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The Wireless Backpack Repeater
Andy Laurence writes "So, you've decided to do a webcast around the streets of Bristol, but your puny wireless NIC isn't up to it? You need the ultimate wireless repeater! Built from an old backpack, a lead acid battery, a Linksys wireless device, and a rather scary antenna, this wireless repeater will get you webcasting from over a mile away." You'd definitely burn extra calories hiking with that thing.
I was wondering how we could do remotes with our new 80s radio station!
Thanks.
-nfo
Broadcasting LIVE from a Bonus Room Over the Gara
From surfing around the site, it seems to indicate that we're talking about Bristol, WA which is near Seattle... there's enough communities going by the name of "Bristol" in the USA this could get confusing.
... you won't have to worry about being mugged for it. The police will be watching far too closely.
"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." -- George Orwell
I wonder if here in Florida we could rig up a solar panel that makes enough power for this rig. That would make it lighter... but it might not work in places with less sun. Maybe a smaller battery and the solar panel?
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
Some more details about the power connection (12v DC to the Linksys) would be nice. Anyone have any ideas? I'm not an EE, so please don't flame me crisp for asking...
>>You need [...] a Linksys wireless device
so now users can hack your rotuer as well with this article!
Joy!
NeoThermic
Use my link above, or to view my server, NeoThermic.com
Uh, no. This seems to be a completely different story about a similar idea. RTFA?
but it's like every little thing somone does with wifi these days... gets so much attention...
What's next? The Debut of the "WIFI Helmet"? Gimme a break, I'm sure I'm not alone on this... but whatever. Troll me to kingdom come.
8 Bannerman Buildings,
Bannerman Road,
Easton
Bristol
BS5 0RR
Telephone
0117 9025247
Hmmm.
what else would burn, when someone DoS's you, the router overloads the battery, and the acid leaks all over your back.
"You'd definitely burn extra calories hiking with that thing."
you'd definately be urning something. cancer/lightning stick on your back? i hope you were you lead hat as opposed to your tin foil to add more shielding
People were concerned about holding cell phones close to their brains due to the risk of tumors. Isn't this thing going to fry your brain?
Wikipedia article. I should know because I live near there.
And here are the other Bristols
I don't know about them, but I'd be worried about the interest of the authorities if I was walking around wearing this. You might get mistaken for a terrorist or some such. Its definately a cool idea, but it would be even cooler if it could be done in an inconspicuous manner, though that might be tough with the antenna.
Just a tip, in case you were thinking of trying.
I built something I called "loud backpack" once. It consisted of a 1/4" mic jack, 2 12" speakers, an amp, and a car battery.
On a particularly warm day, my back started to itch, and it took a while before I realized that it was battery acid leaking through the padding, my shirt, and onto my back.
Ran to the shower, falling once to scrape my knees, and immediately doused myself with water. Well, don't forget what they said about adding water to acid in high school chemistry class like I did... it burns!
Anyways, amusing anecdote.. do not try at home!
...and cancer! Don't forget about the cancer!
"A Linksys WRT54G wireless router is attached in the middle"
Isnt that the same router that was reported earlier today to pretty much be wide open?
...in the possibilities of a dynamic WiFi network built out of electronic devices in close proximity. It would present a great number of engineering difficulties, but the payoff would be complete internet coverage anywhere in the world. ... Well, at least anywhere there's other people present to relay the packets.
Hmm... I think there'd need to be a way of identifying open Internet points. Phones, laptops, etc. near these points would then need to broadcast their access. When a device receives a packet, it should know enough to accept or reject the route based on its current network uplinks. Bandwidth could present a problem, especially since a ton of small packet messages would be necessary to identify the current status of a given device.
Anyone know of research that's currently being done in this area?
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
I sure hope he has ports 80 & 443 forwarded.
nuff said
I found that my Linksys WAP11 had major problems when I had a router stacked on top of it, I wonder if these guys have had any problems with heating?
||:|::
sounds like this should be modified for some wardriving.. er... walking.
Anybody else think the antenna looked similar to the spooky wavy antenna that shows up in the Star Trek TOS episode: Shore Leave just before somebody's "wish" is about to be fulfilled?
Maybe it's just me....sorry. I'd post a screenshot if I had my StarTrek TOS CDs with my right now. Maybe I'll post it in reply to this message later if anybody's interested. Sorry if it's just me.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
The Linksys box probably gets 12VDC from its AC power adapter... So I doubt there's a whole lot in the way of electronics involved except for something to limit the current flow and thus not fry the thing.. And all you need for that is the right resistor.
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
maybe they will make one of those proton pack or eco-plasm guns next for Dr. Peter Venkman....i hope they rememeber to not cross the streams...or it could be the end of us all.
Deserving got nothing to do with it.....shuffle
The first thing that popped into my mind when i saw that backpack:
DON'T CROSS THE STREAMS
-S
And we're scared of getting cancer from this?
Another step in building my gargoyle suit!!
Mikey
I've always been the kinda guy to fall for the girl dressed like an eskimo.
