Cool article: Wi-Fi for the masses

[TuffGirl]

I read this article in a magazine at the dentist's office yesterday and found it interesting so I thought I'd share it with you fellow geeks.

• Michael Oh's black Saturn coupe often sits outside a Boston Starbucks, but he's not craving a Frappuchino; Oh's chasing Wi-Fi users. He converted his coupe into a mobile Wi-Fi transmitter to offer free broadband access to people who would otherwise have to pay for it at places like Starbucks.
  
  It's all perfectly legal, since Oh, who preaches that Wi-Fi should be free, uses his own homemade network. Other believers in free Wi-Fi have put chalk markings on buildings -- called "war chalking" -- to indicate Wi-Fi hotspots that people can tap with a laptop. Oh brings the bandwidth to the user. "The car is an incredible way of showing that wireless has no boundaries," he says.
  
  Oh's Saturn is equipped with a six-foot Orinoco antenna on the roof and an Apple AirPort Base Station Wi-Fi node inside the rear window. The car receives high-speed Internet access beamed from a T1 line in his office as far as 1.500 feet away, and the AirPort creates a Wi-Fi bubble with a radius of about 150 feet. He attracts a handful of users at any one time, whether he?s at the Boston Marathon or in front of a quiet office building.
  
  When Oh isn?t giving Wi-Fi away, he operates NewburyOpen.net, a wireless network covering much of Boston?s eight-block Newbury Street shopping district (newburyopen.net offers detailed instructions on how to build a Wi-Fi car). [I found those instructions here. --TuffGirl] Shops pay for the network as they believe free Wi-Fi will bring in more customers. The wireless business has apparently been good to Oh, who recently added a second vehicle to his Wi-Fi fleet: ?We?ve upgraded to a Lexus IS300.?

It?s a pretty easy read, so if you want cliff notes then tuff.

If you are curious, here are some images of Oh?s Saturn and Oh himself from Wired.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

That's frickin' awesome!

- M4H

 

[Dari]

since he's leasing the T1 line, how is this legal?

 

[Soybomb]

That sounds somewhat pointless to me. Ohhhh no my acces point just drove away!

 

[Kevin]

Originally posted by: Dari
since he's leasing the T1 line, how is this legal?

Why wouldn't it be?

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: Soybomb
That sounds somewhat pointless to me. Ohhhh no my acces point just drove away!

No the deal is they "rent" themselves out to merchants who then park him outside to bring customers in.



Cliff Notes for the Non Ferengi
Starbucks/ McD's = $$ for Wi-Fi access to customers
Coffee shop guy who rents the WiFI car = FREE wireless to customers
It's a promotional tool.

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: TuffGirl
I read this article in a magazine at the dentist's office yesterday and found it interesting so I thought I'd share it with you fellow geeks.

• Michael Oh's black Saturn coupe often sits outside a Boston Starbucks, but he's not craving a Frappuchino; Oh's chasing Wi-Fi users. He converted his coupe into a mobile Wi-Fi transmitter to offer free broadband access to people who would otherwise have to pay for it at places like Starbucks.
  
  It's all perfectly legal, since Oh, who preaches that Wi-Fi should be free, uses his own homemade network. Other believers in free Wi-Fi have put chalk markings on buildings -- called "war chalking" -- to indicate Wi-Fi hotspots that people can tap with a laptop. Oh brings the bandwidth to the user. "The car is an incredible way of showing that wireless has no boundaries," he says.
  
  Oh's Saturn is equipped with a six-foot Orinoco antenna on the roof and an Apple AirPort Base Station Wi-Fi node inside the rear window. The car receives high-speed Internet access beamed from a T1 line in his office as far as 1.500 feet away, and the AirPort creates a Wi-Fi bubble with a radius of about 150 feet. He attracts a handful of users at any one time, whether he?s at the Boston Marathon or in front of a quiet office building.
  
  When Oh isn?t giving Wi-Fi away, he operates NewburyOpen.net, a wireless network covering much of Boston?s eight-block Newbury Street shopping district (newburyopen.net offers detailed instructions on how to build a Wi-Fi car). [I found those instructions here. --TuffGirl] Shops pay for the network as they believe free Wi-Fi will bring in more customers. The wireless business has apparently been good to Oh, who recently added a second vehicle to his Wi-Fi fleet: ?We?ve upgraded to a Lexus IS300.?

It?s a pretty easy read, so if you want cliff notes then tuff.

If you are curious, here are some images of Oh?s Saturn and Oh himself from Wired.

This is totally cool and I must have one.

 

[UglyCasanova]

That is pretty cool. Now I just need a laptop...