A Brief History of a small project

SEATONNET began as a proof of concept in the early days of the Wi-Fi free-for-all and the chance introduction to an english company that wrote management software for Hotspots that provided the necessary support for a fledgling idea.

Begun in 2005 as a community project it was intended to put up as many masts as possible in the area of Seaton and Beer to build a complex network of wifi that would enable the large contingent of foreign workers to have immediate and low cost internet access for just the price of a wireless dongle and a daily or weekly fee for access.

The first antennas went up at Manor Farm Caravan site and were moderately successful but, the incline of the hills and the proximity of huge masts and power lines meant that the constant interference reduced the efficiency of the signal. It still operates effectively today, but only at the top end of the fields.

Thereafter, antennas went up over at the Holiday Camp, Fore Street, Eyewell Green, and half a dozen other locations in Seaton and then our first was put up in Beer (Mare Lane) aiming down into the village. Then finally BeerHead Caravan Park wanted Wifi for their residents and this was installed along with Pioneer cottages and the Barrel of Beer Pub.

There was a one time coverage of over 65% of Seaton and 60% of Beer but with the economic downturn it proved difficult to maintain the Seaton side at a profitable level on many of the aerials and also maintenance proved difficult when houses changed owners and service was interrupted so, in the end many locations fell out of use.

Today, in 2011, we still have strong zones of connections in Beer but Seaton has virtually died out with the exception of the Manor Caravan Park and Eyewell Green.

Currently the annual running costs account for all of the income generated during the peak summer period of July/August/September and at around £2,000 a year there has had to be some pruning of the service to keep it operational. In addition, we really need to do a fairly intensive upgrade of the software infrastructure to bring the service bang up to date for the next 5 years so we have increased our prices this year by about 15% to help pay for this.

We are also looking at the possibility of commercial sponsorship by local businesses to widen the platform and stabilise its income for the future so, watch this space for further news during the year.

Regards

The SEATONNET Team