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Main Page What is FreeWan? Interesting Files: CD's Documents DVD's Movies Music Software Questions News Other Computers On This Cell Request a File Not on this Cell Rules |
Let me tell you what inspired my ideas about FreeWan. I have been
working with computers for about 25 years. I have dabbled and hacked in about every area as far as
personal computers are concerned. I started communicating with others on computer bulletin board
services in the 1980's. I could only spend limited time communicating in this fashon because all
the bullitin boards required long distance calls. I was really happy to get dialup Internet around
the mid 1990's. Once I had dialup, I switched from Windows to Linux. I really wanted to run my
own webserver, however, that was not feasable with dialup service, and the local phone company
was not offering DSL anytime in the near future. Fortunately, the owner of my ISP was really cool.
He allowed me to co-locate a box in a storage room. I was in business and ran a small network for
several years. That all came crashing down when the local telco (Sprint) decided that it was
going to force my friend to pay double rates in order to keep his T-1 line. Not only that, Sprint
was demanding back pay for years previous. My friend was forced to outsource dialup, and I was
out of business. I now have to pay for web hosting, and have no physical access to the computer
I'm hosting my website on. There have been several companies come into my area purporting to
offer broadband Internet in my area, but thus far broadband access has not yet materialized. I
wanted to start my own broadband service, but I cannot afford to invest the tens of thousands
necessary to get things up and running. I was once at a LAN party that featured wireless
connections when the idea hit me. Whay not set up permanent lans where people can connect any
time they were in the area. My FreeWan Cell was born. There are several reasons for having a local FreeWan. One reason for the FreeWan is to overcome upload and download limits associated with traditional broadband internet connections sold by cable and telecom companies. A second reason for this type of network is privacy. A FreeWan cell can allow data to be shared between computers without endless logging, spying, prying, and so on. A third reason for a FreeWan Cell is that it allows broadband Filesharing for free. Local telephone and cable companies are monopolies which effectively charge whatever price they believe that the average customer will pay. In many areas, this price is way too high. FreeWan cells in an area dominated by high priced broadband services may very well force the broadband service to compete thereby lowering the price of broadband Internet service. A fourth reason for building or joining a FreeWan Cell is freedom. Traditional broadband company can regulate what people do with their service via acceptable use policies. With a FreeWan cell, the people who set up and use the cell are the ones that set usage rules, not the corporate commissars. A fifth reason for FreeWan Cells is uniform upload and download speeds at a very fast rate. If the infrastructure of a FreeWan Cell can handle 10Mb per sec speeds, then that is the maximum upload/download rate. A sixth reason for a FreeWan cell is to give broadband to those in areas the traditional broadband providers will not service. As one can see, there are several reason why people would want to form or join a FreeWan cell. |