Thanks for the info, Garret- I also see a lot of Compex gear show up in my monitoring, in emergency vehicles and itinerant busses passing through.
In my conversational exercise, the chances of putting any such hardware on the particular busses in question is next to nill, though. 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 Garret Yoshimi Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 9:34 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Wireless coverage for bus riders 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: [email protected] >> 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/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
