http://www.publicip.net/ – a CD for setting up a public WiFi called ZoneCD. Based on free software. Does not require expensive hardware. Does not even require an *installation*.
The CD is based on Morphix which is based on Knoppix.
The creator of the CD gets it:
The sharing of code so that the next developer can pickup and take the software in a new direction is what makes open source work. ¹
I like this part. But it got me thinking. What’s so hard about setting up a public WiFi? Is it hard to set up? Certainly the ZoneCD doesn’t require much:
The piece of hardware used for the ZoneCD can be any PC with a minumum of 128MB RAM, two etherent cards, a floppy drive, and a CD-ROM (see system requirements). ²
It seems to be easy to setup in “open mode”, ie. no logins, no filtering, etc. I’m not sure what “closed mode” requires – fancy setup, or access to their “control server”. Perhaps I’m misunderstanding. I’m in favor of Open WLAN, so all I think we need are more people offering access points.
That should be easy to setup using a self-sufficient access point. I’m very happy with my Apple Airport Express for up to five people. And they have a bigger one, the Apple Airport Extreme for up to fifty people.
So what would ZoneCD give you beyond that? Control! I think that’s the point:
I prefer *Trusted*! 😄
Via JanneJalkanen.
#WiFi
(Please contact me if you want to remove your comment.)
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http://www.chillispot.org/ is another nice free software package to make a wireless (or non-wireless) hotspot.
– adulau 2005-10-23 17:03 UTC