inHERITAGEwifi in Clubhouse

WiFi has arrived at HVRC! This month we have installed three Meraki units in the Heritage Village Recreation Club as trial . We'll be monitoring the level of interest and bandwidth requirements. The signal is strong throughout the building. The gateway is from the Office Internet connection using BEC as the service provider. These units are too far from the units in Kerry Court to create a wifi mesh, but they give the clubhouse a "wifi Hotspot" throughout the building.

To access the Internet at the Clubhouse, just open your laptop (wifi enabled - or use a $20 wifi adapter card ). Your computer will recognize two networks: inHERITAGEwifi and Kerry Crt. Kerry Crt is an encrypted secure network used by members of the computer Club for trials. It may be re-named and available in the future for registered users. The public wifi is inHERITAGEwifi and is a typical "hotspot" like those available in coffee shops or hotels. It is intended for our residents and their guests. No security key is needed. When you select this connection and use your browser, a green "welcome" screen comes up. Just click and you are free to browse or e-mail.

Make sure you take typical "hotspot" precautions and have a software "firewall" turned on. This public network should not be used for private banking. To keep our costs down, we also ask people to refrain from using it for intensive downloading such as on-line gaming, streaming video, VoIP (e.g. Skype) or watching long movies. We expect that most retirees are happy to just e-mail and browse the Internet for information.

For kleptomaniacs who may find the Meraki units, we caution you that they have no value outside of this network. The serial numbers of each unit and the geographic location are monitored on-line. About every three minutes they "call home" and any disconnection is reported instantly. Users of the network should also be aware that the bandwidth usage is being monitored and computers identified by their internal MAC numbers. There is no monitoring of content - just the volume of up and downloads. Anyone doing excessive downloading or otherwise abusing the free access, will have their computer connection blocked.

So far usage has been very minor - limited to a few test connections. If you are connecting, please drop us a note at postmaster@inheritage.ca . Some future uses of the wifi connection could be:

• Computer kiosk in the library, for seniors without computers who want to e-mail;
• Laptops available on loan for computer training courses.
• Inheritage Magazine and other clubs having on-line access for gathering and distributing information.
• Wireless security cameras for 24/7 monitoring of the HVRC building or even the entire Village.
• Extending the wifi "hotspot" throughout Heritage Village to reduce everyone's Internet connection costs and give Internet access to homes that have none.
• Creating an 24/7 on-line video camera station in the Theatre room, so our Snowbirds can see the events from anywhere.

At present, there are no costs to running this wifi network, beyond what the office is already paying for Internet connection. As usage grows, bandwidth will be about $2/month per Gigabyte. We are investigating ideas how to absorb that cost and keep the network free. Getting a few computer-savy people to join the Meraki network as a "gateway" by sharing their paid-up connection, would do the trick. It costs them nothing but their excess bandwidth that they are not using.