Free internet idea?

So I've got this crazy idea that's probably impossible, but it would be a fun project to do.

Can I connect to the phone tower and get free internet using an antenna and some adequate software?
 The reason why I want to do this is because internet here costs a lot and I would like a little internet boost, I'm not a coder nor an engineer, rather a slightly advanced user that's fed up with their ISPs

PS. I don't wanna steal internet, I'm still going to pay for my original connection (Yes, I'm bending the rules :P ) 

Where are you from?

Egypt, the internet prices here are terrible (~140 Sterilng pounds for 1mbps), fiber is only available for those who want it (You pay everything including the installation of the equipment, cables, etc) which would cost more than what our family eats in a year!

That is not gonna work because you're gonna be blocked.  You'll be thrown a request at their network and their gonna shut ya down.  It is not like electricity or a water-pipe; ya need your user-name & password, which they've authorized/enabled on their network, to allow to you tap in.

You should just go in on the internet with a neighbour.  You, or them, have it set it up, and the other guy(s) pulls off the WLAN with an access-point to his own LAN.

 

maybe you should look into cjdns, freifunk and hyperboria

In situations like that, you can use long range wifi, for example suppose a few mines away, there is an ISP which is offering faster service for less money, or if you have a bunch of people in the ara willing to help pay for a fast connection from a different ISP.

 

Then someone in the proper area for a better ISP, they can probably purchase a nice 20-100mbit connection, install a high power AP and a high gain yagi antenna onto a tall pole, and you can do the same in your area, and get a good point to point network going. that service can then be shared with people in your area who will also pay to help cover the cost of the service.

 

If there is no competition in your area, then you will end up with high prices for crappy service.

 

There is no way to get 100% free internet, as at some point, it has to connect to some kind of level3 host which can provide you with an interconnect with all other ISP's

 

The most you can hope for in situations like that, is to have a few trusted people near you who you feel safe sharing a connection with (you can put therm on VLAN's if needed, you just do not want to have someone downloading CP on your connection.

After that, check if where are any services available that will give you more speed for the money, for example, if an ISP is offering you are paying 5 mbit for $50, and the ISP will upgrade you to 10mbit for $20 more, then you can set up a good router with 2 VLAN's QOS set to share the bandwidth as equally as possible, then you and a neighbor pay $35 each for what you would pay $50 each separately.

 

With many ISP's the price per megabit goes down as you move to faster packages right up until you get to a package on the extreme end of the spectrum. So if you have people you can trust, then money can be saved by sharing a single connection, and simply giving each home its own VLAN.

So basically that's a no, oh well.
I'll try and do Razor's idea if I gather enough people (ISPs here are pretty damn expensive so I'll need a lot of people though)