2008 1
Outdoor Foneras under development
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in General with No Comments
Here are a few pictures of a ruggedized Fonera for outdoor deployments. We built it with one of our Asian partners and we are now testing it. This is not a product announcement. As my readers know this is my blog and I share R&D projects as they evolve. But we have had a lot of requests for outdoor foneras and we are working on the concept.
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Pedro Assunção on December 1, 2008 ·
my vision of the ultimate outdoor Fonera would be one with 3G connectivity (just in case) and some kind of autonomous power supply (solar panels or something). It would make it easier to deployed in green areas like central park, places where people like to relax (while accessing there “@stuff” on the IPhone or EEE).
Would it be economically doable, i guess not.
By the way this fonera looks very cool…
AustinTX on December 1, 2008 ·
By Accton, isn’t it? 😛
This needs to have an integrated directional antenna, in the manner of a Fontenna, built into the front panel, and should be shipped with a pair of PoE adapters.
drummerdude on December 1, 2008 ·
could you tell us more about it and what you plan to do with it? how will it be powered? (maybe something like Meraki just did with their outdoor solar powered nodes)
Kyros on December 1, 2008 ·
Nice product, nice design. This could be a good product to make FON hotspots really good receivable for the FON clients. I hope it will be available soon.Agree: A directional antenna and a pair of PoE adapters would be a good idea. Perhaps as optional product sold cheaper in the set or as a second product version including all these extras?It would be nice to teach selected Foneros to install this product so they could provide a professional installation to customers.
Regards, KyrosPS: Let me update a long ago questioned suggestion:How about an e-mail function in the Fonero-messaging system so that engaged Foneros could contact their neighbour Foneros via e-mail for helping then enhancing / putting their FON-hotspots online?
Roetzen on December 2, 2008 ·
I like it, we have been waiting for something liket that for a long time. But unlike the others, I do not care much for an integrated directional antenna. I prefer external antennas as that gives the user a greater choice. Preferably it should have the option of connecting two external antennas so that the user can either connect a high gain omni to cover a circular area, or two biquads to cover a street.
AustinTX on December 2, 2008 ·
The FonPod (i’m calling it that… it seems to need a name, and this is most logical and catchy ;D ) also needs an optional rechargeable battery pack. Something which can hold 8-12 AA batteries. This should supply enough power, when connected in bypass of the power regulator, to keep it running all night as long as there has been a surplus collected during the day.
A presentation by Hak5.org found that 4 AA batteries will keep a La Fonera 1.x running for up to 5 hours this way. The pack also needs an external connector, and would benefit from a tiny regulator. This would allow the FonPod to be powered by photovoltaic panel, wind generator, or both!
Roetzen: the whole FonPod should be mounted on a simple one-axis pivot so you could attach it to a pole and aim it as desired. And of course, you could still disconnect it and use your own antenna. If device contains the LF1.1, 1.5 or 2.0 board, it will have an integrated dipole antenna already.
Kyros: PoE adapters cost so little in quantity. These should always be included. Perhaps the integrated antenna could be in FonPod 1.1?
FonPod.
FONPOD.
You like? 😉
RHarmsen on December 2, 2008 ·
Very nice Idea!!!!
Would be nice if the “FonPod” has more than just two antenna’s, so it would be possible to easilly create some sort of MESH network with them.
In that case you can cover a park with a bunch of these, and only need a few uplinks to provide the internet connection.
Also some sort of battery/accu pack with solar/wind energy would be great!!!
Hope to see some results in the future!
frank001 on December 2, 2008 ·
Very good!
Looking forward to the day, I can also connect practically to fonspots, not just theoretically.
Regards
frank001
Marco on December 2, 2008 ·
Hi Martin
I know it means signal losses – but can you provide it with an alternative flat cable? so one can close the window without drilling a hole…?
regards
Marco
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Paul RODTS on December 1, 2008 ·
Very Good Idea, it looks like a “fonhive” (beehive) to me ;-