Wireless Education Project planned

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lionelpcn

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I am currently a user of the PTA-WUG and found the idea of a Wireless User Group quite appealing with regard to the type of work I am doing.

Me and two of my highly skilled WUG friends have partnered and are planning a new network called the iCyber WEP (iCyber Wireless Education Project).

The company I work for as the Director of IT and infrastructure (iCyber.co.za / iCyber Solutions) specializes in e-learning and host a database of free online learning courses at http://moodle.is-a-chef.net/icyber2. Along with this the company focus on interactive and futuristic learning such as situational classrooms and online simulated training courses.

iCyber WEP, however, will focus on the free and collaborative learning area. The infrastructure of the network will be used to target schools, internet cafés, general public and anyone else that may find a use for it. The concept of the network will also be open oriented like the other WUGs. The network infrastructure will be sponsor driven with the SA Government as a potential sponsor as well as companies such as Telecommunication, Banking, Private sector, IT, Online IT Forums and others that support the educational growth of our country.

iCyber is currently in the process of franchising internet cafés to become iCyber hot spots and authorised iCyber service providers which will make use of the network infrastructure in order to distribute iCyber’s services.

We plan to have schools sign in to the network and host their own high end/backbone high site to reach their students (however, anyone in the area is welcome to join or to sponsor a highsite). Schools will have access to special e-learning classrooms where homework/assignments will be published. Teachers will be available to provide support to students. Students will also have access to support from teachers at other schools. Furthermore, iCyber WEP will attempt to partner with an ISP in order to have sponsored access to sites such as wikipedia.org, britannica.com and others. These sites will be available to members of the network via the network.

In order to provide a more relaxed environment, services such as game servers, VoIP, IRC, and others will be available. Once our network reaches the high standard the admin team has in mind, we may also provide inter-school or inter-location live education by using technologies such as smart boards etc. (CSIR already experimented with these technologies over 2.4GHz networks linked with cantennas covering distances of up to 60KM in certain cases). Online conferencing facilities may also become available at the disposal of the teachers. Potentially, teachers of the same subject may book a conference room at no charge to be able to discuss subjects. These conference rooms will include audio, slide shows, whiteboards and webcams.

We are in the process of setting up our first highsite. We have a meeting on the 16th January to discuss many of the involved details as well as further network strategy planning. The first high site may make its appearance in Lynnwood near CSIR on the mountain top.

We hope that you find interest in iCyber WEP. Anyone interested in sponsoring this project, please send an email to lionel at icyber dot co dot za

iCyber WEP's intention is not to rival other networks but rather to provide free or affordable education to disadvantaged people by setting up access locations.

Best regards,
Lionel Redelinghuys
On Behalf of the iCyber WEP admin team

The team consist of:
Lionel Redelinghuys
Johann van de Venter
Danie Bredenhann

No specific roles have been assigned to any of the members.
 
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lionelpcm - I really like the idea of an "open access networks" and I think the thing missing to a certain degree is content.

Good Luck with it
 
Thanks. We will certainly try our best in the content part. unfortunately our meeting for today had to be postponed since Johann hurt his back. But we will keep you guys posted.

We may look at a general open meeting with the public and fanatics just after we've planted our first highsite.
 
I think there is a simillair project running called SchoolWAN, but this is not run by any wug or in co operation with any wug. Not sure what their purpose is also, but i guess something long the same lines.
 
Sounds similar to what SmartCape (e-Governance) tried here in Cape Town. Although exorbitant extortionist Telkom provided a spanner in the works (reached about 8 libraries). I think if your guys and SmartCape could combine your communication and content with them, you will get it kick started sooner than later?

Hope you guys succeed.

My 2c
 
Yes. I think this might be the CSIR project. I met the person responsible for this but they are still very experimental. They make use of 2.4GHz wireless routers and cantennas. It works well obviously but they have no public access available.
 
chubste

Thanks for the tipoff. We will keep it in mind and definitely make use of it in the future.
 
Nothing to do with PTAWUG

Kindly note that the above project is neither endorsed by or affiliated to PTAWUG. None of the PTAWUG admin members are a part of this project. The project is planned and run by normal users that just happen to be connected to PTAWUG. PTAWUG infrastructure will not be used for the above project.
 
