Note this is in the a la carte format-pick something from each section.
$$$'ed options are the ones for people with money to burn.
AP
- Linksys WAP11
- Cisco 340
- $$$ Cisco 350
- Ethernet 802.11b converter
Computer (optional)
- Any old laptop with dual PCMCIA slots, as above. (You know you have at least one junker.)
Case
$$$ Haliburton Zero (aluminum makes good shielding
http://www.zerohalliburton.com/ Pelican - It's Waterproof. http://www.pelican.com/
Seahorse - Also waterproof. The little one can be had for ~$15! http://www.seahorsecasesonline.com/
- Spare briefcase - Luggable On A Budget.
- Tupperware - Make sure to get some ventilation holes
Power
- $$$ Small Generator - Lasts Ages.
- *sealed* lead acid battery at AP's needed voltage to eliminate wall wart- lasts pretty long too
UPS - Umm.. Maybe a few hours at most due to inefficiency in converting from 12V->120V->AP voltage, they're a bit big for any case
- Use your car as a generator with a DC-to-DC stepup device that plugs into your cigarette lighter. A glance a google shows sub-$30 prices for a converter that will power most laptops.
If the AP uses a DC adapter (every one I have seen does), then you can go straight from a battery to the Ap without going through the 120v stepup and stepdown. Even if the AP uses a voltage of 15 or something like that, there are 12 to 15-24v dc stepup devices out there so without an AC inverter involved. That's what I meant by sealed lead acid battery. - Eric
Antenna(s)
Directional Antenna (sorta optional)
- $$$ High Gain Yagi for distance links
- Cheap parabolic
- Panel
Omni Antenna
- Standard 4 or 8dBi
- 12 or 15dBi if you can put the antenna at *exactly* the height of *all* the clients
Antenna(s) Mounting method
Bulkhead/panel mount N connector on the case
- just screw the omni to it
- attach the omni to a separate stand and run some cable
- Screw the directional on, put the omni somwhere else
- Screw on the omni, cable up the directional
- Internal omni (if you expect the node to get beaten up)
Application Hardware/Software
Hardware
- USB camera or composite video real-time digitizer with video camera
- Microphone
- Voice over IP hardware, single, dual, or multiport for emergency communications (ie, Cisco ATA 186 $150ish, Vpacket 6100 $1k-$2k)
- Digital camera with USB card reader or connector
- CDPD modem, cellular systems may still be available to pass packets
- FRS or amateur radio for quick link setup
- GPS unit with serial cable
Software
NetMeeting or other mainstream audio/video conferencing software
- httpd, ftpd, natd, sshd, telnetd
- Ftp client, web browser, ssh, telnet
- Photoshop or equivlent
- Mpeg video player and/or compressor
- Mapping software (TopoUSA)
- web-based message board (easier communications in ad-hoc situations than email servers and DNS)
Examples
MattWestervelt: http://seattlewireless.net/~mattw/gallery/mobnode
