Working at the Maitai

As we mentioned before, we have postponed our travels over the past few weeks to replenish our funds and help our new found friends. During this time I have been working with the management to reduce costs and make things easier. The first project involved making an easy-to-read camp map. I used a GPS tracker and a satellite overlay from Google Maps to come up with this:

The project I am working on now involves replacing the camp's rather expensive Internet connection. Although the camp is only ten to fifteen minutes out of town, it is quite remote in terms of development. As a result, the only way to get Internet to camp was through a satellite connection.

Since then, Nelson has expanded and technology has improved. An ADSL connection (via a phone line) might be able to connect the camp at a fraction of the current cost. We are waiting for a technician from the Internet service provider (ISP) to test the connection. If that doesn't work out, another option would be a cellular connection that would cut the cost by two thirds.

At the moment, the camp uses two satellite dishes. One is used to supply Internet to the office and the other is used to provide access to the Internet room (left) and the public wireless network that is distributed around the camp. The Internet room is on the other side of the road from the office, so rather than digging up the road to bury a new cable or slinging a wire over the road, I'm planning to bridge the gap using a wireless network.

This is a typical mid-grade consumer wireless router. Out of the box, it supports a number of cool features such as dual band broadcasting, HD streaming, gigabit ethernet and quite a few other useful network administration tools. However my plan will require a bit more precision. OpenWRT is an open source operating system for home wifi routers (more info).

The ADSL modem provided by our ISP includes a wireless router. My plan is to use my modified router to bridge the connection. This will allow us to maintain and regulate the Internet provided to the Internet room and the camp's public Wi-Fi network.

[Edit: It looks like the ISP we had lined up isn't going to work out, but I think the 3g connection should work out fine.]