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A Portable Satellite ISP in the Middle East?
charyou-tree asks: "I'm a US Navy doctor deployed with the Marines in Afghanistan. I and many Marines have brought along our own laptop computers, but hooking up non-government machines to the network here is prohibited. Consequently, we're all stuck waiting in long lines for 15 minute blocks of time on a few designated 'morale' computers to send email home. What I'd like to do is set up a bidirectional satellite connection (like what DIRECWAY offers in the US), and then have individual computers hooked up over 802.11 - completely bypassing the Army network and its restrictions. In the sense that I'll be providing network access to other people I'll be an ISP, but I'm not interested in turning a profit on this. What other hardware and service provider options are there?"
"The absolute requirements are:
1) Needs function in Afghanistan and Iraq (since we expect to go there next)
2) Needs be reasonably portable
3) Needs be end-user installable
4) Some way to throttle bandwidth to individual users so one guy can't bog the whole thing down.
So far I've only found one bit of hardware (the Hughes Personal Earth Station) but no service providers; what else, besides 802.11 cards and an access point do I need? "
1) Needs function in Afghanistan and Iraq (since we expect to go there next)
2) Needs be reasonably portable
3) Needs be end-user installable
4) Some way to throttle bandwidth to individual users so one guy can't bog the whole thing down.
So far I've only found one bit of hardware (the Hughes Personal Earth Station) but no service providers; what else, besides 802.11 cards and an access point do I need? "
Pretty slow at 2.4 to 10Kbps, and probably pricey. However - it is proven for the uses you mention.
Those guys are able to get a signal around the world...maybe you could get that and talk to your family instead...
Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.
Don't assume he hasn't already investigated that issue and found out it wouldn't be a problem. Are soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan allowed to make phone calls home without supervision? If so then I can't see how homebrew internet connectivity would be forbidden. It's not like Al Qaeda is going to get any useful information by tapping into their WiFi networks (or will they?)
I thought that this sort of thing was being frowned upon by the U.S. military in that part of the world? Just like the camera phone/email fiasco in Iraq?
-psy
One of the guys in my church (pastors son actually) just got back from Iraq. He's in airborne (helicopter mechanic). One of the things he said was that airborne is way better than infantry because if you need something, you go pick it up. They were stationed about 30 miles north of Baghdad and they flew to Kuwait to pick up their satellite internet equipment that someone had ordered. They were emailing like crazy once that thing was installed.
/* oops I accidentally made a comment, sorry */
You have two options: Direcway or VIASAT.
;)
;) We got the Army to pay for it. If you're in Bagram or Kabul, you should be able to find a "local contractor" who will be willing to deal with you. Unfortunatly, most of them only deal in cash. You may be able to pay Segovia with a credit card...
VIASAT I have no idea on the expense, but that's what's powering your morale computers. It's the best solution you're going to find out there bar none. The ISP they're using is called Segovia, but there are other ISPs who will sell you access to VIASAT. The dishes are huge (6ft+), you need a SAT phone to engineer your link (three way call between your ISP and a VIASAT tech), and I think the cost will be prohibitive. But I don't know how crazy you want to get
While we were stationed in Iraq, we bought a Direcway system from one of the locals. It was about $3k for the equipment and another $300-400/mo for the service. But you're an officer so you can afford it
As far as your reqt #2: The dish is about 1.5 meters and the TX/RX assembly is about 2.5ft long. Hopefully you'll get a decent free standing base, but the better they are, the bigger they are unfortunately. The modem we had was three parts (TX/RX/net) each about the size of a normal cable/dsl modem. It was all 110/220 exept for the mini-hub they gave us which had a 220 only wall wart.
3: You can use any of the numerous aiming programs out there. To see the signal strengths on the modem itself you need a F-F null modem serial cable, so either buy two of them and splice or get the appropriate adaptors. The menu system, once you connect is pretty self expanitory. Get your TX and RX to at least 90 and tighten your bolts carefully.
4: You'll have to handle throttling yourself. Our system came with about 10 IPs, but we used a single IP as firewwall/NAT just to be safe.
Service was OK. Your connection will likely hit the ground in Germany, so most slowdowns happen according to their timezone. You will have to be death on infections. A single computer (sans throttling) will completely dominate the connection. Good luck!
I don't know the prices, but INMARSAT offers a 64kbit ISDN over satellite connection. Not the best response time, but it is a good solution for web surfing and e-mail, I got to try it out when I was at Fort Gordon last year. To my knowledge, you're not going to get better than 64kbit from something designed for a Maritime solution. Not sure on the prices either.
You might be better off working a deal with your onboard Satcom crew for a 64kbit internet stream. Not sure how much you guys normally pull, but I think if you do have a satcom crew, you guys are usually pulling 384k.
I'm not sure how things work in the Navy, but in the Army, we Satcom guys always have our own dedicated internet separate from everyone else with our own laptops. Talk to them, mabye you can work something out.
Dirty little secret #1: The morale computers setup in Iraq have absolutley no monitoring or restrictions on them. The Army was more concerned about giving Soldiers a resource, so they spent the big money on an unusually good service. The official DoD network is just too taxed to support everyone, so a commercial ISP is the only way to go for the masses. You should be happy: most connections over the DoD network are genunie molasses speed.
Dirty little secret #2: They haven't yet begun cracking down on people who purchase their own connections or Sat phones. Yet. You are _supposed_ to be a professional and capable of understanding what you should and should not transmit. Recent events have shown some lack human decency let alone professionalism, but that's a different discussion.
When you're talking about dropping _thousands_ on a system, you'd kind of like it to be able to work where you're going to work...
If I could only remember where we got it...
