The WT Blog

In just the past few months, two new sites have launched, collecting & mapping info on locations of free wifi locations in Toronto.

“FWIT” offers short writeups on many spots:
http://www.freewifiintoronto.blogspot.com/
http://torontoist.com/2009/12/free_wifi_fo_fum.php

TOwifi.info intends to map a user-gen list of hotspots, the WT hotspots, the TPL hotspots, and paid hotspots:
http://towifi.info/
http://ptoone.com/index/ptoone-launches-towifi-info-a-free-map-of-wifi-spots-in-toronto/

The original (as far as I know) in Toronto was Wireless Bandit, which was active from 2003-2005:
http://www.wirelessbandit.com/

I really liked the Seattle/Vancouver Wifi Mug, but the wiki’s filling up with spam and the Google Map is broken:
http://vancouver.wifimug.org/index.cgi

hotspotr.com is attempting a global wifi map:
http://hotspotr.com/wifi/map/614-toronto-canada

There are a bunch of important challenges to successfully running a site like this:
1) Collecting the information, either through legwork or by encouraging contributions from others.
2) Presenting the information in a helpful way, recognizing that different people will have different needs. (Is the captive portal mobile-friendly? Are there lots of power outlets? etc.)
3) Surely the hardest: keeping it up-to-date.

People often (very often) mistake wirelesstoronto.ca as a website which maps free hotspots in Toronto (while in reality we set up free hotspots) — clearly people are looking for this kind of info. While we’d love to also map out others’ free wifi hotspots, we’ve got our hands full running and expanding our network… I hope that one (or more!) of these sites are successful!

It’s been a while since I ran a router flashing/configuring/troubleshooting workshop. So I’m going to do one on Monday the 23rd, at 5:45pm, at 215 Spadina Ave., 4th floor.

The objective of this workshop (for me) is:

1. To train other folks so that they can help with Wireless Toronto router installations and/or to help fix routers that go down.

The objectives of this workshop (for you) are:

1. To learn how to do some basic stuff, so that you feel comfortable “adopting” a Wireless Toronto hotspot near you, and/or help installing new Wireless Toronto hotspots.
2. To learn generally about advanced wifi router configuration.

Here’s the tentative plan:

PART 1: Linksys WRT54GL
- Flashing firmware: why and how
- How to set up a router with wifidog for a Wireless Toronto hotspot
- A little bit about the wifidog auth server
- A teensy bit about tweaking settings for better wifi performance
- Things that might go wrong, and what to do if they do

PART 2: Open-mesh
- Mesh networks: what and why
- What I like and don’t like about open-mesh
- Compatible hardware
- How to set up a basic open-mesh network
- Things that might go wrong, and what to do if they do

I’m only going to cover concepts and technologies that directly relate to what Wireless Toronto does. If you’re interested in other stuff too, that’s totally cool — I’ll do my best to answer questions in the workshop, and we’ll have plenty of time to chat about other stuff over drinks afterwards. It’s not imperative that you bring a laptop, but it’s a good idea.

If you’re interested, but can’t make it on the 23rd, email me off-list — I’m open to scheduling another similar workshop in December or January. If people are interested, we can also plan some kind of advanced masterclass or something.

If you plan to come, drop me an email, just so I have a general idea of how many people are coming.

The St. Louis Bar & Grill at Atrium on Bay has been a Wireless Toronto hotspot since it opened, just over two years ago. A new location has just opened this week, at Fairview Mall, and it’s now a WT hotspot too. Nice people, lots of TVs, and it looks like they’ll have a great patio in the spring.

Tip: you can’t actually get to it directly through the mall, you have to go outside. It’s on the southwest side, near Sears.

Wireless Toronto’s newest hotspot is at The 3 Brewers, at 275 Yonge St., just south of Yonge-Dundas Square. The place is huge, and besides their brewed-on-site beers, they’re known for their tartes flambée (Hilary will be happy!).

Tip: the wifi is stronger on the lower floors.

At today’s Government Management Committee meeting, a report will be received updating the committee on three public policy initiatives:

1. Setting up a “Meraki-style” mesh network in one of the priority neighbourhoods.
2. Allowing the Oxford Group to install free-to-use, sponsored public Internet terminals in one of the priority neighbourhoods.
3. Setting up free-to-use public wifi at City Hall and in publicly-accessible areas in other city buildings.

The report is here; it’s quite good, actually:
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2009/gm/bgrd/backgroundfile-25011.pdf

In addition, the committee invited (through an RFI) “major leaders in the Wireless marketplace” to “present an overview of their Wireless strategic directions and plans.” Each will have 15-20 minutes to present. There’s a bit of info on this here: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2009/gm/bgrd/backgroundfile-25060.pdf

Item 26.21 is scheduled for 1:30pm, and the meeting is in Committee Room 1; I hope to be there.

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As I mentioned, I think the Staff Report is pretty good — it’s the first City document I’ve seen that shows a realistic approach to public wifi. Some highlights & thoughts:
Read the rest of this entry »

Hey everyone!

The next Wireless Toronto Volunteer Meeting will be on Monday November 9th, from 5:45-8pm at the Centre for Social Innovation (Ste 120), 215 Spadina.

We haven’t met in a while, so it’s a great time to come out if you’ve never been to one of our meetings. We’ll catch everyone up on what we’ve been up to, and talk about some opportunities this spring and summer. Lots of ways to get involved, for designers, techies, writers, community folks, etc.

Generally speaking, we’ll be talking about the following:

• Intros
• Overview of Wireless Toronto and Goals
• Updates from WT Board members
• Update on the In-Site Toronto project and brief intros by the artists
• New business and ideas

Hope to see you there!

Probably not; but it could help us go nuclear free (and save a little money).

You see, that cable modem sitting in the corner is living off base-load power, and base-load power in Ontario is largely supplied by the Nuclear Industry. Eliminate the cable modem, and reduce our other base-loads, and we eliminate one of the excuses used to justify Nuclear. Now that has to be a good thing!

All we each need do is get together with some neighbours and build a little community mesh network! Unplugging 6W cable modems more than compensates for the 2W mesh nodes.

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One source of mesh nodes is http://www.open-mesh.com, I’m sure there are others.

If eliminating 6 watts by unplugging a cable modem doesn’t sound like much, try multiplying it by the approx 1 million internet cable subscribers on Ontario. It works out to the power output of several wind-turbines.

No not the coffee, the wireless. Second Cup has started making its wif-fi available for free. I guess the’ve realised that charging for wi-fi is a loosing cause.

They do expect you to register (and the form thinks you’re willing to provide all your personal detail just short of your first born but other than that its free.

There’s a piece in today’s NOW Magazine about wifi in Toronto:
“Hotspot we’re not”

Joshua Errett mentions Wireless Toronto, the 21,000 users we serve, and quotes me pointing towards new models for free wifi.

I don’t know why this happened, but the article takes an awfully negative approach — making it seem like LinuxCaffe and Dark Horse are two of the few places in the city that offer free wifi. I posted a comment to the story, mentioning a few of my favourite places for free wifi…

Another new hotspot this week: the new Fox and Fiddle on Wellesley, almost right across from the entrance to the Wellesley subway station. It’s a huge place with three floors, and a great patio. Their grand opening is tonight, July 16th, from 6pm to close.