Wireless community networks or wireless community projects or simply community networks, are non-centralized, self-managed and collaborative networks organized in a grassroots fashion by communities, non-governmental organizations and cooperatives in order to provide a viable alternative to municipal wireless networks for consumers.
OpenVPN is a virtual private network (VPN) system that implements techniques to create secure point-to-point or site-to-site connections in routed or bridged configurations and remote access facilities. It implements both client and server applications.
A wireless distribution system (WDS) is a system enabling the wireless interconnection of access points in an IEEE 802.11 network. It allows a wireless network to be expanded using multiple access points without the traditional requirement for a wired backbone to link them. The notable advantage of WDS over other solutions is that it preserves the MAC addresses of client frames across links between access points.
The Linksys WRT54G Wi-Fi series is a series of Wi-Fi–capable residential gateways marketed by Linksys, a subsidiary of Cisco, from 2003 until acquired by Belkin in 2013. A residential gateway connects a local area network to a wide area network.
A wireless router or Wi-Fi router is a device that performs the functions of a router and also includes the functions of a wireless access point. It is used to provide access to the Internet or a private computer network. Depending on the manufacturer and model, it can function in a wired local area network, in a wireless-only LAN, or in a mixed wired and wireless network.
HyperWRT is a defunct firmware project for the Linksys WRT54G and WRT54GS wireless routers based on the stock Linksys firmware, released under a GPL. The original goal of the HyperWRT project was to add a set of features—such as power boost—to the latest Linux-based Linksys firmware, extending its possibilities but staying close to the official firmware. Over time, it continued to be updated with newer Linksys firmware, and added many more features typically found in enterprise routing equipment. HyperWRT is no longer maintained, and has been succeeded by Tomato.
Wireless Toronto is a volunteer not-for-profit community wireless network in Toronto. Wireless Toronto began in 2005 with the goal of setting up no-cost public wireless Internet access around the Greater Toronto Area and exploring ways to use Wi-Fi technology to strengthen local community and culture. At its peak, Wireless Toronto hotspots served over 1000 connections per day at 38 individual locations.
Tomato is a family of community-developed, custom firmware for consumer-grade computer networking routers and gateways powered by Broadcom chipsets. The firmware has been continually forked and modded by multiple individuals and organizations, with the most up-to-date fork provided by the FreshTomato project.
Long-range Wi-Fi is used for low-cost, unregulated point-to-point computer network connections, as an alternative to other fixed wireless, cellular networks or satellite Internet access.
Buffalo AirStation is the name given to a series of wireless LAN equipment sold by Buffalo Technology.
Linksys WRV54G is a Linux-based router that supports 50 VPN tunnels and 5 simultaneous clients. It supports Wireless-G connectivity and 4-port 10/100 Ethernet hub. Unlike the WRT54G series, the WRV54 uses an Intel IXP425 processor, which supports hardware-based encryption, but is costlier. WRV54G is the first Linksys router that supports the proprietary Linksys program QuickVPN, which simplifies VPN setup. Although it was released in 2004, WRV54G is not yet fully supported by OpenWrt firmware.
The WGR614L is an 802.11b/g wireless network router created by Netgear. It was officially launched on June 30, 2008. The WGR614L runs an open source linux firmware and supports the installation of third party packages such as DD-WRT, Tomato, and OpenWrt.
Linksys manufactures a series of network routers. Many models are shipped with Linux-based firmware and can run third-party firmware. The first model to support third-party firmware was the very popular Linksys WRT54G series.
On March 30, 2010 Cisco unveiled a new series of home networking products called "Valet". The focus of this series is to simplify the installation and configuration of a typical wireless home network by shipping routers partially pre-configured and bundling with them software that aids the user in setting up their network with a step-by-step wizard.
The WNR3500L is an 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi router created by Netgear. It was officially launched in the autumn of 2009. The WNR3500L runs open-source Linux firmware and supports the installation of third party packages such as DD-WRT and Tomato.
OpenWrt is an open-source project for embedded operating systems based on Linux, primarily used on embedded devices to route network traffic. The main components are Linux, util-linux, musl, and BusyBox. All components have been optimized to be small enough to fit into the limited storage and memory available in home routers.
Gargoyle is a free OpenWrt-based Linux distribution for a range of wireless routers based on Broadcom, Atheros, MediaTek and others chipsets, Asus Routers, Netgear, Linksys and TP-Link routers. Among notable features is the ability to limit and monitor bandwidth and set bandwidth caps per specific IP address.
LibreCMC is a Linux-libre distribution for computers with minimal resources, such as the Ben NanoNote, ath9k-based Wi-Fi routers, and other hardware with emphasis on free software. Based on OpenWrt, the project's goal is to aim for compliance with the GNU Free System Distribution Guidelines and ensure that the project continues to meet these requirements set forth by the Free Software Foundation (FSF). LibreCMC does not support ac or ax due to a lack of free chipsets.
