Stellenbosch Wireless User Group

Stellenbosch Community Network has opened the first AP for public use! It is on the Helshoogte Hostel ( have a look at the map if you don't know where it is). It operates on the 2.4GHz frequency and if you have LOS to Helshoogte you should, with the right equipment be able to connect. Services include WebCT, Webmail and Internet access via Sinetkey.

The AP is owned and managed by the university and we therefore cannot help with any problems. If you have queries you can go to www.scn.za.net.

One of the things that was bothering us from the start is the fact that we will never be able to afford a license from ICASA and our network will thus always be, strictly speaking, illegal.

The law however, has been a big mess lately with the new Electronic Communications Act being written but not implemented yet. On the one side you should obey the previous law, but on the other side it's just a matter of time before the new law is set in place.

I had a meeting with the Municipality and the University about their project "Stellenbosch Community Network" today. Their ideas are currently somewhat crude - they have not yet decided on the business model, or how the network is to be operated, expanded and maintained. At this stage it is still a pilot project and no official policies or regulations have been put in place. They do, however, want to establish an open public network with the same vision that we have - to build a useful network to benefit the whole Stellenbosch community.

"Stellenbosch Community Network" - a joint effort between the University of Stellenbosch and the Municipality, has contacted us about peering. Since their aim (to create a wireless network covering Stellenbosch) is related to ours they have requested a meeting to discuss the possibility of working together.

They have not given us any information about the status of their project, their plans on implementing it or the financial model they choose to base it on. We hope to discuss these and other things with them as soon as they are able to give us a date for a meeting. Other questions that were not answered is the role of the Municipality in all this - do they provide funding or access to buildings? As well as the ways in which the community will really benefit from this project, i.e. what type of services will be available and what can people expect to pay? (Seeing that even students pay R180 a year for a wireless connection, I think we can expect a similar or even higher rate for the public - but I am open for correction.)

Our letter of application has been sent to the Municipality and is under review. We are optimistic for a reply in the near future. Everybody, hold thumbs for this one!!

Added a map with all user locations. So now we can track exactly where everyone is situated and plan infrastructure around that. Please update your information by going to the user locations map and clicking on "edit your location". You can use the map insert on the website to pinpoint your location or simply enter the coordinates manually. Note however that coordinates are in digital format so take care when entering them.

We had a meeting with the CTWUG guys about building our first high site. Currently it looks like we will need to spend about R3000 to set up the Access Point. We hope to get feedback from all our members so any suggestions concerning funding and/or technical support are welcome!

The Specs:
1 x Mikrotik Routerboard 133
2 x CM9 Radio's
1 x 120* Sector antenna (providing coverage for all of Stellenbosch)
1 x 14dbi flat panel (for remote admin in case something goes wrong)
1 x Enclosure
+ Wiring and connectors.

Defza (www.defza.co.za) gave us free hosting on their dreamhost.com account! Those with faster internet connections should see an improvement in the loading times of the website. The site is now hosted at www.stbwug.za.net. Thanks to Wish the domain stwug.za.net will also point to the site soon.

There has been some problems with the DNS entries. I forgot to remove the old name server. It will take a while for DNS entries to update but I hope it will be accessible for everyone soon.

We are thinking about using Papegaaiberg rather than Stellenboschberg as high point. This will give us greater coverage, and shorter distances between the Access Point and users.

We have made contact with officials from the municipality who were enthusiastic about our proposal. We are now in negotiations to deal with the technical side of things (eg. the amount of electricity we need, where exactly we can place our antenna, etc.). Hopefully it all goes smoothly and we will start getting a highsite up soon!

Our new website is up and running! Tell me what you think.