Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Griggi: A Wi-Fi sharing ecosystem for affordable Internet everywhere

griggi.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 45 posts

Re: Griggi: A Wi-Fi sharing ecosystem for affordable Internet everywhere

#21

Post by imaginator »

jannic wrote: post #2

Please consider contributing to something like Freifunk, instead: http://freifunk.net/en/ Similar technology (OpenWRT based firmware), easier to use, less privacy issues as it's not necessary to track your network usage. And completely free.

+1 on Freifunk. Setup is super easy:

1) order an Ubiquiti Nanostation LOCO M2 (amazing reach and super sensitive antenna),

2) sign-up with them for a VPN key. This will keep your visitors traffic tunneled through their VPN. IF there is any problem with content infringement, it ends up on their network.

3) Flash the box with their OpenWRT port and install the VPN key.

I setup my box last week and and it's been running well (http://monitor.berlin.freifunk.net/host.php?h=imaginator). Nice to see users dropping on and off. The firmware also includes support for the Freifunk mesh network. I'm looking forward to adding more nodes to the neighbourhood and growing the wifi coverage.

Action shots: http://imgur.com/a/q7nOk (Decided that martini bottle is a better solution than the tripod)

Get started at http://config.berlin.freifunk.net/wizard/routers (disclaimer: not clear if you should/must/can be in Berlin for this to work)

Re: Griggi: A Wi-Fi sharing ecosystem for affordable Internet everywhere

#22

Post by icebraining »

pocha wrote: post #15
kapsteur wrote: post #12

like https://corp.fon.com/en#what_is_fon

Its like Fon except :- 1. There are no telco partners. We directly sell to consumers. 2. Data sharing & usage is metered. You accumulate then you use it elsewhere. Its called Karma GB. 3. We are also thinking of putting up a feature that lets you enable 'free wifi' if you are a cafe/restaurant owner and you need a DIY solution for your customers. Thinking of keeping it as paid feature.

Fon also sells directly to consumers: https://shop.fon.com/en/product/fonera

I can use any Fon router despite not being a client of a partner ISP.

Re: Griggi: A Wi-Fi sharing ecosystem for affordable Internet everywhere

#23

Post by colindean »

IshKebab wrote: post #20
pocha wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its like Fon except :- 1. There are no telco partners. We directly sell to consumers. 2. Data sharing & usage is metered. You accumulate then you use it elsewhere. Its called Karma GB. 3. We are also thinking of putting up a feature that lets you enable 'free wifi' if you are a cafe/restaurant owner and you need a DIY solution for your customers. Thinking of keeping it as paid feature.

It sounds almost identical to what Fon was originally.

IIRC the original Fon lacked metering of any kind. If you shared for free, you could use for free. If you charged, then you had to pay.

Re: Griggi: A Wi-Fi sharing ecosystem for affordable Internet everywhere

#24

Post by nileshtrivedi »

sneak wrote: post #13

In most developed countries, this is against residential service TOS and could subject the operator to disconnection.

Like how you aren't allowed to rent your house like hotels (AirBnB) or to use your personal car as a cab (Uber)?

Re: Griggi: A Wi-Fi sharing ecosystem for affordable Internet everywhere

#25

Post by tempodox »

verloop wrote: post #16

Interesting concept. I am usually left with unutilized 20GB+ at the month end. If concept picks up, hopefully I will be able to trade same when traveling.

Leftover data volume in that massive amount? That could never happen to me :)

Re: Griggi: A Wi-Fi sharing ecosystem for affordable Internet everywhere

#27

Post by sneak »

nileshtrivedi wrote: post #24
sneak wrote: post #13

In most developed countries, this is against residential service TOS and could subject the operator to disconnection.

Like how you aren't allowed to rent your house like hotels (AirBnB) or to use your personal car as a cab (Uber)?

No, those are laws that you are subject to involuntarily.

I am talking about a contract that you agree to when you purchase service.

Re: Griggi: A Wi-Fi sharing ecosystem for affordable Internet everywhere

#29

Post by icebraining »

pocha wrote: post #18
Milner08 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But, if I'm in an area where people are very unlikely to use my WiFi how do I accumulate 'Karma'? Do I then have to buy Karma?

Ya, you pay to buy Karma GB & use it at a Griggi WiFi. The idea is, if the concept becomes ubiquitous, people will be constantly looking for Griggi WiFi when they are close to residential/commercial establishments. You may have someone using your WiFi too :-). We are also going to put a feature which would let people manage their free WiFi hotspot with Griggi as well. The vision is to be the default WiFi sharing plat…

The thing is, the Karma system directly collides with your goal of becoming ubiquitous.

I live in a small residential street where every neighbour who wants Internet has cable or fiber, so the chances of gaining significant Karma are very low. Let's also suppose I'm not a geek.

So, why would I pay $20 (+shipping?) for a new router, ask a friend to come by my house to install it, pay the electricity costs, etc, when in the end I'll still have to pay more to actually use it?

The Karma system eliminates the incentive for almost anyone except those living in busy streets to purchase and run their own router.

And this is helped by the fact that metered connections have all but disappeared around here, so a person with high Karma isn't actually "paying" anything for it, it's merely a rent that she can extract from the location of her property.

So I predict you'll mostly get users in city centers, which is where they are the less useful, since it's also where you can usually already get free or cheap Wifi.

Re: Griggi: A Wi-Fi sharing ecosystem for affordable Internet everywhere

#30

Post by jannic »

pocha wrote: post #4
jannic wrote: post #2

Please consider contributing to something like Freifunk, instead: http://freifunk.net/en/ Similar technology (OpenWRT based firmware), easier to use, less privacy issues as it's not necessary to track your network usage. And completely free.

Friefunk actually is a pretty cool project. Any such initiative would typically require quite a bit of community involvement if it has to grow organically. How big is the Friefunk community btw ?

According to http://freifunk.net/en/how-to-join/find-your-nearest-communi... there are >15.000 access points, mainly in Germany.

Is there some international equivalent?

Post reply on HN