Using either Bluetooh or Wi-fi, a free, wireless relay network an be used to access the Internet in areas with no actual net connection. It works like this.

Each laptop client keeps a record of sites in it's cache, and a record of other clients within range. When a site is requested, the software checks all other clients to see if the site is available in their cache. If not, the request is relayed from client to client until a copy of the site is found. Only then is the site relayed back to the original requester. If no cache has the site, then a msg goes out that the request was unfulfilled, and anyone who is actually online can download the site to their cache in order to fulfill the request, in exchange for Rep.

By this method, free wireless ( though unsecured ) Internet will be available to anyone with a laptop.
-- simonj, Aug 09 2009

OLPC - Mesh? http://laptop.org/e...ware/features.shtml
[Dub, Aug 10 2009]

wireless range is a couple hundred metres on a good day, and what happens when somebody turns their machine off ? [-]
-- FlyingToaster, Aug 09 2009


Well I counted about 20 people on the train with laptops this morning. They were all within 100 meters. What do you mean what happens when someone turns their machine off?? It goes off.
-- simonj, Aug 09 2009


"access the Internet in areas with no actual net connection"

oh, you mean "mooch offa people who have a net connection" not "get Internet access in a blackout area".

[-] for the idea itself but [+] for the electronic equivalent of reading the neighbour's paper over his shoulder.
-- FlyingToaster, Aug 09 2009


You call it mooching I call it sharing. Did you miss the part about Rep for the seeders?
-- simonj, Aug 09 2009


how many Rep = a cup of coffee ?

Don't get me wrong, it's a cool notion; sorta distributed mini-ISP and cacheing.
-- FlyingToaster, Aug 09 2009


? Laptops can already share their internet connection.
-- DIYMatt, Aug 09 2009


No i'm not talking about sharing Internet connections, that would use bandwidth which has to be paid for. I'm talking about sharing the cache, once the data is in the cache it is essentially free and can be shared without further payment..
-- simonj, Aug 09 2009


//once the data is in the cache it is essentially free//
can't have that; what about putting advertisements in with the shared data ?
-- FlyingToaster, Aug 10 2009


//How is this different than WiFi?

Wifi is paid for by somebody. You are lucky to live in a place where that option is available.
-- simonj, Aug 10 2009


Still sharing a cache is easily possible on a laptop - so the idea is about getting more people to do it. I think.
-- DIYMatt, Aug 10 2009


duh, so what? Pay once share many. Is this really so hard to understand?
-- simonj, Aug 10 2009


does your contract with your ISP allow you to act as an ISP, yourself ?
-- FlyingToaster, Aug 10 2009


It's his computer and his wireless card, there's no business relationship between cache consumers and the computer owner, and no physical role for the ISP in that connection. This doesn't involve the ISP; so why should it have a say? It's not like it has a copyright over the data it sent you!
-- jutta, Aug 10 2009


//First, when you say that the request for the cached copy is sent from client to client, do you mean that my computer will automatically send copies of my cache to any nearby computer that pings it?

Not quite. It sends the message that you have a copy of that page to all nearby computers, the actual page is only sent to the person requesting it. Sure you can switch sharing on or off for individual pages, but personally vetting every request would get a little time-consuming

// Second, given that cached pages are by their very nature outdated, would the pages come with a date and timestamp so you know how far out of date the information you're viewing is?

Yes all pages would be timestamped, and the most recent version would be sent.

// Third, why would you want to view out-of-date cached webpages?

Because an out-of-date page is better than no page at all.
-- simonj, Aug 10 2009


Sounds like there's scope for all sorts of malicious shenanigans here by someone who knows how to insert fake pages into their cache.
-- Wrongfellow, Aug 10 2009


To be fair, those shenanigans start not with caching but when you're using someone else's wireless - you don't know whether what you're looking at is the "real" internet, or some phisher's filtered, altered, harvested simulation of it.
-- jutta, Aug 10 2009


knowing the contents of someone's cache can be the first step of a scam.
-- FlyingToaster, Aug 10 2009


I'm not sure, but I think this sounds similar to OLPC's mesh (network) might work. [linky]
-- Dub, Aug 10 2009


[+] IT's anno.
-- FlyingToaster, Aug 10 2009


I don't think it's a good idea for one's computer to send out a broadcast saying what pages are in one's cache, even if it's just the urls of those pages. Someone could take advantage of that info, and use it for a scam.

There are better ways of handling distributed data securely... hash trees come to mind.
-- goldbb, Aug 10 2009


Well I did mention it would only be for non-secure pages. News sites etc.
-- simonj, Aug 10 2009


That OLPC link demonstrates almost exactly what I had in mind.

OK I just discovered Wireless Mesh Networks have already been invented, however using them to distribute cached web pages seems to be new
-- simonj, Aug 11 2009



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