Welcome to the home of the Pietermaritzburg Wireless User Group.
A couple years ago there was talk of starting a WUG in PMB but it collapsed before it even began. I'd like to get this up and running but by taking a slightly different approach. I think for this to work it can't be one person doing all the work and everyone who's interested needs to get directly involved. So show your interest and lets meet up and get this online.
What is a WUG
Think of it as a LAN. Essentially that's all it is. Just wirelessly. Each user connects to a highsite and from there they are all connected together. Highsites create the backbone of the network so that everyone stays connected. However you do not need to connect to a highsite to connect to the network. You can link through another user. In order to connect you need to have LOS ( Line Of Site) to the highsite or user you are connecting to. The range of the wireless is about 10km ideally but can be pushed to 30km in perfect conditions. All these things are worked out before you buy anything. A standard WUG kit costs about R1800
What the WUG offers
Current WUG communities and users around the country offer the following things so once we set up you can look forward to the following, if we set them up and users are willing to host the services :
IRC Server
Windows Update Server
VOIP Services
Game Servers
600 to 3000 KB/s Speeds.
Please note that the WUG does not provide internet access or any other commercial services at all.
What can you do right now?
Register here!
You can also register at www.wug.za.net. On the left hand side you will see WugPlotter. Put your current location in there using Google Earth to find GPS co-ords and then download the KMZ file. This will allow us to see roughly who is situated where and whether LOS is possible. When selecting which Wug you belong to use DWC and not other as we might join with them so its easiest if we on the same KMZ file.
A bit of a bonus
The Durban Wireless Community has shown an interest in connecting the two WUGs if we can get up and running. They currently have +- 50 households connected so if we can start up we will have a nice big community to link into.
Places to read about current WUGs