See also: Ricardo (all my projects), InternetAccessByMobilePhone, GprsPhoneComputerSystem, MinimalistTelecentre, Sneakernet

Contents of this page Dial-Up via copper-wire telephone-line    ADSL via copper-wire telephone-line    GPRS (Mobile Phone or Laptop PC Card Modem)    VSAT    Sneakernet    Mixed technolgies 1 - ADSL + WiFi    Mixed Technologies 2 - ADSL + Bluetooth    Comments    AboutThisPage

Dial-Up via copper-wire telephone-line    

The modem can be connected to the PC by USB Cable or an old-style RS232 serial cable. Data-rates go up to 56K bits-per-second. Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) use 5-to-1 web-page compression/decompression to achieve a little more speed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dial-up_internet_access

If your telephone company offers ADSL access, then ADSL is a much better option.

ADSL via copper-wire telephone-line    

Wikipedia says "Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) is a form of DSL, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. It does this by utilizing frequencies that are not used by a voice telephone call. A splitter - or microfilter - allows a single telephone connection to be used for both ADSL service and voice calls at the same time".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adsl

In other words, there are 2 different signals on the telephone line to/from your house and to any other phone sockets in your house; the low-frequency voice signal and the high frequency data-signal. The 2 signals are kept separate by electronic filter units.

A typical system used in European/US Home PC systems is...

PC External ADSL Modem box, connected to the PC by USB Cable or Ethernet Cable. The ADSL Modem plugged into a telephone-socket on the wall. Other phones in the house connected to their sockets through a small micro-filter unit.

Another common configuration is in a small Home WiFi System...

A 3-in-1 ADSL Modem WiFi Router box, plugged into a telephone wall-socket. A PC networked to the Router Box by Ethernet Cable or WiFi dongle/adapter. Possibly, another laptop for use in another room or garden, networked by WiFi.

Apart from the high-speed. Another advantage of ADSL is that you can make and receive telephone-calls while using the ADSL internet connection.

GPRS (Mobile Phone or Laptop PC Card Modem)    

According to Wikipedia "General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a packet oriented Mobile Data Service available to users of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and IS-136 mobile phones. It provides data rates from 56 up to 114 kbit/s".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gprs

VSAT    

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_small_aperture_terminal

Sneakernet    

Mixed technolgies 1 - ADSL + WiFi    

Sam Kongere and Dan Otedo mentioned that, in Mbita, there's a landline telephone system, but there are no spare telephone-lines for new customers. This means their ICT Training Centre can't get ADSL installed, and they will have to wait for a VSAT System before they get broadband internet-access. Also, a VSAT (up to 4mbps) is more expensive to install, and for the monthly subscription, than ADSL (2mbps - 8mbps, according to distance from the exchange).

It occured to me, that a solution could be to talk to people in nearby houses or businesses that have a telephone line already, and find one person that would be prepared to have ADSL installed in their house or business premises. They would have a 3-in-1 ADSL Modem WiFi Router Box plugged into their existing telephone-socket on the wall. They can still make voice-calls on their phone, ADSL lets you do voice-calls and internet at the same time.

Then the house could be linked to the Training Centre by WiFi (radio-link), a few hundred metres away, maybe just across the street. It's easy to link places over a range of 100 or 200 metres by WiFi, like a private 'WiFi Hotspot'. You can use 360 degree omni-directional antennas, with none of the alignment work of directional antennas. If higher-gain, directional WiFi Antennas and/or WiFi Repeater/Amplifier boxes are used, then longer-distance connections can be achieved, up to several kilometres.

ADSL works at 2mbps to 8mbps, depending on how good your phone line is to the telephone exchange building, how many joints there are in the wires, etc. WiFi 802.1g works at up to 54mbps, much faster than ADSL. So the limit on speed is the ADSL link, not the WiFi link.

This would allow the training centre to get fast broadband internet access sooner, and at a reasonable price.

