Connecting Android Phones Without Carrier Networks

After disasters (or to minimize expensive data use generally, and take advantage of available Wi-Fi), bypassing the cell network is useful. But it's not something that handset makers bake into their phones. colinneagle writes with information on a project that tries to sidestep a dependence on the cellular carriers, if there is Wi-Fi near enough for at least some users: "The Smart Phone Ad-Hoc Networks (SPAN) project reconfigures the onboard Wi-Fi chip of a smartphone to act as a Wi-Fi router with other nearby similarly configured smartphones, creating an ad-hoc mesh network. These smartphones can then communicate with one another without an operational carrier network. SPAN intercepts all communications at the Global Handset Proxy so applications such as VoIP, Twitter, email etc., work normally."

Comments

Bypassing authorized carriers?

[fustakrakich]

I doubt the tyrants who control them will like that very much.

Re:Bypassing authorized carriers?

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

I suspect that they aren't wildly concerned:

For users on contract or fixed-price month-to-month, carriers often have an incentive to encourage them to use wifi(unless they think you'll upgrade to a more expensive data plan, or get whacked with overage fees, the less data you use the less you cost; but you still pay the same for the service). So long as they want to continue paying, the carriers would probably be delighted to have them drop off the grid and go mesh out to their heart's content.

Also, internet access in itself doesn't provide a phone number(though you can generally get a VOIP line more cheaply than a cell or landline), so only users who don't actually phone with their phones, or are willing to have phone access only when within range of the wifi or mesh, or who are willing to put up with having both a cell and a VOIP number, are likely to jump from their voice plan.

Plus, wireless meshes can, unless conditions are good, exhibit some pretty tepid latency and packet loss numbers. Well worth what you (don't) pay for bulk data transport; but cuts the utility for latency-sensitive applications.

This is hardly to say that meshes are useless(indeed, they are pretty neat, and certainly a good thing to have in place for resilience purposes and various other things); but they aren't a terribly effective direct competitor to contemporary cellular data standards, or to a one-hop wireless link to a hardline of some sort.

Re:Bypassing authorized carriers?

[mcrbids]

Stating the obvious in a sarcastic way while ignoring the truth: they were *paid in advance* to build out high speed data networks so that everyone would have access to truly broadband Internet and they have implemented only a small part of what was promised.

We have precious little to show for the generous application of public funds except for the raw number of square feet of the executives' gorgeous mansions.

Thank goodness Twitter will be accessible!

[93 Escort Wagon]

Let's see... an unprotected ad-hoc network that lets any and all traffic through. What could possibly go wrong?

Re:Thank goodness Twitter will be accessible!

[fibonacci8]

Since it's designed for cases where everything else has already gone wrong, it's not likely to make things any worse.

Re:UMA what happened to it

[Anonymous Coward]

Unlicensed Mobile Access will be what he's talking about. Let's you use your mobile number whilst connected over WLAN for example. Basically a tunnel back from your mobile device to it's home network.

Mobile Emergency Communications Project

[talmage]

I've organized a similar project, the Mobile Emergency Communications Project. It builds on NRL OLSR, NRL SMF, and NORM and comes with some rudimentary graphical applications for testing and for file sharing. The applications are written in C++ and QML using the Qt framework.

The project runs on Linux and on Nokia's N900 and N9 phones. I'm looking for help to port it to Symbian, Android, and iOS devices.

Missing the point

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, Android can tether, but that's not the point of this project. Standard tethering is mostly a spoke-hub type of model, where one user acts as the access point and others use said access point. The SPAN project appears to be about using WiFi to set up a mesh network when other means of communication are unavailable, so that everyone in the mesh can communicate to peers (or, if at least one user has access to the Internet, to anyone anywhere). This would allow for a much larger area of coverage when traditional networks are down. TFA references the events following the Haiti earthquakes as a potential use case. There are many possible issues to consider such as security, nodes moving around or dropping out of the network, etc.; but this still seems to be a pretty interesting new use of technology. I'll certainly give it a try.