The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Another Enthusiasts’ Group — Melbourne Wireless Gary Winder

There are many other established groups of wireless enthusiasts around the world, and most of them have the same goal: to create a community based free broadband network. Melbourne is no exception, having its own wireless group, oddly enough called Melbourne Wireless. It also has a spiffy Web site located at http://www.melbourne.wireless.org.au.

Melbourne Wireless has come a long way since I first noticed it mentioned in an article appearing in The Age. I was interested immediately. ADSL was only just appearing but priced out of my reach, as was cable Internet. I liked the idea of a free network that was going to run much faster than a 56k dial up. At that point in time I spent a fair amount of time being beaten playing Half Life online, over my slow little dial up connection. This was my initial source of motivation: a fast, free network on which I could play games like Half Life, and I could even host my own games server. So I joined.

I was lucky, very lucky I think. For at that time, several of the members who were driving Melbourne Wireless and making some of the first permanent wireless nodes in the Network were local people and I went along to a monthly meeting and met them. Things then started to happen and I now have a 24 x 7 wireless connection into the Melbourne Wireless Network. However that does not get me very far, much to my disappointment, and my wife is not too happy about my three metre antenna on the roof.

As I have found out, it takes a lot of effort to get a node up and running. But this is where Melbourne Wireless is a great source of help. There is a mailing list, where questions are posted from simple new member introductions to complex configuration issues. You learn things about wireless Networks, about how antennas work, help on how to make an antenna, where to get cheap parts and how to solve software issues when you are trying to get all your new toys running.

So how does someone get involved? The first step would be to jump onto the Web page. Have a look and see if this is something you want to get involved with. There is a FAQ page and other information. If you want to see if there is someone with whom you can connect, you'll need to work out where the closest person or node is, and Melbourne Wireless has a fantastic tool to help here. It's referred to as the Node Database. Once on the Web site, you'll need to register and then you can create a node. There are tools that will help you work out the location of your house so it is accurately placed on the map. Then the Web site will give you a picture of your node, and those close to you. It will even list the distance to the other person and the status of the node. You can zoom in or out to get a view that suits you.

Even if you've had a look at Melbourne Wireless and have decided you don't care about its goals and all you want it to link your PC to your mate's PC up the road, it still might be a good idea to register your node. The main reason for doing this is that it enables other people to see you, and it helps them to work around your setup. If someone else is trying to set up a link in your area, they might interfere with your network. Knowing you exist and them being able to contact you helps you and helps others.

Once you have registered and created your node, you can look it up. You can list your details if you chose, but you must have a valid e-mail address. If you don't then no one will be able to e-mail you and say something like "Hey, do you want to try and get a link going?" (Nodes are also cleaned out from time to time after several e-mail messages are sent to an inactive node, so it pays to use a proper address anyway). There is an option to list your equipment so that people can see what services you have to offer, and if your node is actually running or not. That may seem a bit odd, but you can register yourself in the database without actually having any wireless equipment.

In this case you would set your node status to "interested" or "gathering" to indicate to others that you are not quite ready yet. Once you have got everything you need you can set it up with the help of the mailing list or the regular monthly meetings. "More meetings?" I hear you say, well, yes it is another meeting but I find the mailing list is better as you will receive a response much quicker. If you are after more wireless chat, there is an IRC channel on Austnet called #melb-wireless. However one good thing about the meetings is that usually there are people selling items that are a little harder to get at your local PC shop, like microwave cable, antennas and pigtails. A pigtail is a small cable that has a very small connector on one end to plug into your wireless card, and a larger one at the other end to plug into something else like larger cable leading to your antenna. These are usually custom made to your requirements. They also custom cook you a sausage on the BBQ but the length is usually fixed.

After you get your node working, you can change its status to active in the node database. This is another area where the node database tool helps in the goal to build a community network; it assigns you an IP address range. Having your node active and listing the services you offer will help other people work out if they can connect to you or not. For example you might just want to just connect to the Network and try to link up with your mates, or you might decide that you want to run an Access Point to help expand the Network. And this is another area where Melbourne Wireless can help you - to work out whether or not you should run an Access Point.
 
One thing the node database cannot do is work out if you can see other nodes listed. There might be a node close to you, but that's no good if it's on the other side of a hill.

Getting to this stage does not just happen overnight. There are special interest groups within Melbourne Wireless that look into specific tasks like IP addressing, routing, backbone nodes and other subjects. There are also regional groups that are specific to your local area. This is a good resource for getting help to put up your antenna where you might find you need an extra hand or two. It's a little bit like the geek version of an old fashioned barn raising.

If wireless networking is your thing, make sure you check out Melbourne Wireless.

About the Author
Gary Winder, winder@iinet.net.au had been in IT for 15 years supporting PCs, Networks and WANs, and is always looking for new challenges.

Reprinted from the April 2004 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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