Auckland Park, Melville Node

rpm

rpm

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Hi guys

I am interested in setting up a Jawug node at the Uni of Joh (Bunting Rd Campus). We are surrounded by high buildings (SABC), but should be able to get access to the roof to put an antenna on there. Is there any other node close by to connect to (Auckland Park, Melville) and what is the cost of the equipment? The University might not agree with my idea, but I will do my best to push it through.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

RPM
 
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I stay in Parkview close to Auckland park and TheRodent stays in greenside also very close. Unfortunately there is no line of site to Auckland park, but I have excellent los to the Melville hill.
 
once you more tech-skilled folks have things going, let me know how I can help or what's needed to try join you - as I'm in Melville, closer to seventh avenue side.

(Dunno if its an 'official' building up on the top of the Melville koppie or a private homeowner - but maybe, given the open space around it, if its a private homeowner, they'd have no prob about a simple antennae being rigged there, and a few bucks to cover any electricity maybe? - which should give coverage over a reasonable area.)

If there're any buildings on seventh avenue side which might be of use to stick an antenna, give a yell, as I have reasonable contact with a lot of the businesses, and thus access to finding out who the landlords are, depending on which buildings might be of interest. (Lots of different landlords on seventh avenue)
 
cost:
last I recall, somewhere between R1600-R2000, speak to daffy, or check the price of the kit on jawug.za.net

RPM: I sent u a pm that could be of interest
 
No, the jawug kit includes a router, radio, antenna, enclosure, pole, and brackets. :)

You may need some ethernet cable to the required length...
 
TheRoDent said:
All that's really required is for us to get together, have a few beers, and then dangerously, and callously climb on roofs with binoculars and GPS's ;)
Click to expand...

Well put, nothing will get done unless we all meet and discuss the road ahead =p
 
can an existing wifi access spot, with a boosted signal that's stretching out at least a block in diameter, be of use? I see that Spiro's coffee shop, cnr 2nd and 7th - has a thoroughly boosted-signal access point - I think they're supplying basic internet (email checking and minimal browsing) to local businesses on 7th ave.

I dont know enough about the tech to know if this is a useful pre-existing situation that maybe the owner wouldn't mind letting be incorporated into a chain of wireless users in the area..?

I know the owner enough to know that if it won't cost him anything, or impact on what he's already doing - he probably wouldn't mind part of his network being piggybacked on..?

Also, what's the US costs for the required gear for the different nodes? Is it much cheaper to buy individual components in the US? Or are there any hitech ready to roll 'kits' in the US that can do the job for cheaper than the R1600-R2000 range?
 
The jawug kit is around that price and you can get hold of that local
 
LG, a commercial hotspot typically runs off omnidirectional antennae, with very limited range. Aside from the distance limitations, there's no guarantee that his AP's radio capacity might not be completely used up by WUG traffic.

In my view, it's best to keep any kind of commercial operation or involvement away from community networking, as much as possible.

Buying individual components in the US will probably work out at more or less the same price as what you can get a Jawug KIT at, and then you'd still need to pay shipping and import taxes which would put it way above the 1600-2000 for a JawugKit. The markup on a Jawug kit is negligible (R50) and most of it goes towards setting up more highsites in any case.

A LinksysWRT54G is around R625 from jump.co.za which is hellishly cheap if you consider you forked out R2500+ for a Sentech or iBurst modem.

A 24dB grid is around R600-R700 again, and those are the major expenses. The rest is all sundry expenses really. You will need a pigtail to connect the router and the antenna, and then you're essentially ready to roll. Obviously you will then need an enclosure to put the AP into, and a bracket, and a pole, and some ethernet CAT5 cable, and some labour to mount the whole lot. The labour, advice and assitance is typically paid for in beers. ;)

Of course, if you have a good enough location, chances are high that other interested WUG members would be interested in sharing the kit costs, simply to get a highsite established.

I can honestly say, that the first step to doing any wireless networking is to meet the people, get them to have a few beers and then work from there.

I'm on IRc at irc://irc.jawug.za.net/wnet most of the time, and also available via my rodent at rodent dot za dot net addy. Whilst I'd prefer if someone else would take the lead on organizing an Auckland Park "interested" people meet, I'd prefer if someone in the area would take the lead.
 
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