Rural communities can share one Internet connection where Internet access vouchers are given or sold to manage the sharing process.
The vouchers have access codes with time and data speed limits. It is important to prevent excessive use of the Internet connection as this will cause a problem called network congestion.
This is described in recent posts in the Guest Internet Instagram account. An Internet service with fast Internet access is essential. A fiber connection to a telecom company is ideal but usually not available for rural communities. This leaves two satellite options
Starlink service is available everywhere on the planet with a basic plan starting at over 100Mb/s and a business plan over 250Mb/s. Installation in a rural community will usually require a more expensive roaming account. Starlink is a low earth orbit (LEO) service so many satellites provide access for the antenna.
HughesNet service is available in a few countries and the customer can select the data speed plan up to 100Mb/s. The HughesNet antenna communicates with one geostationary satellite that is shared by all antennas. The satellite antenna beams are directed to only a few countries.
If the use of the Internet by the community is not managed and congestion occurs then the provider will limit or suspend the service.
When the Internet service has been contracted then the rest of the system can be installed.
The following items are required:
- The Guest Internet GIS-R4 gateway to manage the Internet service with the voucher software.
- A powerful wireless access point to broadcast the WiFi signal.
- A WiFi receiver is install at each home, called the client premise equipment (CPE).
- A computer and printer to print the vouchers using the Guest Internet cloud
The items are connected as shown in the diagram. Guest Internet has a video and slide presentation that describes the installation.
Two free E-books are also available that tell you how to start a business selling Internet service. To request your copy please send an email to support@guest-internet.com