Pretoria Wireless Users Group: Difference between revisions

{{Advert|date=December 2022}}

{{Notability|date=March 2024}}

{{Use South African English|date=July 2015}}

{{Infobox wifi network

|abbreviation = PTAWUG

|full = Pretoria Wireless Users Group

|logo =

|url = https://ptawug.za.net/

|commercial = No

|country = South Africa

|area = Pretoria

|users = (approx.) 400

|operational = No

|nodesurl = http://www.wug.za.net

'''Pretoria Wireless Users Group''' is a [[South African wireless community networks|South African wireless users group]]. It is a [[non-profit]] [[community organisation]], providing a [[wireless community network]] in [[Pretoria]], the capital of [[South Africa]].

PTAWUG has been created as the community's answer to South Africa's restrictive telecommunications environment. The South African telecommunications industry has been marked by poor service delivery, monopolistic practices and prohibitively high prices.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Domain Default page |url=http://www.ptawug.co.za |access-date=2018-08-16 |website=www.ptawug.co.za |language=en}}</ref>

Founded on 28 July 2007, PTAWUG embodies the African spirit of [[Ubuntu (philosophy)|Ubuntu]]. Its [[constitution]] guarantees openness, free participation and equality to all members of the [[Wireless User Group]]. PTAWUG is exclusively funded by donations from the community. Highsite installation and maintenance is conducted by volunteers in their spare time. PTAWUG exemplifies the proverbial [[open source]] [[The Cathedral and the Bazaar|Bazaar]] – no management team, no hierarchies, equal participation.

PTAWUG is the [[Wireless network organizations by size|3rd largest wireless network organisation]] in the world, behind [[Athens Wireless Metropolitan Network|AWMN]] ([[Greece]]), and [[TWMN]] ([[Greece]]). These two networks provide internet as well, which PTAWUG doesn't, so counting community networks that don't provide internet - PTAWUG is the largest on earth.

The aim of the network is to provide free [[TCP/IP]] communications in and around South Africa's capital to hobbyists, researchers and other non-commercial users. The network is used for [[Video game|gaming]], [[voip]], file transfers and various other [[Internet Protocol|IP]] based services.

PTAWUG connects members from vastly different backgrounds and social standings and provides a sandbox for technology experimentation and community skills development.

== Community ==

PTAWUG unites a number of people in the IT field, allows information sharing, and the learning helps the member to progress. The community is responsible for the network - [[volunteering|volunteers]] maintain the highsites physically as well as the software configuration thereof.

The knowledge and skills which are learnt by "playing" with [[WiFi]] networks is very valuable to [[South Africa]] and [[Africa]] as there is a great skills shortage in [[South Africa]] and on the continent.

PTAWUG is an inclusive network, no one is denied access, and is built entirely on openness and [[collaboration]] between members. There is no hierarchy on the network; all users are equal. The ages of members connected to PTAWUG range from teens to 60+, with different income groups, and [[Race (classification of human beings)|races]] also included.

There is an administration team that keeps the technical side of the network running, consisting of about 25 people.

Regular meetings are held where new developments are discussed. The great South African tradition of a [[braai]] is part of these meetings.

The main communication medium on PTAWUG is [[IRC]] as this technology enables all the 'wuggers' to speak to each other using PCs or cellphones, at the same time to easily plan expansion or discuss hardware/software problems on the network.

Many of the skills members learn by using and being involved in the network, are applied in their careers.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news |title=Free networks grow |language=en-US |url=http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/6180.html |access-date=2018-08-16}}</ref>

== Network Infrastructure ==

The lack of a stable periodical income prevents PTAWUG from renting equipment space on commercial towers in and around Pretoria, and all highsites are put up on privately owned properties, with the permission of the owners. Private properties and homes located in high areas are most frequently used for highsites, as they have a good line of sight to the surrounding areas providing greater coverage for connecting clients. There are currently four towers in use, of which three were built by the members, and access to the other one was arranged by one of the members. The rest of the highsites are located either on high buildings (like office blocks) or at private residences in strategic places.

Some facts and stats:

* Some users use [[Linksys]] [[WRT54GL]] routers to connect as well as [[Ubiquiti Networks|Ubiquity]] Nanostations.

* The [[IEEE 802.11a]] (5.8&nbsp;GHz) standard is preferred over [[IEEE 802.11b]] or [[IEEE 802.11g]] (2.4&nbsp;GHz) as commercialisation in the 2.4&nbsp;GHz range over recent years is a cause of high noise levels (measured in SNR or Signal to Noise Ratio), especially with commercial service providers distributing [[ADSL]] WiFi Modems freely with their service contracts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Free Modem Bundles |url=http://www.telkom.co.za/athome/products/dsl/home_reduced.html}}</ref>

* There are 700&nbsp;km of point to point backbone links running on PTAWUG, mostly using 27dbi grid antennas and running at 48Mbit/s.

* Network throughput may vary from a few kB/second up to as much as 4 MB/second depending on factors including network load, signal strength, signal quality and route length.

* The Border Gateway Protocol [[BGP]] routing protocol, is used to build and distribute the [[routing table]] between the highsites with [[static routing]] used for last mile routing purposes.

