The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World
The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World
Architecture and evaluation of an unplanned 802.11b mesh network
Proceedings of the 11th annual international conference on Mobile computing and networking
The Challenges of Technology Research for Developing Regions
IEEE Pervasive Computing
Experiences, challenges and lessons from rolling out a rural WiFi mesh network
Proceedings of the 3rd ACM Symposium on Computing for Development
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Providing connectivity to under-serviced rural areas comes with a unique set of challenges such as the high cost of installing equipment, lack of reliable power, skill shortages and high cost of providing Internet connectivity which is mostly satellite based. The recent emergence of low-cost commodity wireless 802.11 devices and the use of mesh networking as a key enabling technology for rural areas could see a new wave of connectivity in these areas. The paper presents pilot deployments of low-cost wireless rural networks in South Africa and Zambia that are showing very encouraging results in which houses, schools and clinics are connected on shoestring budgets. Some key areas for future development are also discussed such the use of IPv6, power saving mechanisms for battery operated routers, and support for real-time flow over mesh networks.