Soliciting Fame

We’re struggling a tiny bit with the Fringe WiFi, but it’s an amazing learning experience when working with these routers. We’re learning their limitations and how long they take to touch base, etc. etc. For example we can’t bounce a signal through the corner of a brick building without a pretty close proximity. Also encouraging people to volunteer a power supply is great for practicing our pitches.

The biggest problem has been getting everything deployed at once. It’s easy to get confused which node is where and what MAC address is what when you’re not taking notes and you’re adding a new repeater every hour or so. Next year we’ll be able to tackle something like this quite early and actually get a nice partnership with whichever event we’re supporting.

Here’s a screenshot of the properly working Fringe grounds:

Oh, and the best thing we’re learning is PATIENCE. It’s very easy to get frustrated because a certain node isn’t checking in fast enough or there’s a flutter with some power or whatnot. Just give it an hour and it’ll return to normal, no use running down to the grounds if you don’t need to.

Come check out and enjoy the Free WiFi at the Edmonton International Fringe Festival courtesy of the Free WiFi Project!