The momentum is building to create community area networks everywhere! My first taste of this was during Subway Surfing and now it seems that each week I learn of something new. NewburyOpen.net — on Newbury Street in Boston — provides free high-speed WiFi Internet connections for Bostoners and travelers away from work or home — at Internet-by-the-Hour stations at 252 Newbury Street and in cafes and shops on Newbury Street.
The service is provided by Tech Superpowers, Inc., a Boston IT company that specializes in Apple Macintosh hardware, software, services, and training. The NewburyOpen.net network is one of the few commercially sponsored multi-node wireless networks in the country that I know of (I’ll probably get a flood of email tomorrow about others). Their open wireless network is one of the initial steps in creating a ubiquitous Internet that doesn’t require complex service plans, expensive monthly fees, and sitting on hold with your local provider.
In keeping with the "Open" spirit of the networks, NewburyOpen.net asks that users be considerate of other users on the network and of the merchants that are providing/sponsoring the service. NewburyOpen.net is an excellent example of local business supporting and promoting the local community. Hopefully, users will not hog bandwidth, but will purchase goods, food, and drink at the merchants on Newbury Street.
A listing of current locations for Internet-by-the-Hour and Free WiFi is here. You can also request a merchant or location to be added to NewburyOpen.net. If you don’t have a PC, you can rent one with Internet access for $5/hour, billed in 1/2 hour increments with a $5 minimum. They also offer cell phone charging for a $2 fee for unlimited charging and they sell snacks and refreshments!
The latest addition to NewburyOpen.net is that they have made a "mobile" version of their wireless node that sits on top of one of their cars. They plan to park it next to various places every Sunday and provide free wireless Internet service in new locations every week. For their first day out it happens to be parked by a Starbucks, which is somewhat intentional since NewburyOpen.net wants to make the statement that free WiFi is the way to go, not $14 by the hour.
