Deploying Rural Community Wireless Mesh Networks

Author

Ishmael, Johnathan ; Bury, Sara ; Pezaros, Dimitrios ; Race, Nicholas

Author_Institution

Lancaster Univ., Lancaster

Volume

12

Issue

4

fYear

2008

Firstpage

22

Lastpage

29

Abstract

Inadequate Internet access is widening the digital divide between town and countryside, degrading both social communication and business advancements in rural areas. Wireless mesh networking can provide an excellent framework for delivering broadband services to such areas. With this in mind, Lancaster University deployed a WMN in the rural village of Wray over a three-year period, providing the community with Internet service that exceeds many urban offerings. The project gave researchers a real-world testbed for exploring the technical and social issues entailed in deploying WMNs in the heart of a small community.

Keywords

Internet; radio networks; Internet access; Internet services; digital divide; rural areas; rural community wireless mesh networks; social communication; Business communication; Cities and towns; Degradation; Educational institutions; IP networks; Mesh networks; Radio link; Testing; Web and internet services; Wireless mesh networks; ad hoc networks; community wireless mesh network; mesh networking; network management;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Internet Computing, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1089-7801

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/MIC.2008.76

Filename

4557975