...this is http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/news_events/news_ 2002/20020401_CyberShuttle.shtml
Apperantly, they have made setups where you have an 802.11b network LAN with a EV-DO WAN, and have it all fit in a backpack for "mobile hot spots"
They should see my car with the 3 ham radio antennas on it. Looks like an old Soviet "fishing" trawler. That's scary. Or a stack of single-band multi-element yagi beams for all the HF bands.
"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
Burning calories is fine, but is it low in carbs too?!
... License and registration please sir.
What are we going to do this time?
Nothing Rabbit.
How about the repeater?
Nothing Rabbit.
License and registration please sir.
Wow, I've got nothing.
http://www.freepokerchipset.info
Can't I just use a cooler full of pringles cans hooked up in parallel / serial (damnit Jim, I'm an artist, not an EE) to get some kinda sick signal range? Kinda like in the Simpsons, where Bart connects all the megaphones together?
stuff |
I prefer my Wifi Clie... Maybe I don't repeat but it just seems more useful for me.
This is totally insecure, but very convenient.
It's times like these that I wish we had a "-1 Dumbass" moderation choice.
HERE is the LINK
if he wasn't using a hacked firmware on it, it would be vulnerable to various exploits (as just /.'ed).
One mod to that backpack might be solar panels so it can be self-sustaining.
said "Whoaa cool!"
Official (zzzt) backpack of the (zzzt) Stormchaser's Photography Union (zzzt).
Raging in an online forum won't do anything for the world around you. To see change, you must take action.
Some guy hooks an antenna to an access point, and uses a battery instead of an AC adapter?
Come on guys...
I browse at +5 Flamebait- moderation for all or moderation for none.
Way back when, it used to be a sign that said "kick me".
Now even that went digital.
Complex problem, simple solution. I tip my hat to them. Shit, I might even have a spot of tea, too.
Chris Knight is my hero.
Why not go Sealed Lead Acid or, if you want to save some weight nicads/nimh?
I disagree with what you say, but I'll defend your right to say it to the death - Voltaire
Good to know you've stopped trying to build a woman suit. Hookers are relieved all over the country.
What kind of alternative 12VDC batteries could be used instead of that potentially unsafe lead acid one?
I think a laptop battery might do the trick, but where do you find the connectors?
Hiding the thing might make it much easier to explain. I'd probably print up a little propaganda folder on the machine. Advertise on the back and expect questions.
If you're just a repeater you dont actually have to do anything but stand there anyway. You probably dont even have to be quiet.
LS
If you carry that contraption with you, rather than just getting a cable for your damn cell phone, your brain is already fried.
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
The battery is the least of your worries. The resonant frequency of water is somewhere around 2450 Megahertz, which I believe is the approximate frequency that a microwave oven uses. 802.11 wireless uses 2.4 GHz (2400 MHz). Essentially this backpack will slowly cook you.
Sign 'em up for the Darwin Awards.
Good God, what a wimpy battery. It looks like something from a motorcycle, and a small one at that.
When I was in high school during the height of the CB craze, a kid I knew wired up a full-size truck battery to a CB, mounted it all on a gigantic aluminum backpack frame, and topped it off with a 12-foot whip antenna. The whole contraption probably weighed fifty pounds and brought him all the attention he presumably wanted as he wandered around baseball games wearing the thing, talking on the radio.
The funniest thing? That skinny little kid was about 5 foot nothin' and weighed maybe 90 pounds. The whole rig looked like it was wearing him.
One day, the battery started leaking and getting extremely hot. He stripped off the outfit just in time to avoid any heat or chemical burns, but about half the suit was reduced to a molten pile of plastic.
If you ever need a laugh, check out a toasted 6 foot sub outfit (and no, this wasn't Quizno's *baddum-ching*)
You know what?
Well, that's our ultimate intention.
qntm.org
Who the hell wants to walk around with something like that on them? I imagine it would look kinda stupid..
You could just double that crazy antenna as a lightning rod... Here's 1.21 Gigawatts in your eye!
Not only does God definitely play dice, but He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen. -Hawking
If the outdoors is a problem for a temporary site why dont they just find a plug somewhere or put it on the roof of a running car. Are british cars not 12 volt in the cig lighter?
If they could make it more weather resistant a Car could even be outfitted permanently.
I still like the idea but think that if the range is a mile getting a car nearby is likely possible.
ls
Telephone
t o=areacodes&s=GB&action=show
0117 9025247
Absolute confirmation that it's none other than Bristol UK: (note the 0117 prefix)
http://www.numberingplans.com/kropla/index.php?go
Thanks for the info! :-)
You probably would have to pay fees, but not because of the exchange from device to device. Rather, you'd probably have to pay for access to the Internet endpoints. Your packet would probably contain a device identifier that a provider would be able to use in tracking your usage and provide security for their endpoints. It would probably be difficult to stop someone from faking an ID, however...
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
...is integrated into the sensitive electrical components on the pc board.
... now chicks will run from you *before* actually talking to you.
I usually have a medium sized HF antenna, a 2 meter (144 MHz) 5/8 wave whip and a slightly smaller 70cm (440 MHz) antenna.
...--
The HF antenna has a loading coil that gets changed to change bands. I usually operate on 20 or 30 meters with 4 watts of CW from one of those little single-band MFJ rigs. The keying paddle gets strapped to the console and I use an amplified speaker to boost the sound to get past road noise.