* The community is constantly testing and trying different [[wireless]] [[Quality of service]] (QOS) implementations to improve network usability and speed.

== Services Provided ==

All services are community built. The nature of the [[TCP/IP]] network provided serves as an opportunity for any user to install and provide [[Server (computing)|Servers]] or services for many possible [[Application software|applications]]. Due to the cost of Internet Services in [[South Africa]], many of these services provide free and open access to services that would otherwise deem a costly exercise.

* A [[weather station]] located in Moreleta Park, [[Pretoria]] is linked directly to the network - http://weather.bresler.co.za to be accessed freely by wug members.

* A myriad of popular gaming servers are hosted by users and [[on-line games]] are played on a daily basis.

* A [[VoIP]] server enables users to talk to each other via [[software]] and [[computer hardware|hardware]] phones.

* [[Open Source]] repositories are shared on a regular basis.

* Users share and contribute their [[Computer programming|programming]] and [[Computer network|networking]] skills.

* [[Wugtube]], User's videos as well as the hard work on High Sites are shared on a [[Server (computing)|server]] similar to [[YouTube]].

== Collaboration ==

* The Pretoria Wireless Users Group works closely with the Johannesburg Area Wireless Users Group (JAWUG) - they have two backbone links running between them - 22&nbsp;km and 55&nbsp;km. PTAWUG also swaps ideas with [[Cape Town Wireless Users Group]] (see: http://www.ctwug.za.net/) and [[Durban Wireless Community]].

* http://www.mybroadband.co.za, a well known local technology news website also supports both PTAWUG and [[South African wireless community networks#Johannesburg WUG (JAWUG)|Jawug]] by providing the wugs with publicity as well as sponsoring meetings. On 30 December 2008, [[mybroadband]] sponsored R4600 towards the PTAWUG Lyttleton highsite.

== Growth ==

In the past year (2007-2008) the network has exploded from 4 users to 500+ users,<ref name="auto" /> all helping each other, playing games, sharing tips etc.

The network grows at the rate of about 10 new users a month. PTAWUG has also extended its network by connecting to several other wireless networks including [[JAWUG]] (Johannesburg Wireless Users Group). The exponential growth is mainly attributable to the free-for-all and open community principals governing PTAWUG, as users contribute their time, income and knowledge freely without hindrance of a [[Board of governors|governing body]]. The vast interest in [[Information technology|IT]] and [[Information and communication technologies|ICT]] amongst a very broad range of South Africans, coupled with the limitations in affordable South African commercial communication solutions further ensure rapid growth of PTAWUG, and other South African wireless user groups.

== See also ==

* [[South African wireless community networks]]

* [[List of wireless community networks by region#South Africa|List of wireless community networks in South Africa]]

; Other wireless networks operating in and around [[Pretoria]]

* The Mereka Institute at the [[Council for Scientific and Industrial Research|CSIR]] is operating a Pretoria Mesh<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pretoria Mesh |url=http://wirelessafrica.meraka.org.za/wiki/index.php/ |access-date=2008-12-03 |publisher=CSIR Mereka Institute}}</ref>

== References ==

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

* http://www.ptawug.co.za Pretoria Wireless User Group

* http://www.wug.za.net South Africa Wireless User Groups

* http://wirelessafrica.meraka.org.za/wiki/index.php/Links Meraka - Wireless Africa

* http://mybroadband.co.za/news/wireless/15676-ICASA-gives-PTAWUG-high-site-stamp-approval.html - ICASA gives PTAWUG high site stamp of approval

* http://mybroadband.co.za/news/wireless/14088-Free-high-speed-community-network-shows-sustainability.html - Free, high speed community network shows sustainability

* http://mybroadband.co.za/news/wireless/13084-Free-wireless-network-Thousand-and-counting.html - Free wireless network: Thousand and counting

* http://www.icasa.org.za/Legislation/ELECTRONICCOMMUNICATIONSACT/tabid/168/ctl/ItemDetails/mid/590/ItemID/59/Default.aspx ICASA Electronic Communications Act

* https://web.archive.org/web/20080704174905/http://www.businessleadership.org.za/documents/12568Telecomm_web.pdf Telecommunications prices in South Africa

* http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Wireless/4183.html - Free networks gain ground, MyADSL, South African Technology News website

* http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/6180.html - Free networks grow, MyADSL, South African Technology News website

* http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Wireless/8478.html - No Speed Limits, No Caps

* http://blog.sabinet.co.za/2009/09/03/wireless-user-groups/ - Blog entry about PTAWUG

* https://archive.today/20101221042700/http://www.techtalk.za.net/2008/12/09/wireless-user-groups-wug-free-bandwidth/ - Blog post, Wireless User Groups (WUG), Free bandwidth?

* https://web.archive.org/web/20101221042136/http://www.mpld.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2910 - Forum entry and pictures of the installation of Die Wilgers tower

* http://weather.bresler.co.za/ - Pretoria Weather Station also accessible from inside the network

{{refend}}

== External links ==

* [http://www.ptawug.co.za PTAWUG Homepage]

* [http://www.facebook.com/PTAWUG PTAWUG Facebook page]

[[Category:Telecommunications in South Africa]]

[[Category:Organizations established in 2007]]

[[Category:2007 establishments in South Africa]]