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The Future of WiFi in Your Neighborhood
Recent research has developed an Internet connection sharing application that could potentially revolutionize the way we think about our home WiFi networks. Haiyun Luo, an Assistant Professor with the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign believes his PERM (Practical End-host Residential Multihoming) software provides a ubiquitous secure and private environment which allows neighborhoods to share and better utilize their ISP connections. PERM, based on traffic prediction algorithms and traffic flow scheduling, appears to be a viable technology. Does it meet a potential market need? Will security and privacy concerns derail any potential widespread adoption?
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0 Nerd-Its
Not practical yet...
While this may not be, strictly speaking, usable in single-family dwelling neighborhoods, wireless technologies loom in the near horizon, like 802.16, that have much larger ranges. In any event, bigger ranges are inevitable in the relative near future. The nice thing about it is that it would function independently of and probably enhance the effectiveness of wireless mesh networks, since its implemented entirely on the host end, and hosts redistribute data flows amongst themselves based on the analysis of traffic patterns.
Its an intriguing framework for analyzing and redistributing network flows and certainly doesn't seem to be limited to just end hosts.
0 Nerd-Its
The new Internet
This concept brings to mind the concept of a totally new Internet. The Internet, as presently constituted, is organized by nodes through service providers and routers and the like. With more and more people getting wireless access in their homes, stronger wireless technology and the cooperation of those in the same geographic area, it's almost as if a parallel Internet is being formed, one defined by geographical proximity. If you take this idea to the extreme, might it be possible that someone browsing to my art site from a reasonably close location might get the information faster over the parallel network of wireless routers than through the Internet?
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Hmmm...Wi-Fi everywhere? by Xtremegene :: NR5 :: Show
I wish I could read more right now to better understand how PERM works. In any case, if it involves neighbors utilizing each other's wireless networks, I wonder how ISPs would react to such a pooling of internet connections. Furthermore, with my current knowledge I do not really see how this would benefit a neighborhood as a whole since 802.11b/g's range doesn't extend further than several tens of meters. It would make more sense, I believe, to deploy such technology in an urban setting as buildings and people are more densely packed that way.
I also wonder if something I read on Yahoo can be related to this project. Apparently a start-up in Spain is trying to provide a unified network of easily accessible wireless hotspots.