San Francisco's Got Free Wi-Fi

Carpoolio writes "If you're living in San Francisco, chances are you can connect, for free, to the BARWN -- the Bay Area Research Wireless Network. BARWN broadcasts an 802.11 signal from the top of a big hill near San Francisco, and anyone with a clear sight line to the signal can connect. Another set of wireless nodes are being placed around town by SFLan, making Wi-Fi available to tens of thousands of people."

Comments

Not quite everyone

[paul248]

According to the article, The hill has a few directional antennas that provide access to 30 or so stationary access points scattered around the area. I assume those access points also have directional antennas pointing back. This would seem to indicate that in order to get online, you have to be near one of the access points, not simply in view of the hill.

Re:Not quite everyone

[anthony_dipierro]

This would seem to indicate that in order to get online, you have to be near one of the access points, not simply in view of the hill.

Ah, but it also says:

If you live within eight miles of San Bruno Mountain and have a place -- a rooftop often does well -- that provides a direct line of sight to the mountaintop, you can buy and build your own access point.

Re:Repeat after me.

[anthony_dipierro]

This is paid for by tax dollars

Actually, it's paid for by the Bay Area Wireless Users Group

That doesn't make it free, it means you already pay for it with the taxes you already pay.

Also, it's not clear if they meant free as in beer, or free as in freedom. If they allow anyone to go online without registering or anything, then it's both!

A few clarifications

[Danton]

...for those few who didn't RTFA (I heard that happens on /.)

I am one of the people building SFLAN. Our map is a little outdated (and the San Bruno Mountain node is in the wrong spot). SFLAN and BAWRN have some 30 nodes in as many locations in San Francisco and a few outliers in surrounding counties. If you are in San Francisco and want to try it out, Cole Street is well covered. The SSIDs are sflanNN or BARWN-xxxxx; DHCP, no WEP.

The nodes are owned and paid for by individuals, many of whom are members of the Bay Area Wireless User Group. The Internet bandwidth for SFLAN is sponsored by the Internet Archive. If you live in SF and want to buy a node to connect your house and your neighbors, contact us.

We like to keep these networks as free (as in speech and beer) as possible. And it's working out so far. I hear Tim Pozar's neighbors keep him happy with occasional pies...