Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 17:52:30 -0400 From: "Jim Stapleton" <stapleton.41@gmail.com> To: "Chris Whitehouse" <cwhiteh@onetel.com> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org, connexion@psand.net Subject: Re: Best solution - mobile wifi hotspot Message-ID: <80f4f2b20806051452i62ff9862vafb4091dafee2e81@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <48403EDE.1090409@onetel.com> References: <80f4f2b20805300608s13ec0fa7x7034f1a89ea07c46@mail.gmail.com> <48403EDE.1090409@onetel.com>
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On Fri, May 30, 2008 at 1:52 PM, Chris Whitehouse <cwhiteh@onetel.com> wrote: > Jim Stapleton wrote: >> >> My dad makes instruments and goes to a lot of festivals. They are >> typically in the middle of nowhere, without internet. Many vendors >> still bring notebooks as they provide quick & easy access to many >> things, but there is no internet. For credit cards, many use their >> cell phones to make the transaction. My dad wants to get a satellite >> connection (pure sattelite, no phone), and set up something to offer a >> wireless hotspot. >> - Some shows will just pay a flat fee, and have the hotspot open. >> - Some shows won't pay a fee, and so he'll want to charge to recover >> some of the cost. >> >> For the open hotspots, a simple wireless router will do. For the >> charge hotspots, we'd want something a little more flexible. My first >> thought was 'FreeBSD can do that!'. The trick is that we will be using >> battery power most of the time. Low power is the key. I'm thinknig >> sub-20W max power drain worst case, SUB 10-15W is ideal. >> >> >> With that background info, my questions are: >> 1) Is building a low power computer based on FreeBSD the right way to >> go? Or would you all recommend something else? What? >> 2) Does anyone have experience with the GeodeNX or VIA C7 boards >> available on NewEgg? Heads ups and pointers? >> 3) Does anyone have experiences with these and a given wireless >> adaptor, How good/bad is/was it? >> >> Thanks, >> -Jim Stapleton >> _______________________________________________ >> freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list >> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions >> To unsubscribe, send any mail to >> "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org" >> > > This particular wheel has already been invented several ways :) > > http://psand.net/ > > https://en.wiki.aktivix.org/SquatTelecoms Well, my dad wants to provide something for cheaper than hiring a third-party vendor to come out into the middle of nowhere and do this (amongst other things, since he's out there, he doesn't have to use hundreds of miles of gas + extra man hours). As for the second, that seems to be 'how to get an ISP', which he already has researched, he is more looking to /be/ the ISP. > To keep power down you probably want to opt for a dedicated wireless router > box not a computer (unless you are also saving bandwidth with squid etc). > And to generate electricity use wind or solar. Do you know of a wireless router that can provide individual user authentication, without requiring a complex setup? Some places may not want to pay for the internet connection, so he'll need to 'rent out' connection bandwidth to other vendors. Thanks, -Jim Stapleton
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