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Yes. Please do not confuse us for being part of any other WUG in South Africa. We are an indepentdant, new venture.

Also. We will not become a WISP at all. That would be pointless.
 
Meeting with CSIR (meraka)

We are happy to announce that we have a meeting on Monday with CSIR's Meraka institute. This meeting may mean we might we in "business" sooner than expected. We do not want to let out too much information but iCyber WEP may be out in Mpumalhanga soon. If all goes well, we may become part of the ULWAZI-II wireless project.

This may open up some questions. Yes, we will be a free and open network which anyone can join. We will announce our website as soon as it goes live.
 
scruffy said:
Kindly note that the above project is neither endorsed by or affiliated to PTAWUG. None of the PTAWUG admin members are a part of this project. The project is planned and run by normal users that just happen to be connected to PTAWUG. PTAWUG infrastructure will not be used for the above project.
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Yes off course not, we will be starting this network from scratch, the content we will be hosting will require a good, stable network infrastructure with at least 500Kbit/s or more. It also does not have the same goals as other WUGs either. WEP will focus mostly on learning content that can be implemented into schools and other institutions. The network is open to anyone. Gaming will be allowed naturally and services such as VoIP will be available. WEP hope that with the right kind of funding and partnerships that we will be able to provide a relaxed, knowledge rich recreational environment with all the benefits of WUGs but yet the goals of WEP. The network itself is free to use for members and the services will be free as well. All of it. Even its educational services. Obviously we would appreciate members with an urge for education and to educate.
 
saa044 said:
Yes off course not, we will be starting this network from scratch, the content we will be hosting will require a good, stable network infrastructure with at least 500Kbit/s or more. It also does not have the same goals as other WUGs either. WEP will focus mostly on learning content that can be implemented into schools and other institutions. The network is open to anyone. Gaming will be allowed naturally and services such as VoIP will be available. WEP hope that with the right kind of funding and partnerships that we will be able to provide a relaxed, knowledge rich recreational environment with all the benefits of WUGs but yet the goals of WEP. The network itself is free to use for members and the services will be free as well. All of it. Even its educational services. Obviously we would appreciate members with an urge for education and to educate.
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All good and well but how do you intend to pay for the services. Someone has to pay for the hardware somehow? Will WEP plan to make a profit? What kind of expertise do the current WEP members have? Will someone be employed in such a way as to provide the expertise in order to roll out such a network? In the end, who is going to pay and how? i.e. Will the network be community driven and founded on donations or will someone sponsor and why, as PTAWUG members start a different service overlapping those of PTAWUG as well as most WUGs in the country?
 
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scruffy said:
All good and well but how do you intend to pay for the services. Someone has to pay for the hardware somehow? Will WEP plan to make a profit? What kind of expertise do the current WEP members have? Will someone be employed in such a way as to provide the expertise in order to roll out such a network? In the end, who is going to pay and how? i.e. Will the network be community driven and founded on donations or will someone sponsor and why as PTAWUG members start a different service overlapping those of most WUGs in the country?
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Dude I am still going to stay with PTAWUG, the only thing is that ptawug will not allow these kind of services that we want to host and secondly ptawug does not like the network to become part of a company/educational institute. Go ask any of the ptawug admins if it is OK to host services on the network and if they are ok with it if we enroll it into companies and educational institutes.
 
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Firstly, our partnership with Meraka Institute (who already covers the whole of pretoria) will be quite a push in a right direction. This is just one of the steps we are following in order to roll out our network.

Secondly, the network is backed by an educational company with strong government bonds. We also have two other partners namely one company that provide educational services to disadvantaged persons and who's currently also making use of our e-learning infrastructure.

With this e-learning approach, it won't be very difficult to get sponsors for the network. Our market research is solid and proved that people in South Africa care more about education than we thought they did. Along with sponsors, people from the community can also donate. Helping hands will not be a problem either, since we have access to goverment intern students which will count alot for us. Having these guys help set up the network and perform general maintenance will count many points since government funds them and now government can also have the benefit of them since we plan to get government funding.

Yes, setting up the first few access point will be tough, but luckily we are backed by some extremely experienced people. For instance, we have a person from SITA that, for a long time, had the responsibility of designing and implementing network security for the SAPS. We also have some highly accredited IT professionals that have no problem spending their time on a project like this.

