Seeking Neighborhood Area Network Comments

Hi,

My name is David Noack and I'm a technology correspondent with
Investor's Business Daily newspaper.

I'm doing a story on Neighborhood Area Networks (NAN's) and would like
to get some comments as to the development and growth of these
networks, where anyone can set a NAN up and share the bandwidth with
neighbors.

I would like to get some comments from folks who have created these
networks and those who participate in them.

I have been reading some material that I have found online about some
projects in the Bay Area, Portland and Seattle. My questions may seem
simple and redundant at times. Since the story is for a non-technical
audience, I try to keep the jargon to a minimum and mainly explain
things in how they affect people.

Anyway, I've written some questions below. Feel free to answer what
you can. Your answers don't have to be very long, several paragraphs
for everything will do. The article runs about 800-1,000 words.

Here are some questions for your review.

How did NAN's develop? Was it a question of people not having
broadband access at home or was there another reason or combination of
reasons?

To put it simply, can a NAN be described as an extension of a LAN
within a home, but in this case, the geographic area is much larger
and there is more equipment used by both the provider and receiver of
the signal?

How do people create a NAN. How to people participate in a NAN? Is
there one central AP point to being with and an ad is placed somewhere
or information is made available that a NAN is being developed and who
would like to participate?

Is a NAN a money-making venture for some? They provide the access and
charge the participants? How do the companies that provide DSL or
cable access fell about this, since part of their business is being
taken away.

How widespread have NAN's become, what cities has started them and are
NAN's just an urban venture or can this also be duplicated in rural
areas?

What are the advantages/disadvantages to creating a NAN?

Is there any kind of government involvement in setting up a NAN in
terms of setting up equipment, etc?

Speaking of which, what is the most basic equipment needed in order to
setup a NAN?

With wireless speed increasing, does that bode well for NAN
development?

What has been your personal experience in either developing a NAN or
participating in a NAN.

Please include a little information about yourself, name, location
(city/state) will do, age and maybe generic occupation description.

It is not necessary to respond to the list. You can reply to me via
e-mail.

I look forward to hearing from you.

David Noack
Investor's Business Daily
http://www.investors.com
(E-Mail Removed)