The WISP-in-a-box project

What is it? The 30 second summary

The WISP in a box project will

• take the best known ingredients from the open source / free software world
• bundle them and make them easy to use
• put them on low cost, low power hardware (which will be solar powered)

and make this product available to

• entrepreneurs, activists, movers of all kinds

in order to help bringing

• connectivity to underserviced, underprivileged and overcharged communities in Africa.

Contacts & how to get involved?

The WISP in a box project is hosted and coordinated at

The Meraka Institute, CSIR, South Africa.

Project coordination: Sebastian Büttrich, http://wire.less.dk, mail: sebastian_at_less.dk

Click here to see all documents related to the project

The WISP in a box project is completely open in that

• We are highly interested in working with everybody with an interest in the project - just talk to us!
• All project communications and results will be fully open.
• Contributions to the project will be respected, attributed and credited for.
• We are aiming at actively making our resources available to the community as best we can.

All parts of this and other project documents are open for editing and commenting.

Best starting points might be ...

• the list of existing and related projects - we are interested in your input, * We are open to any dialogue about cooperation.experiences, additions.
• the specifications
• use cases and business cases

Background and Goals

The Wireless ISP in a box (short: WISPiab, final name pending) project has been suggested and discussed over a period of time, a.o. it has been suggested at the London meeting, December 2006.

Time for action

Without discussing the connectivity situation in Africa in great depth, there is no doubt that 2008 is the year that new business and non-business connectivity initiatives need to be put into action, gain in speed and be scaled up.

The WISPiab project wants enable the implementation speed needed, by

• lowering the technology skils barrier
• offering a technology match to emerging business models
• creating an open platform for others to build on

Pragmatically speaking,

we seek to address a dilemma that many wireless practicioners, activists and entrepreneurs are facing constantly:

When asked if all technology ingredients needed for starting a wireless project also is freely available, we answer 'yes'.
However, when asked ''how'' to get started, we have to admit that 

* it is not quite so easy (yet),
* it will take a bit of fumbling and skills,
* while 80% of all needed parts are there, 20% and the finished bundle are still missing

and so forth.

Thus, successful startups - and we have seen a few of those - still largely depend on the "one skilled enthusiast" approach.
While this approach produces admirable case stories,
it is not a path the vast majority of people can take. 

Openness and reusability

We are in the lucky situation that many people have invested tremendous work over the last few years.

The project does not intend to reinvent any wheels, but to identify the best ingredients and components, bring them together and make them more manageable.

It is time to get up to speed and scale.

We intend to work with everybody who is willing to share, and willing to benefit from what Meraka can bring to the table:

• capacity for the improvement of existing solutions
• capacity for testing and rollout
• capacity for documenting

All discussions, documents and results of the WISPiab project will be open throughout.

Software developed as aprt of this project will be licensed under a GPL license. Harware specifications will be open, and all documentation and educational materials will be published under an open license, e.g Creative Commons Licenses, GNU Free Documentation License, or such.

Wireless vs. Wired?

Wireless technology is not seen as competing with wires (fiber) connectivity. On the contrary, we feel that

wireless first meters will be essential in turning wired miles into successes.

Suppliers of wired connectivity need to be able to work with markets of well connected users and customers, businesses as well as non-profit, which currently can only be created through the use of wireless technologies.

Thus, wireless technology is seen as an enabler of wired connectivity.

Data or Voice? Infrastructure or Application?

Two questions need a short comment:

1. Is Data or Voice the most urgent field to address?
2. Should the focus be on Infrastructure or Applications?

need a short comment.

As far as the WISPiab is concerned, none of these questions is of explicit relevance. The WISPiab needs to support and match any business case that is identified as valid.

Technology follows need, and the need is identified by careful study of emerging business models.

Most business models will need

• infrastructure to transport applications,

and

• applications to make infrastructure attractive.

Pillars of the project

As indicated by the name, the project focusses on wireless technology, however the project is based on a wider set of pillars.

1. Free Software / Open Source
2. License exempt wireless (802.11_)
3. Local ownership
4. Solar power (and thus low power)
5. Low cost

These pillars indicate that

1. Proprietary and closed source elements will not be allowed into the product. Where they are inevitable (e.g. drivers), they have to be clearly marked as such.
2. Licensed frequencies and proprietary implentations with license exemt spectrum will not be allowed into the product. Backhaul connectivity, being outside of the product scope, is not touched by this.
3. Centralized and non-lcoal business and technology models, e.g. models that require a sign up to a central corporate server (see for example the Meraki model), will not be considered.
4. Any hardware solution will only be deemed complete if delivered bundled with a non-grid power supply. The default version of any WISPian project will be solar powered. Users with stable grid electricity have the freedom to deselect this option.
5. Hardware and Software cost must be kept to an absolute minimum.

