The WiFi Farm Guide

Tool Concept
Stage: 
Prototype

 

License:
Description: 
Low cost farm wide WiFi to enable remote sensors and any other WiFi enabled device.
Documentation
Documentation Wiki: 

Setting up WiFi on your farm

Out there is a lot of good and affordable hardware for setting up wide reaching WiFi networks but what to buy and how to set it up is not always immediately obvious. This guide aims to help setting up WiFi networks more accessible. This is also a work in progress and we hope you'll join us in making this guide better. Feel free to edit this Wiki page or add a new Conversation below.

Setting up a WiFi network involves the following steps.

  1. Design the network
  2. Acquire hardware
  3. Configure the hardware
  4. Deploy the hardware
  5. Test the network
  6. Maintain and monitor the network

1 - Design the network

Below is a video covering WiFi basics. It describes the different ways you can get WiFi to places where your average WiFi Router can not reach.

The Commotion Wireless project also has documentation on designing WiFi networks.

Wide reaching WiFi networks usually involve a Bridge and Bubble strategy. To give us an idea of where the Bubbles and Bridges might end up, we'll need to start mapping out the following.

  • Location of Internet sources
  • Sources of power
  • Location of Motes along with the make/model of those Motes

My Maps from Google is one option for mapping over the Internet. If that proves to be difficult, a topographic map of the area with pencil markings works as well.

2 - Acquire hardware

3 - Deploy

4 - Test

up
2 users have voted.
up
1 user has voted.