We would have to see whether there are any little problems to be overcome. Any technical problems can be solved. This leaves only the contractual issues with the ISP that provides ADSL. The question is "Can another customer share or use someone else's ADSL connection?" The ISP could quite rightly object to 2 buildings only paying 1 monthly ADSL subscription. You would have to read the ADSL contract-terms carefully. One possibility is that you get the ISPs agreement that only the training centre uses the ADSL, not the house owner. Another possibility is they may let you pay for 2 ADSL subscriptions, even though you're sharing the 2mbps - 8mbps. It may still be cheaper than the monthly VSAT fees.

The owner of the house or business would have to be paid a small fee. This could be in money, or by setting up a computer system for them to use (separated from the training-centre network).

WiFi has very good WPA2 security measures, if you change the default password. It stops unauthorised WiFi Laptop users getting free internet access and stops anyone spying on your WiFi communications (such as the passwords you type, or bank account numbers).

The idea can of course be used in many similar situations, such as when a new Telecentre, Peace Centre, Community-Centre, Small Business, School, Student Accomodation Block or house needs an ADSL connection.

It's really a limited single-link version of CommunityWiFi. It could of course be expanded to 2 or 3 or more 'ADSL-building to WiFi-Building' links. The links don't have to radiate out from the ADSL building, they could be a chain of WiFi links down a street, etc. Also, the physical WiFi infrastructure can have multiple independent WiFi services/networks running on it, for different user-groups (all the businesses, all the schools, etc). These are called VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_private_network.

Mixed Technologies 2 - ADSL + Bluetooth    

You plug an ADSL Modem Router and Bluetooth Box into the telephone socket on the wall to give ADSL access to the internet. The box then creates a 'Bluetooth Hotspot'. Authorised users can then connect to it via Bluetooth Radio Link. For a Class 1 Bluetooth box, this can be up to 100 metres away, so in some places, a link across the street to another building is a possibility.

The users can use a Laptop or PC with Bluetooth dongle to share the internet connection or a Bluetooth Phone or PDA. Each device has to go through a one-time 'pairing' process with the Bluetooth Router Box, entering a chosen 4-digit code on the 2 devices.

There are also boxes called Bluetooth Access Points, which add Bluetooth connectivity to an existing network (Ethernet or WiFi).

In some situations, you could also use a Bluetooth 56K Dial-Up Modem, such as the Trust 56K V92 Bluetooth Wireless Modem. This is where cost is the most important consideration. The modem is cheap at only $50, and Dial-Up would be cheaper per month than ADSL. Also, ADSL may not even be offered by ISPs or Phone Companies in some areas, so dial-up is the only option. Dial-Up would prevent the owner of the phone-line from making/receiving voice-calls while in use. Perhaps, a daytime business could allow evening and weekend internet-access to someone 100m away across the street.

Comments    

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:07:37 UTC SashaMrkailo: I had somewhat similar experience. Since the high costs of broadband here in Serbia , I had made an "inter home" network consisting of me , my brother who lives in a flat below my and my neighbor who lives in a home next to my. We all three used one cable "modem". The main problem was that we didn't ave a router so , my computer had always to be on as it acted a s a router ( it had two network cards), and we had a switch.

This is not so important but its a picture of the cable we used to use for our network, its just a cheap coaxial cable inserted in a plastic tube (general use one). It lasted for a few years now. Cheap and effective.

SashaMrkailo April 4, 2008 9:10 CET I dont know how is asking that, but the good working model is to have a cheap laptop + solar power + bluetooth + gprs enabled cellphone. There are some people who use this model already in Kenya. I forgot who was it but in some Kenyan village we have one person who uses this system successfully.

Yes, if there's a mobile phone signal covering the islands, then a good option is using a GPRS phone for internet access, linked by Bluetooth, Infrared or USB Cable to a laptop. You ask your phone company to enable GPRS on your phone, then pay per kilobyte, not per minute. The solar panel could power the laptop charger, to recharge the laptop battery, or the solar panel could charge a car-battery, then you use a car 12V laptop power supply to power and re-charge the laptop. See the GprsPhoneComputerSystem page - Ricardo April 4, 2008 9:28 CET

SashaMrkailo I found it, its Patrick from Kenya who uses this system in his work in a rural Kenya. See PatrickBunyaliKamoyani

AboutThisPage    

• PageByRicardo=InternetAccessTechnologies that we are looking at for use in developing countries (GPRS Phones, ADSL, VSAT, Sneakernet, etc).