MiWiFi was started in March of 2008 by two arts students, Geordie Barker and Edward Dowling. The two were frustrated at the lack of available, affordable wireless internet access in the Melbourne CBD and surrounds.
As students at the Victorian College of the Arts in Southbank they were constantly battling to gain access to the internet, and eventually worked alongside the student union to set up a router with an ADSL connection. This router only covered a 200m radius, but was instantly popular with the student body. After a few weeks, almost 200 students at the college signed up for the service, by paying their $66 student union membership. This service opened up a new form of communication within the student body and showed some promise for development and collaboration within the different disciplines at the college through online communities.
Both Geordie and Ed are self confessed nerds and as such spend a great deal of time surfing the internet. One lazy afternoon in January, Geordie stumbled across an article about the development of mesh networks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh_networks). He was excited by this article due to its potential to provide cost effective wireless internet gateways. He shared this with Ed who shared the same interest in the technology.
After almost two months of research on the technology, the market, the competition and the developing face of the internet, Geordie and Ed ‘bit the bullet’ so to speak and started MiWiFi with the aim to spread affordable, efficient wireless internet throughout Melbourne. As both of them were students at the VCA, they figured this was a good starting point as they knew the environment, and the potential customer base.
That brings us to today, the day this website has gone live. The hardware is on order and installation sites are being prepared. The system will begin beta testing (hopefully) towards the end of April, with a July live date in sight.
To assist in the wifi revolution, please email beta@miwifi.com.au
