[Berlin-wireless] [Fwd: [Wndw-team] Fwd: [ICT4SD] Benin – DIY wireless]

Mi Mai 24 20:19:22 CEST 2006

Kam gerade über die wndw.net-Liste -

WRTs mit Olsr in Afrika...

cu elektra

Interesting story.  I'll find out if they'd be willing to write up a  
case study.

--Rob

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Anders Wandahl" <anders at golonka.se>
> Date: May 24, 2006 6:08:33 AM PDT
> To: <ICT4SD at yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [ICT4SD] Benin ? DIY  wireless
> Reply-To: ICT4SD at yahoogroups.com
>
>
> Hi all...
>
> Another African success story of Linksys WRT54Gs running OLSR was  
> published
> in the Balancing Act's News Update 302 (24th April 2006).
>
> http://www.balancingact-africa.com/
>
> Enjoy!
>
> Anders Wandahl
> "e-Math for Africa"
> http://math.golonka.se
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________ 
> ______
>
> TOP STORY: BENIN ? DIY WIRELESS ENTHUSIASTS LAUNCH WI-FI BROADBAND
> AND IP-TO-IP CALLING
> ______________________________________________________________________ 
> _____
>
> The do-it-yourself wireless movement has strong roots in the developed
> world and its enthusiasts have provided a constant guerrilla challenge
> at the edges of the market. But in Africa there have been a number of
> factors that have held it back. Regulation has until fairly recently
> favoured the incumbent and discouraged wireless innovation. Despite
> several attempts to seed the idea and some occasional enthusiasm,
> potential techie-activists  have (as with Open Source) seemed more
> interested in discussing the idea than actually doing anything  
> about it.
> But something seems to have changed with the launch of Contonou- 
> Wireless
> by a group of wireless activists, writes Isabelle Gross.
>
> It all started when Mathias and its friends Abslom, Armel, Gildas and
> Gilles were shopping around for an affordable internet connection. To
> carry on working together on various IT projects, Mathias Houngbo and
> his friends needed connectivity in the evening at home after work. The
> initial idea was that each of them would get a broadband  
> connection, but
> as it turned out, at 45,000 CFA Francs per month each (about US  
> $90) for
> 128/64 Kbits, the cost of an ADSL connection was too high.  
> Moreover, one
> of the five could obtain not obtain a dial up-connection, let alone an
> ADSL connection because there were no phone lines available in his  
> area.
>
> Full of hope, they contacted local ISPs offering wireless internet
> access but there again, as Mathias tells it the equipment and the
> monthly subscription for the connection were well above what they  
> could
> afford. From their discussions to find a solution came the idea to  
> build
> their own wireless network based on Wi-Fi technology, just as the  
> French
> wireless association (www.wireless-fr.org) had already done. But  
> all of
> this was great in theory, but in the real world, the problems were  
> just
> around the corner.
>
> Like many associations that rolled out a wireless mesh network,
> Cotonou-Wireless was confronted right at the beginning with issues  
> such
> as cost and reliability. In order to keep equipment costs low they
> decided to go for a wireless Linksys router which they ?sourced? in
> France at an affordable price (about ?80). Mathias points out that  
> this
> router is reliable and boasts good performance, but more  
> interestingly,
> the firmware for the access points is based on the open source Linux
> software.
>
> At present each home is equipped with a Linksys WRT54G and either an
> omni-directional antenna at 10 dbi for the relay nodes on the mesh
> network or a simple antenna at 20.5 dbi for an end user.  Mathias also
> told us that the Linksys WRT54GS or the WRT54GL works well too.
>
> With their expertise, Cotonou-Wireless could afford to take the open
> access software route to expand their mesh network, using standard
> wireless equipment that can be found almost anywhere. However, Mathias
> explains that the retail price of these routers is so hugely  
> inflated in
> Benin that he and his partners had to obtain a direct supply from
> France. The Linksys box works on Linux and the operating system is
> therefore accessible and can be improved and updated.
>
> Several groups of developers have worked on it and have released
> improved versions of the original firmware, such as Open Wrt, DD-Wrt,
> and Hyper Wrt. Cotonou-wireless has opted for FreiFunk Firmware
> (Freifunk meaning free wave in German), an adaptation of Open Wrt.
> Freifunk?s open source firmware offers a web enabled administration
> application as well as the option to integrate the OLSR protocol
> developed by the INRIA (Institut National de Recherche en Informatique
> et Automatique). OLSR, which stands for Optimised Link State  
> Routing, is
> a routing protocol for mobile ad-hoc networks. The protocol is
> pro-active, table driven and utilises a technique called multi-point
> relaying for message flooding.
>
> Cotonou-Wireless access is protected with a dedicated firewall that  
> runs
> on Linux too. Its primary function is to block all unauthorised  
> access,
> but it also allows traffic shaping to optimise bandwidth use. Although
> the wireless mesh network was primarily intended for data, they have
> added voice capabilities and offer IP to IP calls. The idea is to use
> one of the computers as an IP PABX, running with Asterisk, an open
> source VoIP software. Any member of the wireless network will be  
> able to
> install a small piece of software on its computer, then log in and  
> call
> anybody else on the network for free, using a headset or an IP phone.
>
> Cotonou-Wireless is a community group which is run on a non-profit
> making basis, explains Mathias Houngbo. The association?s aim is to
> provide wireless internet access to users throughout the capital  
> city of
> Cotonou in the Republic of Benin. Mathias hopes to use open source
> software and a selection of affordable Wi-Fi equipment to make the
> Internet accessible at more affordable price to a wider number of
> members of the community.
>
> He believes that this technology can be used to get people to
> communicate with each other, and this will help to create new
> communities. Cotonou-Wireless intends to use its access points to
> promote exchanges between its users, develop local usage of the  
> Internet
> and provide information that will appeal to local people.
>
> So what?s the future for Cotonou-wireless?  Mathias says that they are
> looking to add new members to their mesh network, while at the same  
> time
> getting all the paperwork ready to make the association official.
> Entrepreneurial spirit is clearly a key motivator for Mathias, who
> during the day works as developer and network administrator for the
> BCEAO (Central Bank for West African States), and the group is keen to
> share their experience with others. In parallel, Mathias and his  
> friends
> have set up a website, www.cotonou-wireless.org, which they intend to
> use to further stimulate communication and the development of local
> content to serve the community.
>
>
>
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