One
of the ways in which ham radio can help fill in gaps in internet service when
normal infrastructure is knocked out is via ad-hoc self-organizing RF computer
networks, now referred to as Broadband Hamnet. Flying mostly under the radar so
far, the technology now seems poised for a significant boost in usability,
according to several reports on both Newsline and the ARRL Letter.
In
March, the developers of Broadband Hamnet announced a firmware upgrade for
users of both Linksys WRT54G and Ubiquiti wireless routers, and a group calling
itself the AREDN Project introduced new software for what it calls the Amateur
Radio Emergency Data Network, or AREDN. According to Newsline, AREDN
is being described as a new way by which hams providing emergency
communications can support needs for high-speed data transmission. The AREDN
software works with the mesh networks created using Broadband Hamnet and allows
the interconnection of laptops, cell phones and other wireless devices. The
networks may (or may not) also connect to the Internet. More information on
AREDN is available from <www.aredn.org>.
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| A typical Broadband Hamnet mesh network. (From broadband-hamnet.org) |
Meanwhile,
the ARRL Letter reports that a group of hams in Utah successfully
deployed a Broadband Hamnet mesh network in support of a Boy Scouts
"Scouting for Food" project in March. The group set up a network of
13 nodes across the Salt Lake Valley, linking back to the local scout
headquarters and transmitting live video and audio from each of the food
drop-off points and the truck dispatch location. Described by one of the
participants as "Wi-Fi on steroids," the 2.4-GHz network covered
distances of more than eight miles from the central hub site.
