Best solution - mobile wifi hotspot

[Chris Whitehouse]

Jim Stapleton wrote:
> My dad makes instruments and goes to a lot of festivals. They are
> typically in the middle of nowhere, without internet. Many vendors
> still bring notebooks as they provide quick & easy access to many
> things, but there is no internet. For credit cards, many use their
> cell phones to make the transaction. My dad wants to get a satellite
> connection (pure sattelite, no phone), and set up something to offer a
> wireless hotspot.
> - Some shows will just pay a flat fee, and have the hotspot open.
> - Some shows won't pay a fee, and so he'll want to charge to recover
> some of the cost.
> 
> For the open hotspots, a simple wireless router will do. For the
> charge hotspots, we'd want something a little more flexible. My first
> thought was 'FreeBSD can do that!'. The trick is that we will be using
> battery power most of the time. Low power is the key. I'm thinknig
> sub-20W max power drain worst case, SUB 10-15W is ideal.
> 
> 
> With that background info, my questions are:
> 1) Is building a low power computer based on FreeBSD the right way to
> go? Or would you all recommend something else? What?
> 2) Does anyone have experience with the GeodeNX or VIA C7 boards
> available on NewEgg? Heads ups and pointers?
> 3) Does anyone have experiences with these and a given wireless
> adaptor, How good/bad is/was it?
> 
> Thanks,
> -Jim Stapleton
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This particular wheel has already been invented several ways :)

http://psand.net/

https://en.wiki.aktivix.org/SquatTelecoms

To keep power down you probably want to opt for a dedicated wireless 
router box not a computer (unless you are also saving bandwidth with 
squid etc). And to generate electricity use wind or solar.

Chris