I am as big a mouth as they come when it comes to talking up technology and I from time to time like to really stick my neck out. I am working on a document that I am going to take around to my closest neighbors and try to get a community network going. This is nothing new many apartment complexes and residential areas have formed private network’s or coop’s in which they all agree to pay X number of dollars per month over a fixed time in advance to share a dedicated Internet connection. With the way all the wireless technology is going this is easier than ever to do.
Plus we can get from under the scrutiny of the local cable company or ADSL provider and bring in sufficient bandwidth to serve us all in peak periods. The equipment to do it is cheap, bandwidth is expensive here in Hawaii but heck would you pay a 75.00 to 100.00 a month to share several T1’s with 50 to 75 people. Plus if people are running a business web site there is nothing like having your server 3-4 feet away from you.
It may be a pipe dream and people may laugh me down the street, but heck I think we the people have the power to make things happen. There are some downfalls and financial risk but anyone that is in the stock market is used to taking risk.
I am hunting for some good resources on this subject if anyone finds me a link drop me a line.