From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from mail.lang.hm (syn-045-059-245-186.biz.spectrum.com [45.59.245.186]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ADH-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by lists.bufferbloat.net (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 50C4E3CB38 for ; Thu, 10 Oct 2024 19:50:16 -0400 (EDT) Received: from dlang-mobile (unknown [10.2.3.133]) by mail.lang.hm (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4DF1A1E2508 for ; Thu, 10 Oct 2024 16:50:15 -0700 (PDT) Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2024 16:50:15 -0700 (PDT) From: David Lang To: starlink@lists.bufferbloat.net Message-ID: <7ops9q02-1n10-80pq-898s-qn0qpo67814q@ynat.uz> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=US-ASCII Subject: [Starlink] disaster prep X-BeenThere: starlink@lists.bufferbloat.net X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.20 Precedence: list List-Id: "Starlink has bufferbloat. Bad." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2024 23:50:16 -0000 In reading reports of the hurricane aftermath, I ran across one post where one house in the area had a starlink and a generator, so people in the area would make daily trips to the "starlink house" to connect to the outside worlk, sometimes getting messages from their neighbors who couldn't make the hike themselves. One thing that us techies need to think about is disaster prep, not just having a starlink around, but also how to expand the footprint of the 'starlink house' to cover more area. I expect this writeup will not surprise most on this list, but I'm putting it out in the hope that it helps As a quick how-to. don't try to setup a 'mesh' network if you can avoid it. Wifi networks have problems when all the stations on the network can't hear each other (hidden transmitter problem), so when you can, wiring between nodes is the best bet. In a disaster situation like this, I would setup pairs of access points talking to each other on 5GHz channels, with the APs being as high as possible, with directional antennas if you have them, even simple reflectors (panel, corner, or parabola) help a lot and can be rigged up with aluminum foil and coat hangers. This can double (or better) the range of the link for very little effort or cost. Then have the users connect to the remote APs on 2.4GHz wire the APs in any one location together and don't reuse the 5GHz channels. This will let you extend the network out hop by hop, and with other electronics down, you should be able to get quite a bit of range. Sharing like this, you aren't giving a lot of bandwidth to any one person, but it gets basic connectivity to a lot of people Most of the nodes can run factory firmware, but you may need to load OpenWRT on some nodes to be able to make them connect to a remote wifi as their 'wan' connection. Many APs will run on 12v, so they can be powered by a car battery for quite a while. (frankly, I have't used stock firmware on APs is so many years that I don't know how hard it would be to have them connect to an wifi for their wan port any longer) David Lang