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ewensell3 · 02-03-2005

Wow. Get cut down right out of the gate. I like this place.

> Yeah.. Better write your congressman and propose it as a legislative
> bill...

Y'know, a standard is simply a bunch of people agreeing to do the same thing. No need to get the lawyers involved over this.

> What a load of BS.. It's YOUR responsibility to insure you only connect to
> AP's that you are authorized to.. It's NOT those who decide they want to
> share their bandwith with others problem.

Here, let me paint a better picture of what I have in mind.

In the HAM radio world, they have this thing called APRS. It's a fairly simple connectionless UDP-style packet radio network originally setup for GPS tracking of devices/vehicles/etc. Nowadays it is used for GPS, passing weather information, text messaging, and various other short connectionless-type network operations. The network relies on kind-hearted people to have the right equipment on their base stations and all use the same frequency (144.39 to be precise).

Well, I would like to basically attempt the same thing, but with 802.11 . For starters, I'd like to create my own LoJack type device I could place in my truck. It would scan for open 802.11 access points, and if it finds one and can make a connection, send a couple HTTP packets to a server with current GPS information. Granted it probably wouldn't work at interstate speeds, but I'm more interested in just making it work. Truck and driver has to stop for gas and toilet sometime.

Problem is, being a responsible person, I don't want my device to accidentally use AP's I'm not authorized to use. It would probably be possible to avoid such problems with lists of open hotspots like what's availble from some sites, but that seems like a headache to maintain. And from what I've been reading, not many people have written a script that can reliably join SSID=*open* APs. I suppose I could subscribe to a pay network, but they aren't very widespread yet. Ok, in all honesty I'm just cheap.

That's when I got to thinking it sure would be nice if those of us with purposefully open APs could all agree on a common set of SSIDs and/or WEP keys so other people like me could setup preferred roaming profiles on our wifi tools and devices and rest assured that our automated devices are only connecting to APs we have explicit permission to use. If one want's to get more elaborate, use additional software for verification.

Pay networks like Boingo use a combination of common SSIDs, keys, and software to achieve this. Small community freenets do something similar. Why can't a bunch of hobbyists do something like this at the nationwide level??

I find it hard to believe this isn't already being done.

02-03-2005	#4 (permalink)
ewensell3 Been there, done that... Join Date: May 2004 Location: E. TN USA Posts: 4	Wow. Get cut down right out of the gate. I like this place. > Yeah.. Better write your congressman and propose it as a legislative > bill... Y'know, a standard is simply a bunch of people agreeing to do the same thing. No need to get the lawyers involved over this. > What a load of BS.. It's YOUR responsibility to insure you only connect to > AP's that you are authorized to.. It's NOT those who decide they want to > share their bandwith with others problem. Here, let me paint a better picture of what I have in mind. In the HAM radio world, they have this thing called APRS. It's a fairly simple connectionless UDP-style packet radio network originally setup for GPS tracking of devices/vehicles/etc. Nowadays it is used for GPS, passing weather information, text messaging, and various other short connectionless-type network operations. The network relies on kind-hearted people to have the right equipment on their base stations and all use the same frequency (144.39 to be precise). Well, I would like to basically attempt the same thing, but with 802.11 . For starters, I'd like to create my own LoJack type device I could place in my truck. It would scan for open 802.11 access points, and if it finds one and can make a connection, send a couple HTTP packets to a server with current GPS information. Granted it probably wouldn't work at interstate speeds, but I'm more interested in just making it work. Truck and driver has to stop for gas and toilet sometime. Problem is, being a responsible person, I don't want my device to accidentally use AP's I'm not authorized to use. It would probably be possible to avoid such problems with lists of open hotspots like what's availble from some sites, but that seems like a headache to maintain. And from what I've been reading, not many people have written a script that can reliably join SSID=open APs. I suppose I could subscribe to a pay network, but they aren't very widespread yet. Ok, in all honesty I'm just cheap. That's when I got to thinking it sure would be nice if those of us with purposefully open APs could all agree on a common set of SSIDs and/or WEP keys so other people like me could setup preferred roaming profiles on our wifi tools and devices and rest assured that our automated devices are only connecting to APs we have explicit permission to use. If one want's to get more elaborate, use additional software for verification. Pay networks like Boingo use a combination of common SSIDs, keys, and software to achieve this. Small community freenets do something similar. Why can't a bunch of hobbyists do something like this at the nationwide level?? I find it hard to believe this isn't already being done.