SAN FRANCISCO — Meraki Networks is bringing free wireless Internet connections to users here, using a "Free the Net" campaign that encourages volunteers to install Meraki-provided repeaters in their windows that beam wi-fi signals to their neighborhoods.

In less than a month, more than 1,000 people have responded, creating a network that currently extends several square miles and has an estimated 5,500 users.

"That would be great. We'd be able to get more subscribers and, hopefully, more money,"