Host a Regional Network (or simply deploy a network of your own!)

Please note: Because a major goal of the Virginia WiFi Company is about community involvement,we do not single-handedly establish regional networks. We are not a corporation nor for-profit business. We, in fact, partner with regional parties, either individuals or groups, to help them establish a regional network which they respective maintain and support including their local users.

If you’d like to help out by hosting a regional network, simply fill out the following form. Note: please add to your e-mail spam filtering whitelist, safelist, or address book to ensure you receive our reply

Simple, really. A major desire of The Virginia WiFi Company is to allow cost-effective, i.e. reasonably priced, Internet access to regions throughout the state of Virginia whether in urban or rural environments. Traditional broadband access methods such as DSL and cable modem access are typically restricted by distance or corporate providers’ lack of initiative in expanding their networks to areas THEY deem underserved. We don’t agree with that philosophy and aim to do something constructive about it. Hence, The Virginia WiFi Company regional network.

Probably the largest single benefit of building a state-wide community-oriented infrastructure is this: the ability for our regional network partner users to access any part of the network from anywhere there’s an access point using a single SSID, i.e. “VAWiFiCo”. This means if a user resides or works in Fredericksburg, for example, where he or she has an account, he or she may travel to Roanoke, for example, and access the Roanoke partner’s network at no additional cost nor configuration to their computer.

Not too much involved either. Basically there are but just a few components involved in establishing a regional partner network:

• Desire & drive - Establishing a regional partner network requires dedication and passion. If you have these two assets, you’re halfway there. Volunteers within your community who have the same desire and drive are extremely helpful too.
• Community involvement & support - Will your community support this endeavor? It’s a good idea to conduct a market analysis to first determine if there’s demand for a network. Excellent places to start might be with any community support organizations such as local chambers of commerce, etc.
• Access to Internet connections - While the equipment we use will mesh with each other (see below), one still must have an Internet connection to provide Internet access (sounds silly, we know). That being said, if you’re within range of the telephone company’s central office, you could deploy an Internet gateway at a strategical location in your community and start building out your network from there. With proper planning, mesh networks cover many square miles. The larger your network grows, the more connections you can add.

The Virginia WiFi Company’s regional partners’ networks are wireless mesh networks built using inexpensive ($49-$99), readily available hardware provided by Meraki Networks. Traditional wireless networks require an Internet connection at every access point, significantly increasing the cost of building the network. Meraki Mini repeaters can relay data as many times needed until it reaches an Internet connected access point.

Our responsibilities are this:

• Provide set-up and on-going support assistance - Need ideas on how to “sell” the concept to your community? Want ideas for lining up your Internet connection for your initial gateway? We’ll be happy to help and will remain happy to do so after your network has long since been established.
• Aid in marketing your network - Your network will be listed on our regional network partners page as well as on our partners network status page in addition to any marketing materials we print. This is probably the single-most important aspect of our support to you; helping to market your network.
• Maintain the backend system - We will take care of the authentication, i.e. user security systems, etc.
• Add nodes to the backend system - As you and your users expand your network, we will ensure your nodes are added into the backend system, using a standardized naming convention to ensure consistency across the overall network by eliminating any end-user confusion.
• Host your network’s website and offer domain name registration advice - If you need us to host your website, we’ll be happy to set this up for you on our dedicated, managed private server. We offer reasonable pricing ($4.95 per website per month; or, if you prefer, we’ll set up and host your site for you for no charge, provided you allow us to run our Google AdSense code on your site to help offset our operating expenses) and 24/7 support for hosting your network’s website. To ensure consistency across the regional networks, we’d prefer you use the application you’re looking at now: Dokuwiki. In addition, we wholeheartedly recommend DomainSite for cost-effective (isn’t that the name of the game?) domain registration services. We use them all the time and have about 25 names registered with them.

Your responsibilities are this:

• Providing local support and assistance to your users - Obviously you know your community best and are able to access and assist your users much quicker than we can. We can assist you with ideas on how to support your users.
• Establishing and installing your network - Work with property developers, community resources, etc. to determine best initial strategical locations to deploy your network. After you order your Meraki units and send us your MAC address and the street address of the unit’s location, we’ll add your unit to your database where it’ll be available to your users after a matter of minutes.
• Ensuring your network is available for your users and all Virginia WiFi Company users - Ensure your Internet connection(s) is/are up and operational without the least possible downtime. Ideas to keep your connection(s) up include: providing cost-effective battery backup units (UPS), etc.
• Marketing your network - An excellent way to to help market your network is by keeping your users happy and allowing them to “spread the word” via word of mouth. This doesn’t cost a dime in marketing materials and instills a true community-oriented effort.
• Define a pricing model - Some partners offer free access while others charge a nominal monthly fee. If charging a fee, we suggest a price point between $15.00 and $35.00 per month. Your price point should be competitive with competitors, especially traditional broadband access providers, i.e. DSL and/or cable modem services. Items to take into consideration are: Meraki’s 20% overhead for the billing infrastructure.
• Reciprocal banner - Placing the authorized reciprocal banner on your website and linking back to our website: . For a sample, visit http://www.richmondfreewifi.org/ and scroll down to the bottom of the home page.

The Virginia WiFi Company doesn’t specifically maintain a network. If you’re interested in signing up for service with one of our regional network partners, feel free to contact them via their respective websites via our regional networks page.