Now that wireless routers and connections have spread around the world, new communities are being created to optimize their potential. From simply sharing your own unused bandwidth to your friends or anyone who comes around, to making really money out of your Internet connection, this communities and services offer many possibilities. I will mention two different services that I came across and enjoyed by their simplicity and functionalities.

FON is a movement that started in Spain and that is based on a simple idea. If you share your Internet connection at home, you will be able to use other members wireless Internet connections everywhere. To help you identify all the FON hotspots available once you start sharing, a comprehensive map was created and as you can see, there are already many foneros. I’ve been surprised by the number of them already in my city (Coimbra). But if your not one of those who believe in free sharing, you can also charge a fee for your Internet connection so members can have a cheaper access point near your home, but you won’t be able to access other members free network. On their website are some very cheap routers specially designed for sharing your connection with the FON community.

Meraki is a set of products and a piece of software that turns the creation of wifi sharing communities really easy. Based on both wireless access points and repeaters, and on a free dashboard application to manage the whole system, you can have multiple users sharing their Internet connection to a even bigger number of users connected to the network mesh. There are two models of Meraki Minis, the repeaters, one for covering indoor areas and other, a bit more expensive but more resistant, for covering outdoor areas. Again, with the help of the Dashboard your can also rent wireless connection to your neighbors, making a business of your own mesh. Meraki products are being used in San Francisco to create a wide network of free Internet connection.

These are only to examples of this kind of services, there must be many more of this kind. I advice you to start looking for this kind of communities locally, near your home, because there might be already some neighbors sharing wireless connections. You also don’t have to use specific products, you can create your own repeater and there are probably software available to help you manage your network. So creating your wireless community with your friends should be quite easy.

A list of software for wireless communities management:

• Whisher – with chat and file sharing
• WeFi

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