Making this post from someone's wifi access point just around the corner from my apartment in the park at the Hillsborough end of Richmond St. Very sweet.

I forgot to mention, I'm actaully in the park, using a tree as shade, as I check my email and browse the web.

Not to belabor the point, but I'm back in the park at 10:40pm. While it's much easier to see my screen, I'm afraid somebody will come and either beat me up or steal my laptop (or both). And somehow I think I might deserve it for the level of geekiness I'm displaying.

No, Nick. Don't worry about sitting in the dark with a glowing $3,000 buglight. Not a chance you stand out.

A new map has been posted. We're now displaying only the unsecured publicly accessible AP's. Limited searching has been done in Parkdale.

Has anyone here looked into the legality of using a private network without authorization of the owner? Even if you can get away with it, it may not be the best idea to document your activity publicly.

I realize that the purpose of this site is to promote public access points, an idea I certainly support. Perhaps the distinction between public access points and private-but-unsecured access points should be made explicit.

Nathan, A lot of people are asking this question. I'm not too sure on the legalities. As you know, when you access the net through an AP you're not accessing data on the person's computer merely accesing data (from the net etc) through the AP. From my reading this is tripping up a lot of current legislation as it was all geared toward data protection of systems. New Hampshire seems to be paving the way for access. They are basically saying to wifi point operators: if you don't want people to listen to your radio station, stop broadcasting in a way that they can listen.

Check section 342.1(1)(a) of what's important in our country - doesn't matter a bit what is happening in New Hampshire. Sharing is great. Make sure sharing is what is happening.

Let’s be careful here, fear and self-censorship are really hindering wifi-networks. As far as I understand, there is no clear legal precedent on what it means to use someone’s open wifi network to access the internet. They are paying for the bandwidth, so in effect, you are using their resource (though it would be rare that the use would be significant enough to matter). It will be really interesting to see the law deal with eventual mesh networks, where each user actually contributes more to the whole that they consume.

However, this is a bit of a red herring. WiFiCharlottetown isn’t about finding unsuspecting people’s networks. Rather, it is about people willingly sharing their wifi. Admittedly, all we’ve done so far is map some existing networks – but be patient and we’ll soon be providing some open access points of our own and listing people who have volunteered with their own networks.

Just like our mommies told us, it's good to share. Willing participation can't be bad and, besides, pursuant to section 163(1)(b) of the Criminal Code, a person who circulates a crime comic commits an offence. I don't know what that means either.

You'll notice that some of the APs do not have WEP protection, but may have their MAC address acceptance locked down. Mine is like that, I think. I can't seem to get WEP to work.

Greetings...

Looks like an interesting project ...

Jevon,

What problem were you having with WEP? The method to enter a 'key' is often times confusing (do you enter the hex value, the alpha or a keyphrase). If your client hardware is different from the server/AP it can be a pain to get things working correctly.

Dave:

I will admit it is probably 4/5ths laziness on my part. I have a Linksys WAP11 and an Apple Powerbook with an Airport card (both 802.11b)., when I typed in my desired WEP key (even in the Linksys Setup Wizard, which hides the details) and then tried to connect on my powerbook, it just didn't work. I tried ~4 times with different methods, but had no luck, so I just locked the WAP to my MAC address.

Just a quick question. I am thinking of hooking up a wireless PCI NIC (822.11b Dlink) in my desktop. I am located a couple of houses in from University Ave at University and Reserve St, basically right across from the Metro Credit Union.

Anyone have any best guess estimates on the likely success of this project?

And is the wireless NIC all I would need to try this?

Thanks, -- great idea and forum.

DB

Hi DB,
If the network is open and you are within range all you'd need is a 802.11 card. We can't tell you for sure about the range and the possibilty of you receiving signal. We'd like to let you know though that this is NOT a wifi charlottetown access point. The owner of the wifi point could be intentionally sharing it or not. There is also a possibility that the owner is restricting MAC addrresses but not WEP encrypting it. This would prohibit you from using the point. Best of luck and let us know how it goes. If the owner of the mentioned access point is reading please let us know if you are willing to share your wifi. Thanks!

