everyone so everybody benefits.

    Now I just need to figure out if I can do iPhone -> teathered linux firmware router -> home wireless network

    Now wouldn’t THAT be swank.

  • http://www.mattroberts.com matt roberts

    Sounds like Fon, http://www.fon.com/en/

    Personally I’d like to see an ability to allocate a portion of my router to my own speed needs and then a smaller portion to other user. Ignoring your monthly caps.

    Meaning i have a connection that’s 2Mb/s I’d be willing when I’m using it allow others to use 250-500K . but when I’m not the full connection. I’d also like to keep my traffic secure by continuing to use WPA while others could connect sans encryptions.

  • http://wow.jules.ca jules

    Oh! That thought makes me feel all warm and tingley.

    I too have an open wi-fi router…. and unless people are hogs, I live and let live….

    :-)

  • Vava

    Mark,

    Long time, no comment… In reference to this and a previous post, the place of the library in the “digital divide” debate is a hot topic at all library schools (now they like to be referred to as “i-schools” given the focus on information as a topic of study), and your experience in Bayfield is similar to what I went through in Picton, Ont. last summer. While on vacation I was tasked with working on group project as part of a Masters course I was enrolled in at UofT. The public library was the place where I was able to get online, although their wifi was down at the time and the librarian kindly allowed me to plug in via their ethernet line, disconnecting it from their photocopier machine. Throughout the day as I sat and worked there was a steady stream of people approaching the librarians wondering why they weren’t able to connect. Although I don’t think this solves the “digital divide”, in whatever definition one may attach to that, it certainly serves a valuable purpose for both the community and visitors. Keep on keepin’ on!

  • http://www.benoit-lavigne.com/wordpress Benoit

    Hey,

    In Montreal we have a thing called “ile sans fil” which means island without wires (Montreal is an island). It is a non profit organization. It uses a special wrt54g router that is modified with some software that limits the load on you internet, provides a landing page for your business (ads) and even has a media sharing feature that broadcasts whatever you want.

    http://www.ilesansfil.org it might only be in french…