What would be the point of a huge wireless network with lots of resources if no one uses it? Why do we have free tertiary e-learning content on the network if we roll out to schools? The news is that we are not just rolling out to schools. No! We are rolling out to public places such as internet cafes, libraries, the general public.

Providing people with a free network that they may use for gaming and whatever they want whilst also giving them the opportunity to further themselves would be awesome.

How many people cannot afford internet? How many people cannot afford a proper tertiary education? How many disabled people does not have the ability to access any kind of learning institution?

We have the ability to SAQA certify students. It was proven that people with SAQA certification have less trouble finding a job than people with international qualifications. It true. look it up.

So tell me. Why wouldnt you want to have free access to free internationally accredited training whilst being able to use your VoIP phone to phone your friends, your teacher, technical support and even emergency numbers. To enjoy a nice online match against your buddies and whatever you can think of?

Those question is not for you to be asking unless you want to become part of the team and help us answer some other questions that are more relevant.
 
saa044 said:
Dude I am still going to stay with PTAWUG, the only thing is that ptawug will not allow these kind of services that we want to host and secondly ptawug does not like the network to become part of a company/educational institute. Go ask any of the ptawug admins if it is OK to host services on the network and if they are ok with it if we enroll it into companies and educational institutes.
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I do not understand. My question remains unanswered regarding the funding and expertise of WEP members. Except for PTAWUG being a non commercial non profit organisation, all services such as VoIP, Gaming, web pages and virtually anything TCP/IP has always been allowed as long as it is not an internet or a commercial service or am I wrong? I have also been told that PTAWUG now has over 230 users making use of these services, that they already have a VOIP service running. Members have gaming servers running for most popular games. Growth of PTAWUG is calculated at an average of 6+ users per week. I thus refer to my previous and unanswered post regarding the services provided, the funding and why? I have also been led to believe that PTAWUG has a constitution and that acting in a manner not affecting PTAWUG in a positive manner may constitute in regarded as having lost the animus or intention to be part of the WUG.
 
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scruffy said:
I do not understand. My question remains unanswered regarding the funding and expertise of WEP members. Except for PTAWUG being a non commercial non profit organisation, all services such as VoIP, Gaming, web pages and virtually anything TCP/IP has always been allowed as long as it is not an internet or a commercial service or am I wrong? I have also been told that PTAWUG now has over 230 users making use of these services, that they already have a VOIP service running. Members have gaming servers running for most popular games. Growth of PTAWUG is calculated at an average of 6+ users per week. I thus refer to my previous and unanswered post regarding the services provided, the funding and why? I have also been led to believe that PTAWUG has a constitution and that acting in a manner not affecting PTAWUG in a positive manner may constitute in regarded as having lost the animus or intention to be part of the WUG.
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Lionelpcn,

I Quote your words:
"Those question is not for you to be asking unless you want to become part of the team and help us answer some other questions that are more relevant."

Thanks anyway for the reply. However I cannot join or support a network where the physics of how it works is not provided. PTAWUG seems to be a better call for me as it is more open and honest giving me the opportunity to host anything TCP/IP I want to.
 
scruffy said:
Lionelpcn,

I Quote your words:
"Those question is not for you to be asking unless you want to become part of the team and help us answer some other questions that are more relevant."

Thanks anyway for the reply. However I cannot join or support a network where the physics of how it works is not provided. PTAWUG seems to be a better call for me as it is more open and honest giving me the opportunity to host anything TCP/IP I want to.
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Scruffy are you a member of any of the WUG's and if so what is your nic? Maiby we can explain it better in IRC so that you can understand more clearly. :p
 
scruffy said:
I have also been led to believe that PTAWUG has a constitution and that acting in a manner not affecting PTAWUG in a positive manner may constitute in regarded as having lost the animus or intention to be part of the WUG.
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So what you are saying is if we start this network for educational purposes that actually benefits people in learning that ptawug will throw us off the network? If that is the attitude of ptawug I can not say that I am proud to be a member of the network, to deprive people from learning courses and I will gladly take down my CPE tomorrow if that is their attitude towards the new network. I highly doubt that that is their attitude because I know a couple of good guys there and in any case I don't see WEP as being competition for ptawug, its just a different network than ptawug and in my eyes the only reason for the WEP network as a second network that will be catering for business like schools and not solely for home consumers.
 
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