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Updated: 27 August 2007

Chebucto Wireless to soon go live!

Logo: Chebucto Wireless
Chebucto Wireless, a service of the Chebucto Community Net, is expected to start live testing over the next several days. Antennas for the first two nodes have been installed and the node equipment is undergoing final configuration and testing.

The first area to have access to the Chebucto Wireless service is in South-end Halifax just to the North of Fenwick Place, an area roughly bordered by Morris Street, South Park Street, Clyde Street and Queen Street. People with wireless 802.11g network adaptors living in the area should look for the Chebucto Wireless SSID. Full network access will not be available while equipment is being tested and reception areas are mapped, but should be online soon.

In recent onsite tests of the transmitting equipment a clear high speed internet connection was made over 510 metres away from the rooftop Fenwick Place transmitter with an ordinary laptop computer with no external antenna.

The Chebucto Community Net plans to bring non-profit high-speed Internet to the metro Halifax area by building a mesh network of wireless nodes hosted by users themselves.

Chebucto Wireless would offer free public access to local metro and government websites and full Internet access to Chebucto Plus level memberships, currently $100 per year for individuals.

The areas to be served by the new wireless access will be determined by the residents of metro themselves.

Chebucto is looking for residents able to host wireless nodes, the cornerstone of the network, and when we get enough nodes in a neighbourhood, we can look at bringing network access where it is needed. A node sign-up form is online here.

Chebucto's project was the cover story of The Coast's August 3, 2006 issue. It was first announced to members at the Annual General Meeting this past April.

Quarterly membership plans dropped

As of July, 2007 Chebucto Plus Quarterly memberships are no longer being offered. All Chebucto Plus memberships are once again one-year terms payable in advance. Users with existing Chebucto Plus Quarterly memberships in good standing can renew their memberships until their normal annual expiry date but must renew as a regular one-year membership after that. Chebucto Plus Quarterly members can contact the Chebucto office for information on their membership expiry dates.

First introduced two years ago, quarterly memberships were one year memberships broken up into four payments to allow lower income people to sign up for PPP access without having to have the entire membership fee up front. What seemed a good idea at the time turned into an unsupportable administrative burden. Few lower income people took advantage of the plan while many higher income people used it as temporary short-term internet access.

Text service dialup now 56K!

After months of testing, Chebucto's dialup text service has been upgraded to 56K. Actual connection speeds will depend upon phone line conditions, terminal software and modem but there should be a significant improvement in connection speed and reliability for users with 56K modems.

The upgrade is one of a number of recently implemented technical improvements at Chebucto. The new 56K lines may require terminal program users to have to press Enter or Return an extra time when first dialing in to bring up the usual login screen.

Help promote Chebucto!

We need your help. We invite our members and supporters to help promote the Chebucto Community Net in the community by printing off and distributing Chebucto brochures and posters from our website.

We have added a new brochure for promoting our new wireless service in your neighbourhood.

Chebucto services maintenance window

The Chebucto Technical Committee wishes to advise Chebucto users of upcoming regularly scheduled planned maintenance downtimes. Chebucto Community Net services may be unavailable between 3:30 AM and 4:30 AM Tuesdays to allow for system upgrades. Some or all Chebucto services may go down with minimum or no warning during this maintenance window as systems are shut down and restarted.

Chebucto Community Net RSS how-to guide

Chebucto Community Net has posted a guide on how to use our RSS news feed here: chebucto.ca/rss/

Our RSS feed is our way of letting people know fast about important software updates and security alerts as well as new developments at Chebucto. Stay informed with the news as soon as we have it ourselves with our RSS news feed.

Updated - Recommended software list

With the recent interest in Internet security and the rise in various exploits meant to take over user machines, the Chebucto Office has compiled this list of recommended software for user computers running Microsoft Windows.

Web browser: Mozilla Firefox free from Mozilla.org
Current version: 2.0.0.6.

Email client: Mozilla Thunderbird free from Mozilla.org
Current version: 2.0.0.6.

All-in-one web browser, email client,
web page editor: Mozilla SeaMonkey free from Mozilla.org
Current version: 1.1.4.

Anti-Spyware Software:

Firewall: Zone Alarm free and paid versions from Zonelabs.com

Free anti-virus programs for home users (Note that both of these programs also have paid versions which offer additional features):

FTP Software: FileZilla free from FileZilla.SourceForge.net

RSS Newsfeed Reader: RSSOwl free from RSSOwl.Org

SSH Client: Putty free from Simon Tatham

The Chebucto Office does not recommend using the Internet Explorer web browser for any use except for accessing Microsoft's own Windows Update page. The popular web browser has been repeatedly successfully targetted by virus writers in particular seeking to break into home computers to use them for criminal purposes such as sending out spam, sending out viruses to break into other computers and being used to disrupt services on other computer systems.

After many reports about vulnerabilities for Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express email programs, and the constant stream of user complaints about randomly altered program settings and difficulty using the program, the Chebucto Community Net Office and the Chebucto Technical Committee recommend our users do not use either Outlook or Outlook Express as their email program.

Keeping Microsoft Windows up to date is also very important. Windows XP users should have Service Pack 2 installed. All Microsoft Windows users should make a point of using Internet Explorer to visit the Microsoft Windows Update site at least once a month and download all critical updates.

Cool Chebucto hats available!

[Photo: Cool Chebucto hat - click to see larger photo] We have available these excellent quality Chebucto Community Net hats. Click on photo to see larger version. These fashionable stone coloured washed cotton Chino twill hats are low fitting with adjustable strap and antique silver ring buckle for a perfect fit and are embroidered with the Chebucto Community Net logo and web address. Machine washable and drip dry with a pre curved peak, this hat will provide years of comfortable wear as well as showing your support for Halifax's own one-of-a-kind independent Community Net.

You can get your very own Chebucto Community Net hat from the Chebucto office for $20 or we can mail it out to you for an additional $10.


 

 

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