And other cities--including Philadelphia and New York--are considering metropolitan wireless mesh networks of their own.

FORBES: Think You're Wireless? Think Again

Alternatively, it can group applications and files in terms of who is connected on the wireless mesh.

ECONOMIST: The $100 laptop is fast becoming a reality

Wireless mesh networks, comprised of a large number of tiny nodes were set up in a specific area.

FORBES: How Sensor Networks Add to Context

That's why engineers are developing a new technology called wireless mesh.

FORBES: Think You're Wireless? Think Again

Consumer electronics equipped with wireless mesh hardware could easily become a part of ad hoc networks in your house, allowing users to easily share music and video between their computer, TV or stereo.

FORBES: Think You're Wireless? Think Again

If traditional wireless networks work like fire trucks, mesh networks are more like a bucket brigade.

FORBES: Think You're Wireless? Think Again

The system utilizes equipment from Proxim Wireless -- namely the company's 100 ORiNOCO AP-4000MR mesh access points -- and adding CCTV video surveillance cams, VoIP channels, and GPS capabilities are all in the cards.

ENGADGET: River Thames' banks now WiFi-enabled via mesh networking

The change came as Itron's research group in Paris realized it could exploit inexpensive new wireless chips and open-source software to create a so-called mesh network of electric meters that passed information among themselves, like firemen in a bucket brigade, instead of relying on expensive and less reliable individual connections to the Internet.

FORBES: Magazine Article