“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!

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.

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.

Tip: the wifi is stronger on the lower floors.

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.

—

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:

• It mentions the “Dark Fibre License Agreement” negotiated between the City and Toronto Hydro Telecom, as facilitating “the provision for free or low cost internet access to the citizens of Toronto residing within the City’s identified Priority Neighbourhoods and Community Centres.” Presumably the agreement itself is private; it wasn’t attached to any of the documents I found.
• It recommends that two pilot projects be undertaken: one to work with TCHC to set up a pilot Meraki-style network; the second to do a pilot installation of the Oxford Group’s “Wired Canada Program”. The Moss Park Complex (295 Shuter Ave.) has been recommended as the site for both of these projects; one of the buildings is recommended to be set up with wifi, on a 1-year pilot. The scope for the Oxford pilot is TBD, but a 6-month pilot was suggested.
• Based on squinting at the network map on the Cogeco Data site, it doesn’t appear that the Cogeco fiber goes to Moss Park. The closest it gets is Richmond and Ontario.
• I’ve heard separately that the provisions of the Dark Fibre License Agreement prohibit the City from connecting that infrastructure to the Internet — meaning that it *can’t* be used for providing free or cheap Internet access to residents in priority neighbourhoods, or anyone else. (This could be totally wrong — but since the agreement doesn’t appear to be available, I’m not able to confirm.)
• Considering that the City just signed a 10-year $39-million deal with Cogeco Data Services for fibre connectivity for the City, I’m left wondering what it is that the Dark Fibre Agreement *does* allow?: ITCanada: City of Toronto inks wide-area network contract
• It explains Meraki’s model for their “Free The Net” network in San Francisco, mentions that its coverage provides access to 150,000 residents, that they don’t mount any of their gear on City assets, but that they encourage the City — and everyone else — to install repeaters. Residents who can see the signal but who want a stronger signal can request a free repeater from Meraki, and that these repeaters are generally installed by volunteers/enthusiasts in windows and on roofs. Meraki pays for the bandwidth (people don’t share their own personal ‘net connections), and they make clear that they have no intent of launching similar projects (which is to say, at their expense) in other cities.
• It demonstrates that they recognize that user support is the big wildcard that will significantly affect the network’s cost and success. They’d like to set up a “mentoring or similar grassroots initiative” for support, but that they’re currently looking at contracting phone support, which is how the Toronto Public Library provides tech support.
• It presents the options for providing free public wifi in City buildings: piggybacking on their existing private/secure wifi infrastructure (list of locations), or creating an entirely separate network. It suggests that it makes sense to provide “Minimal Best Effort” support on the public network; that there’s no dedicated staff support. It also suggests that the use of the public network be restricted to “general browsing”, disallowing “video streaming and other commercial use”, but pointing out that the content filtering should be “less restrictive”.

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!

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.

—-

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.

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.

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…