Re: the 3G on-board approach, assuming you have 110vac on the bus,
something like MB8000 mobile bridge from Top Global should work. Our
city folks piloted this on an express bus run a couple of years ago
(altho' staring at the screen on a moving bus is for younger eyes ;-),
and we bought one for use as a mobile hot spot to support short notice
events. Takes most any 3G cellular card, and simple to configure.
Best.
garret
Garret Yoshimi
Director, Technology Infrastructure
University of Hawaii
Jonn Martell wrote:
Hi Lee,
The reason why I'm not optimistic about WLAN outside-in for this use
is because it was never designed to provide roaming at anything more
than walking speeds. I'm sure that some vendors are better than
others using proprietary ways but in my vehicular tests on campus, the
roaming capability didn't prove to be a success. Even bicycle speeds
might be too much.
For a modern day WLAN network to be a success (IMHO), they would have
to implement Enterprise WPA2 and if you think we have
re-authentication fun on a campus mobile level, I can just imagine
doing this at a XX AP per second level while moving on a bus.
I'd advocate that a per-bus Wi-Fi AP is the best architecture. The
outside-to-outside(WWAN)+inside-to-inside(WLAN) wireless seems to be
the best architecture especially in regards to user experience,
frequency reuse and power management.
... Jonn Martell, [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.martell.ca
On Wed, Nov 19, 2008 at 5:56 PM, Lee H Badman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi John-
Actually some busses have gone the route you describe. Here's one in San
Francisco:
http://thecityfix.com/the-wireless-on-the-bus-makes-the-wheels-go-round-
and-round/
and a bus line in Singapore does it as well, for examples.
But back to my notion of outside-in coverage...
If you think about the classic activity of war-driving, you're typically
trying to find wireless networks from within a vehicle, which is largely
a rolling Faraday cage- just like a bus. I have external antennas, but
rarely bother with them during my often very successful, shall we say,
"explorations" in this area.
So perhaps another somewhat simplistic way of looking at the idea of
outside-in coverage for rolling busses is that you're setting up a
really good war-driving target for passengers (as casual users) to be
able to "find" and use. Seems like even a less-than-optimal WiFi
"corridor" along a 30 MPH or less bus route *may* provide throughputs as
good as a cellular-based access point that's at one end of a bus full of
signal-attenuating people.
Maybe. Not really trying to prove a point- just free wheelin' here:)
-Lee
Lee H. Badman
Wireless/Network Engineer
Information Technology and Services
Syracuse University
315 443-3003
-----Original Message-----
From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jonn Martell
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 7:01 PM
To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU
Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Wireless coverage for bus riders
Hi Lee,
I would not even dare to do it with WLAN if the plan is to get
connectivity to a moving bus from outside the bus. If the goal is to
get users connectivity in a non-moving bus, not sure how significant
that would be for users (how long do buses stay stationary?).
To make it of real use, I would use licensed stuff (3G and 4G) to the
moving bus and have an AP inside the bus for end-user connectivity.
Not sure why the transportation and transit systems haven't gone that
route (no pun intended!).
... Jonn Martell, [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.martell.ca
On Wed, Nov 19, 2008 at 12:26 PM, Lee H Badman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
In the name of "what if", wondering if any school has installed
infrastructure specifically intended to provide WLAN to bus riders on
campus? I'm talking strictly outside-in coverage, no radio magic on
the bus
itself. If so, how's it working for you and just as important, do you
get
the sense that anyone appreciates it?
Regards-
Lee
Lee H. Badman
Wireless/Network Engineer
Information Technology and Services
Syracuse University
315 443-3003
********** Participation and subscription information for this
EDUCAUSE
Constituent Group discussion list can be found at
http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
**********
Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent
Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
**********
Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group
discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
**********
Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group
discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
**********
Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group
discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
