The occasional blogging of the growth of a wireless community.

New nodes increasing coverage… technology solutions for members… problems with banking…

New nodes.

We’ve installed two further nodes in the Queen’s Park area; Donaldson Road and Hopefield Avenue. Coverage in these locals will be strong and we’ll be getting in touch with all those in the area who have sent us expressions of interest to advise them that the service is available. We’ve also increased the performance of the node on Salusbury Road so you should be getting better connections from the Deli and Baker & Spice.

Next steps are nodes in Kensal Rise area. We’re talking with a few people about possible installation sites. We’ll be making progress on this in early January.

Technology solutions.

At the moment, the connection solution for community club members is a single box, fully subsidised by the club. The home device connects to a desktop, laptop or games console via ethernet. For those people with multiple devices that they wish to connect to the internet - for example, a home network or a desktop and a wi-fi PDA - further equipment is needed. We currently recommend and supply a Linksys wireless router that has been customised to connect to the community network. The device will cost around £60.

Full details will be made available on the website.

Banking woes.

We’ve had great difficulty in getting banking services for comwifinet and the first club, QPWC. Delays with Companies House, banks not returning calls, even failing to send out information requested in the case of Barclays and LloydsTSB. Still, we’re making progress with The Co-operative Bank. We’ll be up and running in no time.

Support this project.

If you would like to support this project in a financial way, please get in touch. We are a not-for-profit organisation so if you need to write off some capital for tax purposes, we’ll be happy to help.

But in all seriousness, the company underwrites the cost of member subsidy for the community clubs. This requires significant working capital. We encourage those making financial investments to become directors in the company to give a stake in the development and direction of the organisation.