Re: WiFi hotspot BBS?   
     By: Cykros to All on Fri Jan 14 2011 03:55 am   
      
    >   Re: WiFi hotspot BBS?   
    >   By: Cykros to All on Fri Jan 14 2011 02:36 am   
    >    
    >  > So, I've had this idea for awhile, and figure it should be fairly doable,   
    >  > though I don't particularly know where to begin in figuring out how to ma   
    >  > work.  One thing I think that is lacking both in the BBS world and the   
    >  > internet in general these days is good local communication channels (they   
    >  > there, just not nearly as widely used as they were back in the pre-intern   
    >  > bbs days).  Getting the inspiration from wifi hotspots that send you   
    >  > automatically to a local web page as a portal when a browser is directed   
    >  > anywhere, I came up with the idea of setting up a BBS to connect this day   
    >  > through an external program (as much as I appreciate ftelnet, and would   
    >  > probably use it as a backup option, it's just not the same experience).     
    >  > I'm sure with enough digging I could probably figure it out on my own (an   
    >  > still anyway), I figured this may be something other people might be   
    >  > interested in doing, and thus is worth asking about on here for ideas on    
    >  > to set it up, and any other concerns that may arise out of this type of s   
    >  > I'm not entirely sure this echo is where it would best go (as this wifi   
    >  > hotspot need not actually route people to the internet at all), but I fig   
    >  > it was close, and meanwhile may help the place seem more "lived in" as ot   
    >  > people have put it.  Anyway, let me know if you have ideas about setting    
    >  > kind of thing up.  It even seems like the type of thing that releasing a   
    >  > fairly easy to install package may be worthwhile with.   
    >  >   
    >  > (Oh, and for those of you who don't think this would bring in enough user   
    >  > be worthwhile, consider that I'm posting from inside Boston...college stu   
    >  > everywhere with laptops, wifi that is mostly available in any large apart   
    >  > area, and lots of people jumping on when they see free wifi.  If nothing    
    >  > the novelty seems like it'd be a draw enough to get things going, and wou   
    >  > take no effort on the part of the users).   
    >  >   
    >  > Cykros   
    >  >   
    > Hello All   
    >    
    > One option I came across, though not all that elegant, would be setting up a   
    > DNS server that redirects all requests to the bbs (this would still be a web   
    > page, but a telnet:// link along with ftelnet wouldn't be the worst thing   
    > ever), and then set this DNS server up as the default on the wireless router   
    > I say not all that elegant because by manually configuring their DNS client,   
    > an end user can just find themselves on the internet, rather than through th   
    > makeshift captive portal.  On the other hand, if this isn't a big deal, then   
    > it seems a lot easier than the various captive portal software packages (mos   
    > of which seem to have a specific aim that isn't this one) or fussing around   
    > with iptables and using an extra computer as the router. Just figured I'd   
    > throw in this update, and still welcome any ideas on how to do this more   
    > elegantly from anyone with the expertise.   
    >    
    > Cheers,   
    > Cykros   
    > s   
    >    
    >    
      
      
    I also came across some info on this at http://wireless.gumph.org   
      
   zerwind   
      
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