Internet Access at Your Fingertips
If you use the Internet a lot, and if you find yourself yelling down the phone at your Internet service provider, phone company or cable guy, read on. And ask yourself the question: Why should you depend on others for the Internet connection that keeps your family/company/job/marriage/sanity intact?
Now let me wheel in some guys from a quaint British village that can trace itself back to the Domesday Book (no, that's not a Terminator movie, it was the first serious survey of England, in 1086). Northamptonshire's West Haddon has a couple of nice antique shops, two pubs, a hotel, a 14th-century church -- and no fast Internet connection.
Despite their best efforts, the group could not persuade BT, Britain's main telecommunications provider, to put in the cables for a broadband connection. So they decided to install one themselves, in the process showing BT a thing or two and unwittingly devising a potential model for anyone wanting to take control of their Internet connection. It's a model that could, in theory, be applied to rural communities in India or Indonesia
Eschewing a cable solution as too expensive and disruptive, the group of 11 explored alternatives, eventually settling on a wireless network across the village using the 802.11b standard -- better known to you and I as Wi-Fi. (For the techies among you, they're using a satellite link from European ISP Aramiska with a download speed of 2 megabits per second.) The service went live in October. The original 11 have Internet connections that they say are four times faster than BT's, with barely a wire in sight.
Engineer Nick Kett is gazing at his roof, pointing out a few small dishes, boxes and what looks like a flagpole. We drive around the village as he points out a few more small boxes on the sides of houses, a couple more flagpoles and small dishes that serve as repeater aerials. "Look at that house, just past the far drain pipe, there's a small box," he says. It's about as unobtrusive as you can get.
Mr. Kett and his neighbor, consultant Duncan Brown, are understandably enthusiastic about the whole thing. After months of frustration with BT they now have a network that belongs to them. Each of the 11 put about $1,500 into a not-for-profit company -- West Haddon and Winwick Community Broadband -- and helped provide expertise. One member, an architect, helped get the planning permission from local authorities to start placing bits of metal on the sides of old buildings. Trevor Sherman, who started the whole campaign, has kept the issue alive by nagging BT, local government and anyone else who would listen. Mr. Kett got the equipment together, some of which he now sells to other villages interested in doing something similar.
And while some companies have recognized the commercial potential in getting rural communities on-line, Mr. Brown and the others say they prefer the not-for-profit way. Just getting the network up and running has helped to build a sense of community. "It was alien to me but it has worked out very well," he says. "We've put this money in, we've got this financial incentive to ensure it stays positive, but we'll make a bit of a surplus that we'll plough back." Subscriber fees for the service are about $45 per month.
Overcoming hurdles
It won't stop there. With such a fast connection throughout the village, there's no reason it couldn't be used for non-Internet purposes, Kett says. Pupils from the local school could have classes via videoconferencing if snow or illness rule out attending school (or, more likely, run some seriously fast on-line gaming). Even outside content providers -- sports channels, for example -- might be lured to connect directly with westhaddon.net and provide services they wouldn't dream of offering on a slower connection.
Of course, there have been difficulties. "To make it work you've got to have a group of people willing to spend a bit of time on it," says Mr. Kett. The technical vagaries of Wi-Fi took some getting used to: It doesn't work well through trees, says Mr. Kett, meaning they needed more aerials near the church. "We got round that by putting a small node on the wall of the flower shop," he says. And of course the initial investment may be considered worthwhile for those who see the Internet as a vital business tool, but if you just want faster casual surfing, splashing out $15,000 or more for the equipment, service and insurance could be a no-no.
Speaking as someone who almost daily is forced to harangue my Internet cable provider, I think it's a great way of declaring independence. Aramiska has already recognized the potential and in October launched a new community-broadband service which looks very similar to West Haddon's. But there's no reason why frustrated surfers anywhere in the world couldn't club together for a satellite link that can then be fed around the local community. Either that, or move to West Haddon.