Business models

The WISPiab project takes its point of departure in feasible business models, not in technology.

Business models here will include for-profit as well as not-for-profit and completely free models, e.g. open networks.

Among the models and names recently discussed are

• VT: Village Telco
• VOT: Village Own/Operated Telco
• VOOT: Village Own and Operated Telco
• CON: Community owned network
• COF: Community owned Fibre

See e.g. the list Wireless Africa for a recent discussion thread.

From its first phase on, the project seeks to

• collect user and business needs and feedback
• adjust technology to business and user needs

The WISPiab product

Scope

The WISPiab project aims at creating a bundled product, seen as consisting of

• Hardware
• Software
• Documentation

with the related out-of-scope side aspects of

• Education, Skills and Support
• Backhaul/Uplink connectivity

Language/Localization

For the time being, all Software and Docs will be in

• English

Localization and translation will be welcome, but the project team will currently not dedicate its own resources to this.

Requirements / Specification

Please see: WISPiab specifications

Existing/related projects & products

NOTE BEFORE YOU READ: At this point we have not broken down the list into sublists for Hardware / Software / Projects - etc! Most items in the list incorporate aspects of all of these, so we keep them in one list. When this becomes to chaotic, we will divide it.

Also, we have not removed all the items that are identified as NOT relevant - although we know that the list of relevant ones is probably just 5-6 items, at least where SW is concerned. We will keep this list flat and chaotic until completed, and then we will archive the lot of it and only keep the relevant here :)

As stated above, we do not intend to reinvent any wheels. There is neither time nor need for that.

Purposefully aiming broad, this list includes a.o.

• projects / approaches, commercial and non-commercial
• WISP (software) platforms
• (almost) pure hardware vendors

Please find a template at the top of the list, in case you would like to add to the list! You are very welcome to!

Template for new entries

• Type: (e.g. Community project, Company, Hardware vendor, Software Vendor, ISP, Telco, ...)
• Description:
• URL: URL
• Contacts:
• Relevance:

AdvancedVoip

• Type: Software Vendor
• Description: "wide range of telecom billing and OSS products ideally suited for telecommunication service providers, Internet telephony service providers and ISPs. Our high-end solutions are designed with business model flexibility and are tested at various levels to ensure reliability and accuracy for the most important element of your business - your billing. With over 300 satisfied customers worldwide, we offer you a complete suite of billing solutions catering the whole range of your requirements.

If you are an enterprise level company and looking for solutions for your medium sized telecom business, you can take a look at Enterprise Solutions. For large sized companies such as telecom operators, we offer Carrier Class Telecom Billing Solutions."

• URL: http://advancedvoip.com/wifi_hotspots/wifi_hotspot_billing.html
• Contacts:
• Relevance: None for now. Wrong size, target group. White papers might be relevant input though.

Alepo

• Type: Software Vendor
• Description: "RBS VOIP, RBS Hotspot, RBS ISP: Award winning all-in-one solution for ISPs/WISPs - Invoicing and billing, Customer management and automated care, Web customer self-care and signup,End-to-end prepaid management,Top performing RADIUS, Credit card clearing "
• URL: http://alepo.com
• Contacts:
• Relevance: None because of pricing, license, business model mismatch

Aradial

• Type: Software Vendor
• Description: "Aradial Hotspot radius software server is a top performance full-featured RADIUS server. Boasting excellent performance and technological superiority, Aradial is the unquestioned market leader in its class.

Aradial Radius Hotspot Edition, A special Hotspots/WISP version of our market-leading RADIUS/AAA server, that lets hotspots providers easily and profitably offer wireless Internet access to customers, while eliminating the overhead associated with customer provisioning, authorization and accounting.

Aradial HotSpot Server for wireless includes a RADIUS server that is particularly suited for the security and authentication requirements of wireless based network and easy connectivity module for an existing billing system that allows to update the billing system in real time on customers activities. Aradial allows reporting and easy export of usage to other systems. "

• URL: aradial.com
• Contacts:
• Relevance: Low because of pricing, license, business model. Only supplies the AAA part which can be covered by other means. Oversized for our target area.

