Provide an Internet service at remote locations
We have many customers who purchase WiFi equipment for remote locations, such as campgrounds, RV parks and wilderness parks. People enjoy traveling to remote locations to be with nature, but they don’t want to leave behind their contacts with other people while they travel. Visitors may want to keep in touch with a job and check emails, or may want to upload selfies to social media, and check on the latest weather information. Many people are dependent on the Internet.
Remote locations generally don’t have access to utilities. There may be electrical power but a mobile phone tower installation is unlikely so there is no access to the Internet or to make calls. Travelers can now purchase a Starlink satellite antenna but the cost is high, and suitable only for people who enjoy RV life and live on the road. Enterprising business people can provide an Internet service at remote locations around the world and charge for the service with hourly or daily rates.
There are two competing satellite services that provide an Internet service. One is the HughesNet geo-stationary satellite service and the other is Starlink low earth orbit (LEO) satellite service. Both services have only partial global coverage and so it is important to check coverage with the vendor before purchasing the plan.
The HughesNet service has several options of data speed and data volume. If the data limit is passed then an extra charge is made. The basic Starlink service costs more than HughesNet and does not have a monthly data cap, after which the data speed is slowed. Starlink does have an expensive business service that gives faster speeds with no data cap.
The satellite service that is chosen connects to a Guest Internet gateway. The gateway works like an Internet point of sale to charge visitors for the Internet service. The Guest Internet gateway connects to one or more wireless access points that provide the WiFi for visitors to connect their mobile devices. The wireless access points are mounted on top of a tower to give the maximum area of coverage. The area of WiFi coverage can be extended by constructing several towers and installing mesh wireless units on each tower. Visitors connect to the WiFi and open a browser then see the login page. Options of duration and data speed are displayed and the visitor can purchase the preferred Internet service on-line using a credit card.
If no electrical power is available at the remote site the system can be powered using a combined solar panel and wind turbine generator that charges a battery. The power for the equipment is drawn from the battery. It is necessary to protect the equipment to prevent damage from animals.
The equipment can be managed remotely using the free Guest Internet cloud service so no one is required at the site to operate the equipment.
The Guest Internet WiFi installation is shown in the next figure.
If you manage a remote location and visitors are asking for Internet access then please contact us and we will help you to build the best technical solution that is also profitable to operate.