Mesh Less Cost of Wireless 

Such a system could reduce the amount of dropped calls and spotty coverage, which can arise when the cell tower is overwhelmed with calls. It would be easier and cheaper to install a mesh network and more affordable for customers to use, Stanforth said.

The one disadvantage of this relay system is a slight latency -- usually lasting milliseconds.

"We felt that this was the way wireless should be done in the future," Stanforth said. "The ability to use a lower-powered radio to help with the whole cost of scalability -- that's really what it's all about it."

A couple of groups that won't view this technology as a convenience are the phone companies and cable service providers.

Considering that they installed the broadband pipelines to begin with, they don't like the idea of residents selling the bandwidth or giving it away for free, McAteer said.

Even if the more open-minded telcos were to allow it -- Anderson said he's been approached by an Internet service provider open to bandwidth sharing -- this doesn't mean that the residents will go for it.

"First of all you would have to have an agreed upon protocol to authenticate users and give access across a host of networks, cooperating access-point providers and getting everyone to agree to share," McAteer said. "I think it's a stretch."