Azotel

• Azotel
• Type: Corporate platform
• Description: Supported by Motorola in South Africa, "The Azotel WISPer platform offers wireless broadband operators a one-stop outsourcing service and Core Network for all their customer and network support system needs, from customer provisioning through billing, and network monitoring through advanced technical support. The service significantly reduces the time-to-market and upfront investment requirement for potential operators."
• URL: http://www.azotel.com
• Contacts
• Relevance: low. cost and business model (centralized, franchise) mismatch.

Chillispot

• Type: SW
• Description: Chilispot captive portal, standard in FLOSS captive portal world - "ChilliSpot is an open source captive portal or wireless LAN access point controller. It is used for authenticating users of a wireless LAN. It supports web based login, which is today's standard for public HotSpots, WISP "smart-client" authentication, and it supports Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA and WPA2). Authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA protocol) is handled via RADIUS (on board or remote).

Development on the original project continues, but slowly for some. The Coova-Chilli is an active project and has since added many new features and is an integral part of the CoovaAP firmware.

As of mid 2007, ChilliSpot appears to be dead. The developer Jens Jacobsen has vanished, and the chillispot.org domain has lapsed. Fortunately CoovaChilli has forked from ChilliSpot 1.0 and development continues with an active user-base." See Coova instead.

• URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChilliSpot
• Contacts:
• Relevance: YES - in its Coova form - probably an ingredient

Colubris

• Type: HW, SW, solutions
• Description: Colubris SW covers the whole rnage of wireless operations. Fantsuam used their billing module, with mixed experience.
• URL: http://www.colubris.com/ partners: http://www.colubris.com/partners/service-partners.asp --> HookMeUp system
• Contacts:
• Relevance: Probably low. license, price, opennness, ... interesting to study though

Coova

• Type: Software: Firmware for WRT54G etc
• Description: "Hotspot setup and management software .... includes firmware, authentication and management services, and captive portal solutions.... . .. Builds on OpenWrt, ChilliSpot, WifiDog, OpenVPN ...web interfaces for wifidog.conf and other conf files"
• URL: URL
• Contacts:
• Relevance: YES relevant! test and evaluate

CwISPy

• Type: Software, billing package,
• Description: "cwISPy - Features - Automatic Invoice generation and emailing - Automatic emailing of Receipts and Statements - FreeRadius Integration - Unlimited number of customers - Unlimited number packages - Unlimited number of Taxes - Unlimited number of VISP billing profiles - Seperate Customer Interface - Customer Event tracking - Trouble tickets - User configurable Bill Intervals - Staff ACL's (Access Control List)"
• URL: http://sourceforge.net/projects/cwispy/ http://www.cwispy.com/cwISPy/
• Contacts:
• Relevance: might be relevant - test and evaluate. Last activity on SF 2005 though!?! :(

Dabba / Orange Farm

• Type: Village telco and ISP (e.g. Community project, Company, Hardware vendor, Software Vendor, ISP, Telco, ...)
• Description: SW based off openWRT, OpenSER, coova,
• URL: dabba.co.za
• Contacts:
• Relevance: high! in many ways, Dabba has created at least part of what is needed. Add what is missing?

Fadeco

• Type: Community project
• Description: an impressive example of an organically grown bootstrapped

network project. Ian Howard interview: "a true social entrepreneur at work." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErXK29u4Pf8

• URL: URL
• Contacts: Josepg Sekiku
• Relevance: high. interview and study business model. less relevant wrt software and implementation.

Fantsuam Foundation

• Type: Community project, network
• Description: Fantsuam has implemented a communtiy network, including interesting experiences with voucher based billing
• URL: fantsuam.org
• Contacts: Alberto and Ochuoko through Sebastian
• Relevance: yes. Analyse experience with Billing implementation

Firkant.net

• Type: Communtiy owned fiber network
• Description: Though outside region (Denmark), an interesting case story of successful CON (fiber).
• URL: firkant.net
• Contacts: through Sebastian
• Relevance: low in this phase, but interesting re: community owned fiber. to learn from. interview!

