Welcome to Richmond Free Wireless

Richmond Free WiFi, a member of the Virginia WiFi Company initiative is a community-driven, volunteer-based, bandwidth-donor-sharing FREE ACCESS Wireless_mesh_network that is growing to cover the city of Richmond,_Virginia and her surrounding areas.

Specific features include:

• Bandwidth donor private network isolation. - this means that no one may access our generous bandwidth donors’ private networks. Users only get access to the Internet and that’s it. Our donors’ files and private computers are protected.
• Easy to Deploy. - A donor plugs a node into a broadband Internet connection; that person’s neighbors stick nodes to their windows, and a mesh network of up to hundreds of people forms automatically, helping to expand and grow Richmond Free Wireless.
• Speeds up to 1Mbps down and 250kbps up. - Not too bad for a free network!
• Protection from phishing (identify-theft) websites via OpenDNS (certain gateways only)

Check out the rest of our website for more, comprehensive info.

• Expand the Network by Hosting a Node - if you have Internet service you’d like to share or even if you just wish to expand the network
• Richmond Free Wireless blog - located at http://blog.richmondfreewifi.org/ - provides up-to-date news about our marketing efforts, node locations, etc.
• Discussion Forums - located at http://forums.vawifico.org/ - the discussion forum of our parent organization, The Virginia WiFi Company, categorized by network including the RFW network.
• Businesses, apartment complexes, housing communities, etc. - offer your tenants/patrons/residents access
• Detailed information about Richmond Free WiFi including the FAQ page
• Suggest an Access Point location via our discussion forum - suggested input guidelines may be seen via this post.
• Media Plugs & Mentions - Check out what the press has to say about our project.
• Our Supporters and Benefactors
• Online Donations & Marketing/Promotional Materials - if you enjoy using our network and/or would like to purchase t-shirts, stickers, etc., show your support here
• Virginia WiFi Company - if you’re interested in starting a regional network in your area, visit our parents’ site

Richmond Free WiFi, labeled as a "community access network" or CAN, is a community-driven effort to provide free high-speed Internet access to Richmond City residents and businesses with the aid of community volunteers and supporters.

Note: we recommend using Firefox to view the following pages. Feel free to download it here:

• Hardware Info
• Network/Locations Map
• Network Status
• Data Transferred Overview & Map - opens in a new browser window

Below is a list of current access locations in throughout the area providing Internet access. A live map showing the location of access points and current number of connected users is to the right. You will need a computer/laptop (Windows, Macintosh, Linux, etc.) with a wireless (802.11b/g) card or a Meraki Mini to connect to Richmond Free WiFi. The wireless SSID is “VAWiFiCo” (why VAWiFiCo?). Before you will be able to access the Internet, you will need to open a web browser, attempt to browse any web page and click continue on our splash page.

From the FAQ - What is the naming convention for nodes?

A node name consists of four parts separated by dashes. The first field is the node location, Indoors or Outdoor. The second field is the type of antenna, Omnidirectional or Directional. The third field is the node name, which is typically the street the node is located on. The last field is the node number at that location. For example:

O-O-2000 W Grace St-001 - This node is located Outdoors, with an Omnidirectional antenna, has a node name of 2000 W. Grace St and is node number 001 at that location.

Near an access point and want to log on? Check out our instructions here.

If you’d like to help out by hosting an access point, simply fill out the following form. Note: please add to your e-mail spam filtering whitelist, safelist, or address book to ensure you receive our reply