[Project] The S.A.N.D (Stand Alone Network Device)

[punk.librarian]

This is the first project I've started that is community based. The umbrella project that this falls under is called the Stand Alone Network, or S.A.N. The premise is that of a distributed community network either entirely wireless or with some cabling, much like the internet but with no or limited connectivity to the WAN, that members can be given access to and will host content. This content will/can include "webpages", wikis, collaborative file host, as well as a PBX and some form of chat services. (NOTE: The services run through this network will be encrypted, i.e:"websites" will all be SSL encrypted etc...)

This part of the project involves the creation of S.A.N.D's using single-board computers from PC Engines, the alix3d2 and alix2d2:

 

These will be mounted in outdoor enclosures (I'm considering the Polynova PN series, rated to IP66, from B&R Enclosures - http://www.brenclosures.com.au/pn.htm) and contain a rechargeable battery connected to charging circuitry and a solar panel. Some of the devices will be the backbone of the system and others will be local access points. Each individual S.A.N.D will run either DD-WRT_x86 or pfSense and be equipped with two miniPCI wireless cards. The devices will be mounted on poles and be accompanied by high-gain directional antenna, as well as omni-directional antenna for local access. Other devices can be included in the site setup depending on its side-funtion (such things can include IP cameras, BeagleBone's and Arduino's running sensors and sending data to databases locally or if needed online services like Pachube etc...).

I'm building a test unit soon from an alix3d2, 8 GB CF card, Wistron DCMA82 Atheros AR5414 802.11a/b/g miniPCI card and two omni-directional 2.4GHz antenna. It'll just be a router to begin with, but if I can get it built and running the way I want I'll roll out another unit and get down to distance testing.

I'll update here as well as on mirrorshades.gs - http://mirrorshades-gs.blogspot.com, so stay tuned.