Community Wi-Fi is now available in the East Village. NYC Mesh allows you to split your Internet bill with your neighbor. It gives you backup service when there is no internet, and it connects you with the NYC Mesh network of local websites.
NYC Mesh is owned by the community. There is no monthly fee. You can join by buying an indoor router for $33, or $95 for the powerful directional outdoor router. We have members in the East Village that can help you set it up. If you are not happy, return the router and get your money back.
We currently have public access points at d.b.a. bar, East Third Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue, Marble Cemetery, Clinton Street and Union Square North Plaza.
To learn more about NYC Mesh read our FAQ. To join NYC Mesh fill in the "join" form.
If you want to learn more about this, then there's a meeting tonight at d.b.a., 41 First Ave. between East Second Street and East Third Street.
15 comments:
LinkNYC ( http://www.link.nyc/ ) may be in direct competition with this, and is set to begin rollout this fall. It's hard to beat free.
There's no such thing as "free'.
I'm not sure if LinkNYC is a competitor to this - looks like a different model to me - but both seem great and I'm totally on board with trying Mesh for sure!
can anyone speak to the concerns on security here? ie how to shroud the devices I am connecting with.
This mesh, as far as I can see, is still connected to the NSA data storage center in Utah.
That's right, nygrump, and so are your comments!
There are things that are sort of free. For example, if I own a bicycle and I'm at work all day and I let you use it for an hour, does it really cost anything? A tiny bit of wear on the bike, but really nothing significant. So you benefit from something I've already bought.
If I already have an internet hook up... and let you use it, is there a cost? Or is it free?
However I expect if your bandwidth usage spikes then comcast/rcn/et al will slow down your bandwidth throughput at some point.
Philadelphia (home of comcast(?)) actually passed a law banning a city sponsered version of this internet usage model.
Free public wi-fi is fine for checking email or casual surfing, but as communications can easily be intercepted by cybercriminals eavesdropping on the network, should never be used for banking or sending personal information.
Check out this article: https://usa.kaspersky.com/internet-security-center/internet-safety/public-wifi#.Vgr-DrRVhBc
This type of service sounds good to the uninformed, but it seems ephermeral and likely short-lived like nyc wireless in the EV was in the early 2000's. Are the mesh speeds competitive? I use WiFi-NY which has been around since 2003. It's fast, reliable, and affordable. WiFi-NY was up before Time Warner after Hurricane Sandy, and provided service to many who lost their Verizon DSL lines to the flood. WiFi-NY is a great value at a reasonable price.
I would be disappointed otherwise. All hail the Utah Storage Facility! We will laugh our way into totalitarianism.
This is not a substitute for your cable/dsl internet -- the mesh modem is using your internet connection to deliver internet over the network. This is free only in the sense that you pay for your internet service, and you or some stranger can access it over the mesh network.
sounds wonky and amateurish.
The internet isn't free--its paid for by the ads pasted on every page and video. The access fees we pay are exorbitant and unreasonable--and way way more than people in most other parts of the world pay for far faster service. This is a way to circumvent that. So bravo for the attempt, even if it has practical limits you gotta start somewhere...
I've used WiFi-NY for the past couple months. They're excellent. Reliable, fast, inexpensive, and run by a longtime east village resident. I would highly recommend this. He's been doing it for years and it's stood the test of time.
Yo I went onto WiFi NYC's website and got a "warning" message - not cool. Fix that WiFi NYC.
So...anyone (Maggie?) please tell me how WiFi NYC works and what's the cost if any? Do I have to live in the East Village to get it (I live in another downtown neighborhood.)
Post a Comment