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San Francisco's Got Free Wi-Fi

Posted by timothy on from the leave-your-heart-and-brain dept.

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."

10 of 156 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Overloaded? by asquared256 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There are most likely multiple access points operating on different channels, and in different areas. It's probably not a single AP.

  2. Not quite everyone by paul248 · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

    1. Re:Not quite everyone by anthony_dipierro · · Score: 5, Informative

      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.
  3. spammers paradise by adept256 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Can anyone tell me the likelihood of tracking down a spammer at a laptop in a city the size of San Francisco?

    --

    I ran a benchmark on my quantum computer, now I can't find it anywhere!
    1. Re:spammers paradise by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny

      SF is not as big as some people think it is. Compared to neighboring cities you could probably fit 3 SF's in Oakland, and as many as 5 in San Jose.

      I'm sorry, that doesn't speak to me much : just so I have an idea, how many SFs would you say fit in one Library of Congress?

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  4. Speed problems? by justbsd · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just blanket the city with this and we're set.

  5. Does anyone benchmark these? by vudufixit · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Look, no one should complain about a "free" connection, but I'm curious to know how fast the typical user's connection really is. After all, the access point has to be connected to a terrestrial data line, which has limited bandwidth. Of course, the more people find out about this, the slower it gets for everybody, right? Does anyone know if those who provide "free" wireless access have an upgrade plan to handle the additional traffic?

  6. P2P on public WIFI by Eberlin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Most folks think spam when it comes to large wireless networks. I'm thinking P2P -- it'll be a bit tougher to trace shared music across a public wireless network than it would be on someone's home DSL connection.

    Of course this could also be a haven for computers that don't have the latest patches, have print/file sharing enabled, and don't have personal firewalls activated. For those who want to run in this, be careful.

  7. Re:Repeat after me. by anthony_dipierro · · Score: 5, Informative

    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!

  8. A few clarifications by Danton · · Score: 5, Informative
    ...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...

    --
    "Web Users Should Not Engage in Promiscuous Browsing" --CERT