Mobile Wireless Internet

[Ken Baker]

We have a lot of soccer travel. While traveling, we have wireless internet in the hotels, but not at the soccer fields. There is a lot of downtime at the fields, warming up, cooling down, etc. I am half-way between no internet needs and the needs for a 3G card, so have not made the jump.

The idea would be to support wireless internet access on remote locations using satellite connection. The hardware would be pretty straight-forward (generator, satellite dish, hub, wireless port). Problem would be that it would have to be weatherproof.

[Ken Baker]

Hi Steve,

It is the shared through-put that scared me away from this simple solution. If you are going to try to build a business case, I would want to have a guaranteed level of service. Also, would want to ensure we were honoring all contracts, if we were selling the service.

Thanks for the comments.

[Leonard Knight]

I just listened to a couple of podcasts complaining about internet access at a trade show/conference. Apparently most convention centers are not handling the bandwidth requirements very well. A few MHS systems parked strategically around the facility may be the solution!

Jason Calacanis told of TechCrunch50 internet woes in a recent TWiT podcast. http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/10/day-two-at-techcrunch-we-have-...

[Michael Berger]

I started working on an idea like this after Katrina. Where does this stand?

[Leonard Knight]

I have it on the EOK project site. Currently I have it grouped with Broadband Wi-Fi but could break it out as a separate project. You should have access; if not, let me know.

http://eokhq.projectpath.com

[Rachel Martinez]

I saw a flyer for this (http://www.autonetmobile.com/) while in the auto parts store the other day and thought of your project.

[Joe Campbell]

I had an idea somewhat like this but dealing with campground areas. To be able to check email, get weather reports, find out about area attractions, or making reservations and such would be great. I have looked at some of the internet kiosk software/hardware. A hotspot could be incorporated to this. Requirements would be, of course, would be a fast internet connection, captive portal software to keep someone from being able to surf out without paying, and a wifi access point. The kiosk could display ads for area businesses when not on the internet. The selling of ad space would offset the cost of operation when a customer is not paying to surf. Surfing to let's say weather info could be free. Paid access could be in in blocks of minutes. Site blocking is a must. You would not want someone surfing to a porn site on a public terminal. There is so much to discuss on possibilities for such a system, way to much to post here.

Joe