I used to work for Travelers Express/Moneygram. They are like Western Union. For some of our money transfer stations in Africa and places where local phone service/long distance was too expensive, we got these things that looked like laptops. The part that looked like a screen was a satellite panel. You opened it up to the right angle and rotated the unit so it pointed at the satellite.
They cost something like $100 a month for 10MB of data. Charged by the K after that. I'm not 100% sure on the speed either, but if your priority is email, that doesn't matter a whole lot unless you are sending pics. I think the speed was pretty decent though.
Unfortunately, I can't for the life of me remember who made them or where we got service from. They were useless in the US because the satellite they point at was over the other hemisphere.
It's not phone service either, it was an internet connection.
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I'm a Marine and am damn thankful for the things you and your Corpsmen do for us. Believe me, I wouldn't be humping around the country side with only a 9mm.
You are welcome to my DirecWay dish (parabolic.. about 2' x 3') and the RX/TX unit (a DW4000). See the dish. The dish weighs 80lbs approx. Aiming the dish is usually done by a professional installer with a special signal strength meter. Anyone have a good POC for getting one of those? Little yellow device IIRC.
I don't have the DW4020 (right model number?) which has the built-in router so a Windows machine would be required as the RX/TX unit is USB with no available OSS drivers. A headless mini-ITX machine would be perfect. It could do bandwidth control and NAT/DHCP as well. I've run this same setup (albeit stationary) without any trouble. Download speed is great but capped to 169Mb per four hours (see more detail. Upload is good enough for email and the all important pr0n.
As long as the motor pool would allow it, it could be mounted to the side of a hummer or 5 ton very easily. Setup/takedown would be minimal. It's bright white so motor T may need to donate some paint as well. Might be a bitch getting cami netting over it.
Can the rest of Slashdot see any problems or offer any other help?
Anonymous Cowards speak volumes but no one listens. Automatic mod down. Stand up or shut up. Thats the point of /. dialogue.
Its not only a question of supervision but also of authorisation.
Ad-hoc initiative in a battlefield leads to randomised variables outside of executive control. Thats fine in a safe urban environment - worse case scenario you fuck up and some fat geeks steal your bandwidth. In a hostile environment, its another ballgame and can be deadly.
Think: Loose SIPs sink ships?
Would anything from SWE-DISH help out? I remember reports from new organizations about it last year. Pretty much it has 1M satellite on one side with 10/100 rj45 Ethernet on the other, in a suitcase.
You're correct on all counts. We have authorization from our command. Existing phone calls and internet access are more or less unmonitored.
In addition, a nearby Marine unit has already set up a privately-funded satellite link. However, they went through a local company based in Kabul, who did the installation and charged an enormous sum of money for a system to support 130+ people. We want something cheaper, for fewer people, with greater portabitity (this Kabul-based company won't make house calls to Iraq next year).
Because the hardware is going to cost $2000+ at a minimum ... and it'd be foolish not to look at the possibility of taking it with us.
Oh yeah, no interservice rivalry problems forseeable here. :-)
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
Check your links!
I thought the point of slashdot dialogue was to have occaisional inane banter without the hassle of actually having friends.
We're supposed to be in Iraq teaching them how to be more like us, right?
Well how about this: figure out a way to buy the equipment. Buy it yourself, organize donations, get the Army to pay for it, whatever.
Give the equipment to locals who would like to run a business.
Let them charge money to serve coffee and Internet access to American soldiers.
The bonus is that the more people you set up in operation like this, the lower the prices get, and the shorter the lines get. And you've taught them how to be Americans. After all, we're the land of a Starbucks and 802.11b on every corner.
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
You might look into these guys. They provide ISP-grade wireless network hardware (Cisco Aironet, Motorola Canopy, and their own Cyclone products). The Cyclone products are based on the Motorola Canopy, but are environmentally hardened. They've pushed the limits of the technology; I heard they recently did a test where they were able to get a signal at 125 miles.
DISCLAIMER: I don't work for Last Mile Gear, and won't get any commission or kickback; but they are business associates of mine.
Give me my freedom, and I'll take care of my own security, thank you.
Now,honestly, don't open your eyes please, as it would be doing the rest of the world a favour, and you surely don't want that, do you?
...what exactly are you guys doing over there?
IP service: http://regionalbgan.inmarsat.com/
very portable.
"How much does Regional BGAN cost?
The satellite IP modem costs about the same as a notebook PC, with costs for transmissions in line with GPRS roaming tariffs."
144Kbps
No, they didn't. The USMC does not have any medical units. They bring in Navy people who get attached for full tours. Field Medics are Navy Hospital Corpsmen. Field hospitals are almost exclusively Navy staff.
My brother was USN flight surgeon in Gulf War 1 and got his picture in Life magazine while attached to the Marines and thus was photographed while tending to a wounded Iraqi soldier. He said the worst he saw of allied casualties were minor accidental injuries, no war wounds.
It was a big surprise while standing in the checkout line at the grocery store thumbing through the pages and then there's your bro' in full color and 3/4 of a page.
Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.
- W. Wriston, former Citibank CEO
Also look at a Tachyon solution www.tachyon.com
Don't know about pricing, but they have coverage in the area, and unlike some of the other names mentioned, they focus on data....at broadband speeds....
About 20 people in my unit got together on a satallite package. Total cost worked out to about $800/year each (a little higher than I paid for comcast in the states, but we happen to not be in the states)- including splitting the hardware and setup costs. This gave each individual thier own IP address, and at least DSL access speeds.
When you get to Iraq, I would go with that, rather than homebrew. Especially since, if you are a doc, you will probably go to an established base, and run a decent chance of falling in on some kit left by the guys you replace.
"If, therefore, any be unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone."
~Epictetus