Wray - the first Lancashire wifi network hotspot, welcome to the scarecrow village!

Delivery of wireless broadband to the village has been made possible through a 3 Year NRSP project that is looking at resilient networking. The University has recently deployed a number of devices known as Meshboxes and will investigate their ability to provide a reliable network infrastructure, at relatively low cost. Researchers will study the impact of failure across parts of the mesh network, as well as developing ad-hoc routing protocols to try and improve the resilience of the network.

We are unable to offer 24 hour support and some of the features of a larger internet service provider. At times the network will be unavailable due to research but wherever possible this will be during standard working hours and notice will be given. Connection speeds currently vary but are anticipated to be the equivalent of a good quality 512kb connection or better. We expect speeds to increase as the trial progresses.

If you are interested in the project and would like to sample Broadband and get your phone line back, please let us know.
The village side of the network is being run by volunteers in their spare time. Priority for initial connection will be given to those likely to be the easiest to connect as we all tackle the learning curve and gain experience.

Those of you who have the confidence to "do it yourself" will be welcome to borrow a USB device ( a simple device that plugs into a USB port) and see what happens. As a guideline connection is likely to be simpler if your computer is in a room with a window facing the gable end of school or one of the antennas which are sited at the edge of the village on Wennington Rd, The New Inn, and Bridge End Craft Barn. If you can see your house on these photos you are in with a chance.

There are now added mesh boxes on Aftab's house, Kiln Lane, The Gars, Main Street and the Institute.

You are advised to ensure you have up to date virus protection and use a firewall for your own security. If you need help in this please ask as we are always ready to help, drop in sessions at the institute on Friday afternoons.

If you have already picked up the Wray network.....please get in touch and then we can give you details of how to log on.

We look forward to hearing from you.
Wray Community Communications Committee. (WrayComCom)

info @ wraycomom.org.uk

www.wraycomcom.org.uk