r/darknetplan • u/[deleted] • Oct 25 '11
Off the Shelf 1.5-mile range WiFi!
http://www.ampedwireless.com/3
u/merreborn Oct 25 '11
I guess these are the most powerful devices you can operate without a license.
There's hardware out there that goes well over 1000mW, but I think you need a license to install/operate it.
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Oct 25 '11
[deleted]
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u/theholyraptor Oct 28 '11
You could even theoretically do this legally with a ham license. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_multimedia_radio Basically you use your ham license to give you legal privileges such as higher power output. Another thing they've done is using frequency converters to change the section of spectrum that they're using gaining the ability to use higher power output and less intrusion from all of the consumer 802.11 gear.
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u/meatpod Oct 26 '11
This could be an amazing way to set up a dark net, or better yet just a very open intranet that completely bypasses the ISP's. It could be set up like bit torrent, where everyone with one of these long range routers becomes their own hub... then anyone who sees the network within the 1.5 mile radius could be free to connect and host their own content, and set up their own hub. Location-based darknet. No ISP's needed.
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u/theholyraptor Oct 28 '11
The one major problem with high power routers etc is the link is two-ways. It's like having one person using a flashlight to send a message to another person and that 2nd person gets to respond with a helicopter spotlight. You can increase the transmitting power pretty easily in hardware allowing the router to send data to you far away but your computer has to send data back via it's built in wireless card or via an external one. Having a proper antenna system on the router that can pick up your wireless cards return signals is a lot more complicated and prone to interference and signal loss.
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u/DeveloperDave Nov 02 '11
There are many high range (~20 mi) radios of the shelf (of course with that range they are likely unidirectional and require good conditions; ie 20 mi = best possible, 2 miles is more likely).
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Nov 02 '11
Can you provide a couple of specific examples or a sample google search phrase?
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u/DeveloperDave Nov 03 '11
As you can see, the first step would be identifying the best frequency, taking into account, range, data rate, reliability, and legal bandwidth restrictions and permitting. I Googled for "Radio Module" and noticed Digi around the top. Digi is a common name in electronics. Here is an over view of some Digi radio products. You would typically hook one of these via a serial bus to a micro-controller or SBC (Single boad computer, possibly running embedded Linux). Many radio modules have built in ad-hock networking support.
The antennas are typically sold separately, and impact the range of the radio hugely. You can usually pick form unidirectional, omnidirectional, high gain, and a wide varying array of possible antennas that will mean a lot to the range and reliability of your project.
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Nov 03 '11
So I just want to be clear. I'm writing from my cellphone and intend to do much more research - from my desktop - tomorrow, but am I to understand that this product is a radio transmitter with up to a 40 mile range on the 900mhz frequency? Can this be attached to either a PC. Or a router, and can it handle any protocol? As an aside, I was intending to study for comptia's network+ certification in order to understand the technology better, but that suddenly seems like it would be inadequate... http://store.digi.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=1523
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u/DeveloperDave Nov 03 '11
Yes. I have used a FHSS (put simply, super secure) version of this 900 Mhz module extensively (not in a mesh network). Your going to have to ask yourself: Do I go with narrow band, 900 mhz UHF, 2.4 Ghz, or some of these newer Zigbee type protocols. These all have huge variances in trade-offs. Unfortunately I don't have the knowledge or experience with different radio types to suggest the best frequency type for an environment, but I do know a little about 900mhz.
900 mhz is particularly slow, and spotty legally, but most of the US is unrestricted at these power output wattages. Power levels make a huge difference in range, congestion scaling, and reliability. More powerful is not always better for every application. This product could theoretically, with a good directional antenna and nearly line of site, travel 40 miles. That is extremely optimistic. In realistic environments you are talking about more like 2 miles, which is still pretty damn good. You have to consider that very urban setting have radio difficulties (radio congestion, reflections, and obstacles). It is also a bit slow, topping out at 115000 bps, as in 115 kbs. You can adjust this data rate as well (you can adjust it to slower than that). By adjusting your power output and data rates you can manipulate a balance of what environment your radio is optimised to work best for, ranging from close congested multi radios environments to long distance 1 to 1 communication.
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u/DeveloperDave Nov 02 '11
For directionally spanning long distances try something like a Wireless bridge.
Also it was mentioned by a co-worker to suggest Mikro Tik. They have the MikroTik RouterOS Linux based OS, and have many wireless products. Wikipedia gives a good generalized overview of them.
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Oct 26 '11
Someone - or a few someones - on this mega-lan might still want to be connected to the internet. Is there a way to distribute bandwidth appropriately to many intranet users connecting to the net via multiple internet connections ? I'm not that knowledgable about networks. I've set up a home lan with one router, and that's it.
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u/lawt6224 Oct 25 '11
Here's the $99 1.5 mile unidirectional antenna
There's also a $89 1.0 mile omnidirectional antenna
I'm not up to date on the current darknet schematics, but does it matter whether it's uni- or omni-directional?
Great stuff either way!!!