I used to have an open WiFi node here at 100 Prince St., but then I moved some of the machines here behind the firewall built into the LinkSys WiFi router, and didn't want to expose those machines to public WiFi.

That said, now that a WiFi device can be had for $69 at FutureShop, perhaps I'll turn this back on.

Stay tuned.

What is the average range of these units? I'm real close to an access point and I'd love to try it but I don't want to spring for the card unless I'm sure it'll work. I'm on the corner of Upper Prince and Gerald St.

Woody: it's really difficult to say what the range is, because so many factors can influence this -- buildings, trees, walls, etc. If you drive down to Lower Prince St. and stop in front of my house -- 100 Prince -- you can get an idea: the WiFi base station is in the east-front side of the house, and the WiFi signal is usable out across Prince Street almost to Church St. through the field, up Print St. to almost the end of the brick building at 120 Prince, and across to the parking lot in front of the Voluntary Resource Centre. However if you go down Richmond St., around the corner, the signal disappears almost immediately after you walk behind the red brick building on the corner. Rule of thumb: line of sight is best; if not line of sight, then with as few obstructions as possible.

Nick,
I was in that same park earlier today and I could not grab a signal. I tried both ends of the park sitting on the picnic table and beside a tree. To my disapointment, no luck.

John, I've since moved out of the city so I can't go test it again, but the access point was on the downtown-Richmond St. side of the park. I had trouble getting it from anywhere except pretty close to both the corner and the road. Maybe try under one of the big trees there. Or of course, perhaps the person moved.

I was sitting beside a tree, I probably was not close enough to the building.

About sharing - What do we know about sharing an internet connection that you are paying for? The WI-FI access is one thing, but I thought most ISP's contracts include clauses about the re-use, or multiple computers connecting....That's why a home ADSL or cable connection is $39/month and a business/server account is $150... In essence you become an ISP - even if you aren't charging for it.
Don't get me wrong - I'm all for open access points, but I'd like to know how we can legitimately provide them.

You could create your own WAN and piggy back the signal for a greater range.. there are many interesting articles on this, search on Google.

Gerk
Halifax Waterfront

Interesting site. Some question the legality surrounding accessing these WiFi access points from the street, park etc. Legally, what you are doing is "hacking" stealing, etc. Even if its just as easy as driving down the street scanning for WiFi networks. However, if the owner(s) of said WiFi networks are "dumb" enough to enable their WiFi without MAC filtering or WEP, then I am all for free Internet access. Its amazing just how many home users, and even Network Administrators at companies simply plug these things in and let them work.

As for range, 802.11b is about 100 to 150 feet (excluding any solid obstruction that would prevent the passing of the signal)
802.11a and 802.11b (both 54Mbs) limited to 25 to 100 feet respectively. Of course with the proper antenna or tweaking, they can reach much further distances. for example a cheap range extender made from a pringles can. http://lineman.net/printout123.html

Any plans on an updated map?

Should update this...........!

can i get it in mayflower apts, on queen? behind the superstore? any word from anyone

It is too bad that this site has not been updated as it could provide a very valuable resource. Being a seasonal visitor to the Island that depends on internet access at a reasonable speed (ie: no dial up:o) to be able to 'work from the cottage' and stay with my family I lived at the Atlantic Technology Center this past summer to access thier WIFI feed. While it worked out well a change of pace from time to time would have been nice. Also, I do not see the ATC even listed on this site. Any suggestions on how to breath some life into this site?

I think we're due for an update here, come on? :P

Staying at New Residence Hall at UPEI this coming week. Are there any hotspots near the campus or is the entire campus a hotspot? Desparately need access. Thanks.

how a bout a national map? anybody?