1995 Suburban WiFi Project (Under $200)

[mistaake]

For what he's talking about, it's a "while parked" thing. There's no way you could hold onto a signal from someone elses router long enough to do anything while driving down the road. He's just grabbing other people's signal.

Although I guess you could find a bus or something with internet service and tail it down the highway.

Yeah... I don't intend to use WiFi while driving. But I guess I could tail a bus if I had a passenger who wants to use the internet. The system is primarily designed for stationary use only.

 

[1999gmc]

OK. Thats what I thought, but figured I'd ask. There are so many starbucks and truckstops along freeways out here, it would be badass to have something that was looking for a wifi signal ahead of where you are to grab on to before you lost the one you passed.

 

[mistaake]

OK. Thats what I thought, but figured I'd ask. There are so many starbucks and truckstops along freeways out here, it would be badass to have something that was looking for a wifi signal ahead of where you are to grab on to before you lost the one you passed.

Thing is that most public hotspots use some sort of "portal" or "paywall" which would interrupt the actual connection and basically render the whole thing useless. It would not make for a good experience in terms of streaming music, video, etc. or even just browsing the web if every other page is a portal authentication page. If I wanted to only use open networks I would have to a. connect b. ping something like 8.8.8.8 c. if response is not received disconnect and move on

The logic for that would be extremely complex... and I don't think the Ubiquiti Bullet even has an API to work with so it would be darn near impossible.

 

[1999gmc]

Thing is that most public hotspots use some sort of "portal" or "paywall" which would interrupt the actual connection and basically render the whole thing useless. It would not make for a good experience in terms of streaming music, video, etc. or even just browsing the web if every other page is a portal authentication page. If I wanted to only use open networks I would have to a. connect b. ping something like 8.8.8.8 c. if response is not received disconnect and move on

The logic for that would be extremely complex... and I don't think the Ubiquiti Bullet even has an API to work with so it would be darn near impossible.

Yeah totally. Back in the day they made a black box or scrambler I think they called it to get free cable. So it will probably be a matter of time before someone figures something similar for free internet

 

[mistaake]

Streakwave shipped the items in two shipments... one will be here tomorrow and the other will be here at the end of the week. It always sucks to wait for one item when the rest of the order is already here.

 

[95C1500]

I've always thought wifi in a car would be an awsome thing to have but it's not something I'd ever spend the time or moeny to do. Really looking forward to seeing how you do this and how it all looks

 

[mistaake]

I've always thought wifi in a car would be an awsome thing to have but it's not something I'd ever spend the time or moeny to do. Really looking forward to seeing how you do this and how it all looks

My way for under $200 is just slightly cheaper than a 2015 Suburban with WiFi... http://www.chevrolet.com/culture/article/4g-lte.html

 

[1999gmc]

This setup would be perfect for our RV. If this works out well for you I'd like to do it for our camper or possibly my truck.

 

[df2x4]

I've always thought wifi in a car would be an awsome thing to have but it's not something I'd ever spend the time or moeny to do.

It is an awesome thing. Years and years ago I had a '93 Nissan Maxima with a laptop mount setup between the front seats. This was back in the days of PCMCIA expansion cards. I had a dedicated card from Sprint that gave my laptop EVDO data, which was the fastest cellular wireless available at the time. Think it was around $40/month. I was a dumb teenager so the most I usually did with it was download albums or videos to play at parties in the middle of nowhere and stuff, it was a lot of fun though. Also had an early Garmin GPS system, which was badass on a 14" screen. Think the most fun was the Nintendo 64 emulators with Adaptoid USB adapters, though. I had to have someone else drive my car once in a while so I could enjoy playing Mario Kart 64 while moving. I got mistaken for an undercover police officer a few times in parking lots with that big ol' screen lit up.

 

[someotherguy]

Didn't have a data connection but back in the day I ran my old Thinkpad in the wrecker, with a Holux GPS receiver for MS Streets & Trips. 15" GPS = awesome when you're driving to random locations for a living. Had Winamp with gigs of MP3's, bunch of downloaded cartoons, bring a DVD or two along for downtime, etc. The speakers weren't loud enough to be heard over the 7.3 so I used a cheapo cassette adapter to run it over the truck's speakers.

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These days I've got a Panasonic Toughbook that is showing its age but still working well; touchscreen is nice and backlit keyboard great for night work. Verizon 4G LTE "jet pack" hot spot for data connection and a bluetooth-connected portable printer is handy, too. This is a shot of it from years ago in my previous truck but still running the same basic setup.

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Richard