Richmond Free WiFi Blog

We are thrilled to announce the release of our third gateway, located around the perimeter of N. Pinehill Dr. on the Northside. Special thanks to Adam Bell for generously donating a portion of his high-speed Internet connection. This gateway will eventually be moved outdoors and be powered by a Power over Ethernet connection to serve an even larger area. Additional Meraki units may be added as “nodes” to help expand the mesh network throughout the neighborhood.

The following image shows real-time specs of the node’s uptime:

Node name: I-O-N_Pinehill_Dr-001

To access this node, simply point your wireless configuration to “RichmondFreeWireless”, open your web browser click the link on the splash page to continue and you’re on the web!

If you’d like to expand the network from this node or even set up a gateway with your connection to share throughout your neighborhood, feel free to check out our “help expand the network” page.

We are thrilled to announce the release of our second gateway, located at the corner of Lamplighter & Chippendale on the Southside. Special thanks to JT Allison for generously donating a portion of his high-speed Internet connection. This gateway will eventually use a more powerful antenna to allow for effective outside coverage. Additional Meraki units may be added as “nodes” to help expand the mesh network throughout the neighborhood.

The following image shows real-time specs of the node’s uptime:

Node name: I-O-Lamplighter_Chippendale-001

To access this node, simply point your wireless configuration to “RichmondFreeWireless”, open your web browser click the link on the splash page to continue and you’re on the web!

If you’d like to expand the network from this node or even set up a gateway with your connection to share throughout your neighborhood, feel free to check out our “help expand the network” page.

If anyone is interested in seeing how the RFW network works, this is an open invitation. An informal Q&A session will also be offered, i.e. a “meet and greet” or whatever.

Date: Tomorrow, Saturday the 18th
Time: 10am
Where: We’ll meet up in front of the Science Museum off of Broad St. and walk over to the gateway location around the area of 2600 W. Grace St. Just look for the geek with the black Macbook bag near the front of Science Museum. I’ll be wearing a blue Cabela’s Goretex hat, possibly my RFW t-shirt, cargo shorts and hiking boots.

Bring your laptop!

If you have any questions, feel free to drop us an email at info@richmondfreewifi.org or via a comment below.

Hope you’ll join us!

Justin got the longer string of Ethernet cable in, allowing him to move our first gateway to his balcony which covers the area surrounding 2000 W. Grace St. This should allow coverage of several blocks. Each additional node that connects to this gateway will help expand the RFW mesh network all the more.

More info, including pictures, may be seen via this link:

http://www.richmondfreewifi.org/doku.php?id=nodepics:2000wgracest

Anyone interested in hosting a gateway (i.e. sharing your Internet connection with your neighbors and expanding the mesh) as well as hosting a nearby node (i.e. having connectivity to a gateway and expanding the mesh) may request more info via our feedback form and discussion forums.

Thanks for helping us expand, Justin!

We are thrilled to announce the release of our first gateway, located at the block of 2000 W. Grace St. Special thanks to Justin Painter for generously donating a portion of his high-speed Internet connection. This gateway will eventually be mounted on a balcony to allow for effective outside coverage, covering a range of several blocks. Additional Meraki units may be added as “nodes” to help expand the mesh network throughout the Fan area.

The following image shows real-time specs of the node’s uptime:

Node name: O-O-2000 W Grace St-001

To access this node, simply point your wireless configuration to “RichmondFreeWireless”, open your web browser click the link on the splash page to continue and you’re on the web!

If you’d like to expand the network from this node or even set up a gateway with your connection to share throughout your neighborhood, feel free to check out our “help expand the network” page.