I've contacted all continents including Australia and New Zealand (Middle Earth). It's not for everybody, but I have fun with it when I'm on long road trips on uncrowded Interstates.
--...
"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
Who the hell goes hiking or exploring and only walks a mile? A mile is about 22 minutes of slow walking. I don't get the point of it unless you get enough people to form a grid.
So is this the first case of a backpack having security problems?
I did the same thing once but I couldn't find a suitable backpack so I ended up mounting it on a jockstrap. ...I found I didn't need the antenna either.
CW while driving... And folks think Cel phones are bad behind the wheel.
....
On the other hand, if you hack the cruise-control buttons on the steering wheel to be your CD key....
Hmmm
www.mjleonard.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk
Does this make this a sixth level domain?
...and his "one-man mobile satellite linkup"?
Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
Here's more
They built a repeater backback to avoid an arm ache? Why didn't they use a more high powered card? Or perhaps a directional antenna? Clearly they know where their target AP is. Sometimes I have to rest my laptop in weird positions on my lap to keep a good signal but this seems a little excessive.
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"
Watch carefully as we all slowely turn into ---- HAMS!!! The line between Geek and Ham is fading fast! Can't somebody do SOMETHING to help us?!!! Otherwise, the Gam or the Heek (certainly not a GEM) is about to become a reality. We have GOT to start leaving stuff at home! (Or at work, at least.) geez... (Say, I do have outlets in the back of my SUV...)
I think he could have used some more rain protection.
Hi all,
Firstly id like to say its a sealed lead acid battery so fingers crossed it wont leak on me on saturday (being sealed) - and yes it is very similar to a motorbike battery. Also there was no waterproofing as the whole aim of it was to show people the kit and how it works to get people interested in our open wireless network. The kit/setup is nothing new - its all off the shelf kit, nor is running it off batterys a new thing. As I said earlier the aim is to demonstrait what is possible to the less technicly minded amung us.
Cheers
Matt
Does anyone know a way to create a 500 ft link with 3 townhouses in between? There is NLOS.
Any suggestions?
Did you look at the radiation pattern for this antenna via the link? The pole looks high enough to me to place the base of the antenna well above your head. The pattern places nearly all the power in, more or less, the horizontal plane. So you onle fry the person in front of you if you are both climbing a hill. If course, don't operate the thing from ground level and stand nearby :-).
I'm not an EE either, but can vouch from empirical evidence that clipping off the wall dealy on a 12V appliance (e.g., LCD display, "computer" speakers) is all you need to do to connect up a 12V battery. (Do check polarity before you play this game)
Please mod down! Parent has a link to some sort of weird cult material.
At this site
c gi ?category=160&item=GC-125&type=store
http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category.
you can get a battery that is more than adequate, for less than the cost of a lead-acid battery. It is COMPLETELY sealed, and does not have any liquid in it. It works in any position and is also rechargable.
People at music festivals are always pulling beer coolers on wheels and then sitting on them blocking the view from my blanket. This is a perfect op to mod the cooler thereby increasing safety by moving the battery and router to an enclosed container, decreasing visibility by modifying the long handle into an antenna, and by layering in a separate insulated box you get cold brew, too. Bluetooth your mini-DV and you can narrowcast anywhere. For urban situations, mod a homeless person's shopping cart to do the same.
Quoth the poster:
You'd definitely burn extra calories hiking with that thing.
No worse than the old Army AN/PRC-77 (also known as a "Prick-77.")
is gonna be all over that.
This is neat, like a grown up version of Chris Davies' Pocket Router, slightly more cumbersome though...
I live in a campervan and the thing seems just perfect. Can't wait to try it out.
Consume is a collaborative strategy for the self provision of a broadband telecommunications infrastructure.
Like the Internet?
Its certainly a similar structure with mail, web and multimedia content, but a supplement free from commercial limitations and guarded interests. The Internet is a communications infrastructure built up in layers of provision and service. Your access to it is generally governed by commercial interests. Internet Service Providers and giant Telecoms Companies have grown wealthy on the growth in our Internet use. Building fresh structures presents us with the oppertunity to supersede the greed, lets take IT.
Why do this?
If, as many are, you feel disenchanted by corporate telecoms and seek an alternative or are unable to connect to or meet the costs of always on connectivity, then you will be excited, as many of us are at the prospect of an open and autonomous approach to networking. We can realise some of the promise of modern communications on a local level at a fraction of the commercial cost by building our own supplements to the Internet. There is no single set of reasons why we should want to do this: one of Consume's strengths is that it is many different things to many different people.
How are you doing it?
By working together to build clusters of interconnecting 'nodes' using widely available networking products and optimising existing local services where possible to re-distribute network access and free the exchange of information further. Traditional wired and wireless techniques are being used to make links and a fresh and open attitude has been adopted toward sharing of information and resources.
URL: http://www.consume.net
Why spend all that energy carrying a big battery around? Get one of those Weeble-People segway thingies (they wobble, but they don't fall down!) and let it carry the battery and you around. (use the built-in battery)