FirstSpot / PatronSoft

• Type: Software Vendor
• Description: "PatronSoft is a fast-growing Wi-Fi hotspot management software company. FirstSpot, its flagship product, is the only Windows-based wireless gateway software deployed in more than 35 countries. For further information on FirstSpot, please visit http://www.patronsoft.com/firstspot ." "In development since 2002, FirstSpot® is a Windows-based Wi-Fi hotspot management software (sometimes also known as hotspot software, hotspot access controller or wireless gateway) designed to track and secure your Wi-Fi Hotspots or visitor-based networks in a centralized way. Based on captive portal technology, FirstSpot® lets your hotspot users to login simply by a web browser."
• URL: http://www.patronsoft.com/firstspot
• Contacts:
• Relevance: none. Wrong OS.

Freifunk

• Type: Community project, Software
• Description: Freifunk is arguably the most succesful mesh movement and source of one of the best GUI integrated firmwares for the Linksys WRT54G and other boxes
• URL: freifunk.net
• Contacts: see URL
• Relevance: high

Inveneo

• Type: Hardware/Software solutions, Implementer
• Description: "The Inveneo WiFi Outdoor Access Point is a rugged wireless router that can be used in multiple network configurations, for long-distance point-to-point links or to connect multiple locations. The WiFi Access Point requires very little network and device setup, as the integrated software has an internal webserver with easy-to-use interface accessible from any standard web browser. - The Computing Station is an ultra-low-power, affordable and fully functional desktop computer designed for use in rural locations such as schools, clinics, field offices, community centers and Internet cafes. - The Inveneo Hub Server|| "
• URL: http://www.inveneo.org
• Contacts:
• Relevance: high. Low power focus extremely relevant.

http://www.lessnetworks.com/index.php

LessNetworks

• Type: Software, SW/HW bundles
• Description: "This Austin Texas based group, part of the Free WiFi Movement, offers the Hotspot Server open source software that you can use to create your own free hotspot. When you run their software installation it creates a Linux system with the appropriate settings. Lessnetworks provides downloads of the software, sells their software on disk for a nominal cost, and even sells some preconfigured wireless servers on eBay that you can purchase as a package."
• URL: http://www.lessnetworks.com/index.php
• Contacts:
• Relevance: yes. check out!

Meraki

• Type: SW/HW/ "Global" Mesh ISP
• Description:" Meraki’s mission is to bring affordable Internet access to the next billion people. Meraki’s new approach to wireless networking empowers individuals and groups to bring access to local communities, anywhere in the world.

Meraki has focused on changing the economics of access since its beginning as a MIT Ph.D. research project that provided wireless access to graduate students.

Using their research, Meraki got its start at a low-income housing community in the US. News about Meraki’s products spread by word of mouth into dozens of countries around the world. Every day, new Meraki networks bring access to locations ranging from urban apartment complexes in London to villages in India.

Meraki is based in Mountain View, California, and is backed in part by Google and Sequoia Capital. "

• URL: http://meraki.com/
• Contacts: site
• Relevance: NO - inappropriate business model, EULA outlaws modification of software. Maybe still interesting as hardware, if flashing/modding is allowed. Watch company anyway in case they adjust their business model to the needs of "the next billion".

Musimi

• Type: Village Telco of sorts
• Description: Though outside region (Denmark), an interesting case story of successful (but also problematic?) Asterisk based Telco startup -
• URL: msuimi.dk
• Contacts: through Sebastian
• Relevance: to learn from. interview! Sebastian

Rodopi

• Type: Software, Solutions
• Description: see site
• URL: http://www.rodopi.com
• Contacts:
• Relevance: None back office software, Windows.

SingleDigits

• Type: Software, Solutions
• Description: see site
• URL: http://www.singledigits.com
• Contacts:
• Relevance: low. business model, target size, price mismatch.

Soekris

• Type: Hardware
• Description: Low cost, low poer comms boards, e.g. net4521 - This compact, low-power, low-cost, advanced communication computer is based on a 133 Mhz 486 class processor. It has two 10/100 Mbit ethernet ports, up to 64 Mbyte SDRAM main memory and uses a CompactFlash module for program and data storage. It can be expanded using a MiniPCI type III board and up to two PC-Card/Cardbus adapters.

It has been optimized for use as wireless router using PC-Card wireless adapters, but has the flexibility to take on a whole range of different functions as a communication appliance. The board is designed for long life and low power.

It is available in any volume in the standard version, and as board only or with a small metal box and various power supplies. The board can be customized according to requirements when ordering higher volume."

• URL: http://soekris.com
• Contacts:
• Relevance: maybe - potential hardware ingredient

Softvision Explorer

• Type: Software, Solutions
• Description: see site
• URL: http://www.cyber-cafe-software.com/index.asp
• Contacts:
• Relevance: None - Windows only.

SputnikNet

• Type: Software, Solutions
• Description: "SputnikNet™ enables you to remotely manage Wi-Fi hotspots, hotzones, or complete networks over the Internet. With SputnikNet, there is no software to install or run; we host Sputnik Control Center for you. Simply plug Sputnik-Powered APs (Access Points) or Gateways into broadband, and you’re ready to offer free, branded, or fee-based Wi-Fi service.

Free If you don’t need to authenticate or bill end users, check out SputnikNet Express, our free service for free, single-location hotspots that put your brand front and center.

It costs $49.95 to set up a SputnikNet Account, with monthly charges starting at $19.95 per Sputnik-Powered AP (range extenders are free, of course). Sputnik takes no cut of your transactions."

• URL: http://www.sputnik.com/products/sputniknet.html
• Contacts:
• Relevance: low. business model mismatch.

Surf and Sip

• Type: Software, Solutions
• Description: "The Surf and Sip™ Access Manager allows businesses to set up their own public Internet access location. Businesses can turn their high speed Internet data line into a revenue generating business by installing the Access Manager in their location. The Access Manager manages both wireless and wired connections to the Internet. "
• URL: http://www.surfandsip.com/ps_accessman.htm
• Contacts:
• Relevance: None

Tranzeo

• Type: Hardware vendor
• Description: Interesting wireless hardware
• URL: tranzeo.com
• Contacts:
• Relevance: possibly?.

Trixbox

• Type: SW, distro
• Description: formerly known as Asterisk@Home, is an Asterisk distro aimed at ease of use. It is used by e.g. Uninet to provide community Voip. Their intgrated HW/SW product "Trixbox in a box" ... "... makes it even easier for business to get trixbox phone systems up and running. Why buy separate hardware, download and install software, configure the hardware, and test it all yourself?"
• URL: URL
• Contacts:
• Relevance: medium - probably covered already

Ubiquiti

• Type: Hardware vendor, solutions
• Description: Vendors of WISP targetted high quality, low budget gear
• URL: http://ubnt.com/
• Contacts:
• Relevance:yes

Webmin

• Type: SW management, GUI based admin, etc
• Description: "Webmin is a web-based interface for system administration for Unix. Using any modern web browser, you can setup user accounts, Apache, DNS, file sharing and much more. Webmin removes the need to manually edit Unix configuration files like /etc/passwd, and lets you manage a system from the console or remotely."
• URL: http://www.webmin.com
• Contacts:
• Relevance: yes

Wificom SAB

• Type: SW - WISP management, hotspot manegement
• Description: " Wificom SAB Server™ is a centrally managed all-in-one solution that streamlines the rollout of hotspot services and minimises associated costs. SAB Server™ is an open solution that seamlessly integrates various vendors’ access controllers, access points and other network equipment into one reliable, unified system.

- 

Wificom open source SAB Gateway™ is a software-based access controller that delivers easy-to-use broadband access at hotspot without requiring the user to install any client-side software. SAB Gateway is now available as open source under the GNU Public License."

• URL: http://www.wificom.com/products.html
• Contacts:
• Relevance: no - open source leg on sourceforge last seen active in 2004 :(

Wifi-Soft

• Type: WISP management, hotspot manegement
• Description: " WiFiLAN Trial

WiFiLAN Trial lets you convert your unmanaged Wi-Fi hotspot into a managed one without incurring heavy setup and operational cost. This entry-level subscription is ideal for small hotspot operators who want to take control of their hotspot and offer a reliable Internet service to its customers. - WiFiLAN Professional - WiFiLAN Professional lets you build a customized, feature-rich operational support system (OSS) for any sized Wi-Fi network. The subscription comes with standard features and addon modules can be purchased separately based on your needs. "

• URL: http://www.wifi-soft.com
• Contacts:
• Relevance: none. model, price, target mismatch.

Worldspot

• Type: WISP management, hotspot manegement
• Description: builds on DD-WRT, Coova. Adds billing, multiple schemes and models.
• URL: http://worldspot.net
• Contacts:
• Relevance: medium. tech ingredients are coova and dd-wrt. better go direct, Billing part might be interesting to look at, though business models might be incompatible.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Suggested product names

• WIAB
• Wimbo - WIreless Mover BOx (Wimbo = Kiswahili for Song, Anthem, Hymn)