Free Neighbourhood WiFi at Queen and Parliament

Inspired by Peter Rukavina’s experiments with mesh networking, I ordered three Meraki Minis this week, and installed two of them this morning. One sits on a bookshelf in our living room, and the other points north out our back window.

You can see the status of the network, named Corktown, right here online. And if you’re in the neighbourhood, you’re welcome to use the connection.

I’d love to try and convince other residents and businesses to jump on the mesh networking bandwagon, but I don’t really know how to explain the benefits to them. I’m thinking of a flyer, posted to lamposts at the intersection of Queen and Parliament:

Dear [List of neighbourhood SSIDs here],

You probably pay a lot for high-speed internet. I know I do.

Want to share? Make things cheaper, faster, and better for everyone?

Let’s start a wireless mesh network.

Would you bite? I would, but I’m a geek like that.