Hello Kiwi WiFi!

I'm an expat, recently returned and looking to set up somewhere in the central Auckland area.

For the last couple of years I've been operating a public node in central London (think your LOS is bad?) the latest incaranation of which is the typical Linux+Hostap/Nocat & DHCPD/Apache/IPtables install on top of a PII with Prism2.5 card and 8Dbi Omni, providing about 1.5km radius coverage.

Interconnecting nodes in the U.K. has not really been my focus, as the "killer ap" for WiFi users is mobile Internet access and bandwidth is cheap. A collection of physically disparate nodes sharing the same userbase (and authentication mechanism) suits the U.K., rather than wirelessly linking nodes as is done in places like Perth (WANet.)

Here of course the "TeleCon/NZ Govt Coalition To Keep NZ In The Technology Dark Ages ™" junta is charging exhorbitant amounts for shitty network access, so I'm guessing that wireless node<>node interconnectivity (OSPF? BGP?) is what you guys are into here.

Now that I'm back in NZ I'm keen to hook up with all you WiFI geezers and start building out some infrastructure. Someone fill me in on what you guys have got going and what I can do to help out.

Once my kit arrives (now on a boat somewhere in the Indian Ocean) and I have found somewhere to live, my node will go live immediately. In the meantime, I'm particularly interested to speak with anyone active in the Auckland CBD/Parnell/Ponsonby area.

-Simon (oob@wildstar.net)

hi simon, welcome back to nz and welcome aboard nzwireless

Yup, that's the plan, build a node network where we can then offer services across it, internet, voip, gaming servers etc etc

We haven't got much running at the moment, we've just been experimenting with cards/AP's lately, trying to find which will be the best, but i'm planning on building a home made omni on the weekend, which will mean ppl can start connecting

To view where we all are, check out http://www.nodedb.com/newzealand/ni/auckland/?

I work in ponsonby, so i may be able to put a node on our office, we're located at the top of ponsonby road/krd

Hi Noodles,

Is this forum the right place to be or is the list more appropriate?

I'm familiar with nodedb (I know the prolific EvilBunny quite well) and have already scoped it. I must say it's disheartening to see the dearth of active nodes around NZ.

I've seen a post in the list archives regarding network design re IP allocations, SSID naming schemes, DNS and the like and would like to know more. Do you have a website somewhere with this type of documentation?

Moreover, how far along are you in the design phase? My experience is that it's good to set the standards early, to which prospective nodes must comply in order to join the network. Having someone who acts as a NIC from day one to do IP allocations is a good example of what I mean. For all the faults with WANET, the convicts are really well organised despite their lack of breeding and have faced many of the design/implementation issues NZ Wireless will need to look at. Have you considered using their model, or perhaps that of Freenetworks etc?

In the U.K. the mother organisation is called Consume but there are many subgroups underneath it (e.g. WNAP) due in some part to mismanagement and some part to technology disagreements. To contrast the two that I mentioned, Consume believes that all nodes should be open and unrestricted while WNAP likes PPTP/GRE/RADIUS. It would be good if the NZ wireless community could avoid such splits.

I have so many questions! Looking forward to the next meet so I can ask them all.

-Simon.

list or forum, it doesn't really matter at the moment, both are pretty much dead, interest has dropped off a bit as of late, but we're hoping that once we get some links up then more ppl will become interested

I haven't had much to do with the standards, it's mainly been headed up by Trvln (Seton) and MacGyver (Nick), i think the latest version of the document can be found here http://www.deathcorp.com/1_docs/NZWIRELESS.doc, it still needs finishing though, so if you have any ideas, or suggestions they'd be greatly appricated.

If you want to chat in IRC about it, i idle in #nzwireless on irc.thenet.dyndns.org and on irc.enterthegame.com (two different networks)