Quote:
Originally Posted by mugwump
Yep, the range of wifi is just too short. In a poor urban environment with high installation density I could see its potential utility--cut the cord to the cellcos. They'd lose banking, of course, which is a huge part of third-world cell usage. But in a disaster setting where would they be charging their phones? As the phones went down from power loss even the guys clever enough to keep theirs charged would be cut off as mesh density dropped below threshold.
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Personally, I have a bunch of options for charging mobile phones/etc. via solar, hand crank, 12v.
But you make a good point as exemplified during Hurricane Sandy with the photos of everyone trying to charge their phones to the few genie powered charging stations.
Maybe such a package that included range extenders would need volume recharge capability for mobile devices.
What's funny is how even in rural, non electrified Afghanistan, everyone is still able to charge their Roshan phones(mostly from home solar panel and 12v battery/inverter).
I guess I'm thinking of it from a modernised version 2.0 of Civil Defense. Something along the lines of Community Engagement(Defense is just too aggressive for some).
Instead of bomb shelters and tinned food/water, maybe it's the local resident police officer with mesh coms network in a box with a clone-able app with some range extenders/volume rechargers/flexible solar panels in a large Pelican case?
But yeah…..density(urban to suburban) and ability to recharge would be key issues….as well as very unhappy mobile phone networks trying to kill the free piggybacking.