Broadband-Hamnet™ Forum :: Applications
Board Index Latest Posts Welcome Guest   [Register]  [Login]
 Subject :Hotspots and smartphones?.. 2013-11-15- 20:27:43 
kg5us
Member
Joined: 2013-10-01- 20:50:29
Posts: 4
Location: San Antonio, TX

[Note: See also AC0LV's post ("WalkieTalkie and Androic")  in the 'General' category that addresses this issue.]

I'm a newbie to all this, but my understanding is that you can attach a non-modified WiFi router to a mesh node to create a hotspot from which anyone with WiFi can gain access to the mesh.

Assume you have two such hotspots (at separate locations) on a mesh.  Would that make it possible for users with smartphones (Android or iPhone) to converse between these locations using VOIP programs and their WiFi connections, in the absence of 'regular' cellular service? 

Has anyone tried this?  Is there a particular VOIP smartphone app that exists for this sort of thing?  Clearly Skype uses VOIP (I guess the basic mobile phone does, too!) so it's clearly possible.  But it needs to be peer-to-peer.

It seems that this could be extremely useful in the immediate aftermath of disasters such as Katrina or the typhoon in the Philippines.  If responders have the VOIP software on their phones, they don't need have a radio or to get to a radio, they just need to get to a hotspot. 

To me, if most people already carry smartphones with WiFi capability,  it seems more efficient to spend money creating hotspots than on hardware VOIP adaptors.

Comments?
IP Logged
Last Edited On: 2013-11-17- 01:57:52 By kg5us for the Reason Someone had already answered this question in another forum
 Subject :Re:Hotspots and smartphones?.. 2013-11-16- 15:20:55 
kg5us
Member
Joined: 2013-10-01- 20:50:29
Posts: 4
Location: San Antonio, TX
Bill, AC0LV, has already answered my question. See his "WalkieTalkie and Android" post in the 'General' forum section. He has already found an Android App and done 'proof of concept' testing on it. Please consider this thread closed. - Ned, KG5US
IP Logged
 Subject :Re:Hotspots and smartphones?.. 2013-11-16- 15:22:29 
W5SVL
Member
Joined: 2012-05-27- 22:34:59
Posts: 7
Location: Mart, Texas 76664
There is an Android application named the Serval Mesh that will allow Android phones to talk and text through a wifi router without any internet connection. I have connected 2 mesh nodes to routers and tried your idea without any success. All this works OK through a single router, but the mesh will not carry the data. I agree that the Androids would be more efficient than VOIP adapters. There may be a simple solution to this and I may be missing something.
IP Logged
 Subject :Re:Hotspots and smartphones?.. 2013-11-16- 16:03:01 
K5KTF
Admin
Joined: 2010-01-18- 23:04:04
Posts: 266
Location: 5' from this webserver
  

David,

sounds like a port-forwarding issue. Maybe some research into what ports the apps use, and then forward them accordingly.

If you are attaching wifi AP's to mesh nodes, the ports would need to be forwarded in both the mesh node AND the AP.

One possible scenario: Put the Wifi AP's IP into the DMZ of the mesh node, then have the wifi client (phone) in the DMZ of the AP. That would essentially put the phone directly on the mesh.

If you are using the new FW (5-host direct mode by default), then the AP should have been DHCP'd a 10.x.x.x IP, and be on the mesh directly. Then you need to either put the phone into the AP DMZ or figure out the specific ports and have them forwarded in the AP to the phone.

Interesting idea you guys are working on, and I would like to see how y'all get this working.

73

KTF
IP Logged
B-) Jim K5KTF EM10bm Cedar Park, TX :star:
 Subject :Re:Hotspots and smartphones?.. 2013-11-17- 01:54:46 
kg5us
Member
Joined: 2013-10-01- 20:50:29
Posts: 4
Location: San Antonio, TX
Someone (David, AC0LV) recently posted information about a similar Android app (WalkieTalkie?) under the 'general' forum category. (I didn't discover this until after I posted my original question.) Apparently he managed to get it working over the mesh. Thanks for the information. I'll try out Serval Mesh, as well as WalkieTalkie. - Ned, KG5US
IP Logged
Page # 


Powered by ccBoard


SPONSORED AD: