... and finally, we've got the network. The two major items here are the CradlePoint router and a Goal Zero battery. It's all mounted in a Pelican Storm 2300 case. This setup runs continuously for about a day and a half without external power.
Since there are no screw mount locations in the case, I had to get creative. I wanted to borrow a trick from aerospace thermal protection system mounting, but
the glue for polypropylene was seriously expensive. It turns out that
another adhesive I found at a local hardware store worked great, and held on some
zip tie mounts to attach the equipment. FYI, regular super glue does not work on polypro. Epoxy is even worse. Scotch Weld is the best (and what they use on the
787), but the Loctite product above seems to work fine.
The router can accept a variety of internet sources, including USB modems, cellular hotspots, and virtually any other type of hotspot we can get permission to connect with (think Starbucks). Should that hotspot be far away, we've got a directional 15dBi antenna, a tripod, and a cable for it. With the stock antenna, we have an unobstructed range of about 600 feet. Using the directional antenna, we can go, well, a long way. I've had trouble finding a good spot for a range test, but I know that at 1000 feet I get a very strong signal.
