The Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network project got a big boost this year when it won a $200,000 grant from the Open Society Institute. The project is working to build a decentralized wireless mesh network that leverages lean Unix bootable CD-ROMS that drive nodes made out of otherwise obsolete hardware, like 486 PCs.
The guys behind the project are pals of mine, and I’ve had the pleasure to watch it take shape over the last few years — it was even the topic of the first mediageek radio show in 2002.
The OSI grant has given them an opportunity to really focus on the project with fewer worries about funding. Additionally, the project is getting more attention in the community wi-fi world and the mainstream press.
Wi-Fi Networking News posted about the project and a conversation with coordinator Sascha Meinrath, with whom I’ve worked extensively at the U-C IMC.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote a story on the project back at the end of March.
Mediageek radio show producer Drew Tarico interviewed the project’s co-founder Zach Miller on the Feb. 13, 2004 edition of the program.
Previously:
- Local Wireless Internet Coverage, 12/31/2002
- Free Boulder Radio Evades a Bust Again with Wireless Internet, 2/6/02
- Wireless Broadband Internet Gaining Steam?, 12/20/2001
Comments are closed.