[ Humphrey Cheung Tue, 05 Apr 2005 01:46:16 -0700 Hello all,
Anyone played around with mobile satellite internet before? I'm looking to provide wifi access to a spot in the desert ... ] I have a van with mobile satellite-DSL (WAN), based around a Linksys WRT54G (LAN). I have a 14dbi Backfire directional WiFi antenna (also a 15dbi omni I bought from wlanparts.com), connected to a 1-watt amplifier (from wlanparts.com)..going to 1 of the antenna ports of the WRT54G: http://bitd1000day2.textamerica.com/?r=2840451 [ you can barely make out the Backfire antenna ] I've used a PDA (HP iPAQ w/built-in camera & WiFi..*internal* antenna) to get images/videos up to the web. You can see samples at: http://bitd1000day2.textamerica.com http://bitd1000day3.textamerica.com http://bitd1000day4.textamerica.com http://bitd1000day2.textamerica.com [ this is Nevada between Beatty & Tonopah, practically non-existent cellphone coverage. I had to go satellite-DSL. I bought hardware from wlanparts.com to get *extended* range beyond my van's base-station WRT54G. I got 25-30 yds. In the city, I got about 2 blocks of range. The lack of an external antenna on the HP iPAQ pda is hurting me ] Interestingly enough, during that July 29-30 project (Las Vegas to Utah), I myself was in Las Vegas doing an OffRoad Race: http://terriblescup.textamerica.com Since it was Vegas, I didn't have to use satellite-DSL..I just used SprintPCS & Cingular cellphone networks to upload images: A) pics/videos using camera cellphones B) digital SLR w/WiFi adapter -> PDA (over WiFi), PDA -> Bluetooth cellphone (over BT), BT cellphone -> Internet (Cingular GPRS) B) was really interesting (3 wireless technologies in series), I got a high-res picture of a race-car up to the Web like 4 minutes after it went by me: http://terriblescup.textamerica.com/?r=2985653 ---------------- I want to do video-streaming, using a Powerbook 1.5Ghz using a DV video-camera & Quick Time Broadcaster. Over WiFi to the WRT54G base-station in my van. I'm doing this offroad race (short-course) at the end of Sept, where my van will be parked some distance away. Something like 50 yds or so (don't know for sure). Will that Backfire antenna + 1-watt amplifier work, or do I need to upgrade? Do I need a Wireless card for the Powerbook, w/external antenna? (or can the antenna for the Powerbook's built-in WiFi, be "brought outside" & I can attach an external-antenna? [ The Powerbook alreadys works with a Verizon EVDO PC5220 wireless card, with Wilson external antenna http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/antennas/wcmagnet.htm ..except, I want to use the PC5220+Wilson antenna for a PC laptop. A friend will be using this to stream video at 56kbps upload over Verizon's cellphone network ] Has anyone tried video-streaming at 56kbps? For the Powerbook solution (using QT Broadcaster), I need Apple servers running QT Streaming Server (or Unix box running Darwin Streaming Server). Can anyone give me any leads for an outfit which does this? I've been told that the Window Media solution is better for small data-rates. Can someone recommend a good ISP, for streaming-servers? I got a fast response from Playstream.com, when I queried them.