乡村无线也上网
如果你经常上网，而且对互联网服务供应商很不满意，但电话公司或网络公司对此毫不在乎的时候，你该怎么办呢？何不想想：为什么要依赖他们上网，保持与外界的联系呢？
现在，让我介绍一些来自一个离奇有趣的英国村庄里的人们。这个村庄的历史可追溯到编撰英国土地志(Domesday Book)的年代，那是在1086年，英国进行了首次正规的土地勘察。该村庄位于北安普敦郡(Northamptonshire)，名为West Haddon，拥有一些可爱的古玩店、两个酒吧、一家旅店以及一个建于14世纪的教堂，但是这里没有高速互联网连接服务。
尽管村里的这群人使尽了浑身解数，他们还是无法说服英国电信(BT)─英国主要的电信服务商─铺设电缆，让人们通过宽带上网。因此，他们决定自力更生，同时也给英国电信一点颜色看看。无心插柳柳成荫，他们为那些想支配网络连接的人们开辟了一种新的模式。从理论上说，这种模式同样适用于印度或印度尼西亚的偏远乡村。
这个总数为11人的团体避开了质差而价高的电缆连接方式，尝试了各种其他途径，最终决定采用802.11b标准让整个村庄上网。这种标准就是我们熟知的无线高保真技术(Wi-Fi)。（他们通过欧洲的互联网服务供应商Aramiska进行卫星连线，每秒的下载速度为2兆。）这项服务从今年10月份开始。这11位村民表示，他们的上网速度是英国电信的四倍，还不见各种线路。
工程师尼克?凯特(Nick Kett)凝视著房顶，指著一些小碟子、盒子和类似于旗杆的东西。在我们开车绕著村子兜时，他又指了一些安装在房屋侧边的作为中继天线的小盒子、旗杆和碟子。凯特说：“瞧在排水管那侧的房子，那有个小盒子。”那天线一点也不突兀。
凯特和他的邻居、身为顾问的邓肯?布朗(Duncan Brown)对整个事情都充满热情。经过与英国电信长达数月的无望交涉后，如今他们终于有了属于自己的网络。这11个人每人向非盈利性公司West Haddon and Winwick Community Broadband投入了约1，500美元，并提供了自己的专长。其中的一位成员是建筑师，在他的帮助下，该团体获得了当地政府的规划许可证，允许他们在古老建筑的四周安装金属天线。特雷弗?舍曼(Trevor Sherman)是整个事件的发起人，他不停地游说英国电信、当地政府以及其他愿意倾听的人士。凯特置办了所有的设备，他还把其中的一些设备卖给对此其他感兴趣的村庄。
虽然一些公司已经意识到了让偏远地区联网的潜在商业价值，但布朗等人表示，他们更愿意通过非盈利性机构实现自己的愿望。建立并运行整个网络能树立集体感。布朗说：“这对我来说是全新的经历，但我们的网络运行得很好。我们投入了资金，因此有压力把它做好。我们力争略有赢余，并进行再投资。”该项服务的订阅费约为每月45美元。
克服障碍
他们不会止步不前。凯特说，鉴于整个村子的上网速度很快，没有理由将用途只停留在上网冲浪上。如果碰到下雪，或学生生病，无法上课，当地学校的小学生们可以通过视频会议上课。（更常见的情形可能是在家玩网上游戏）。连其他的互联网内容供应商，如体育频道等，都想与westhaddon.net直接联网，提供服务，这些供应商提供的服务都是在高速网络上运行的。
当然，困难总是存在的。凯特说：”为了保证网络运行通畅，得有一群人愿意花些时间在上面。”他指出，掌握Wi-Fi的技术特性需要花些时间：它在遇到树木时信号不稳定。这意味著他们得在教堂周围布置更多的天线。他说：“我们通过在花店墙上安装一个小节点来解决上述问题。”对于那些把互联网视为一个很重要的工具的人们来说，花钱投资也许是理所当然的。但是，如果你只是希望冲浪的速度更快，投入15,000美元或更多的钱购置设备、服务和保险就不值了。
我每天都得打扰我的网络服务商，因此我想宣布独立是个好办法。Aramiska早就意识到了提供社区宽带服务的潜在价值，并于今年10月份推出了新型的社区宽带服务，它与West Haddon的很相似。但是毫无疑问，全球其他地方那些备感失望的网上冲浪者们也可以联合起来，通过卫星联线，满足当地社区的需求。要么这么做，要么搬到West Haddon去吧。
