Proponents of a new networking technology claim it has the potential to fill in regional internet black spots by creating a way for farmers to share access.

The project, called WISPS, relies on micro-computers to 'whisper' internet signal from one property to another.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 4 minutes 5 seconds 4 m 5 s Carsten Eckerman talks about the new mesh technology ( Joshua Becker ) Download 1.9 MB

Carsten Eckelmann, the director of 2pi Software based in the Bega Valley in south-east NSW, said the experimental technology relied on grassroots support and goodwill.

"What we are trying to do is give the internet to people who can't get NBN wireless or ADSL connection because they may behind a hill or any other natural obstruction," he said.

"The way this works is by placing really low cost internet smart devices on their properties that basically route the signal around the obstructions, and it is a way to share the internet with others in their community."

The concept behind the mesh network is gaining popularity in Europe, where hackers and makers are taking advantage of the boom in tiny yet powerful computer parts.

There is potential the prototypes could be dotted across a farm to transmit internet to current black spots.

"The receivers are very low cost. They are very low-powered computing devices," Mr Eckelmann said.

"We are thinking of creating a weatherproof box that includes the antenna, the computing device and a car battery linked to a solar panel that could run for weeks unattended.

"We hope to set these up at strategic locations in order to establish a mesh network that can circumvent any obstructions."

Mesh network reliant on community goodwill

At this stage it is not clear how reliable the internet would be and whether there is any potential to commercialise the technology.

There are also other questions around the legality of the technology and how downloads could be metered so the system did not get abused.

2pi Software is about to start a three-month trial in the Bega Valley to test whether the technology is viable.

"Of course people who can't get access to the NBN or to ADSL are very excited by this because they live off dongles and they are very expensive, very limiting, and even 3G connection isn't always very good in the bush," Mr Eckelmann said.

"But I also speak to people who get the NBN and don't need all this bandwidth and they say, 'I'd be happy to share that with my neighbour', and that shows the community aspect is really big in this area and makes it a great testing ground to try this out."