Wifi for customers on vehicles

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ronnie_94

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We have vehicles that we transport passengers in, how would one go about providing free wifi that we can control?
 
You will most probably need some Hotspot software if you want to limit data use. With a Rain LTE router with a battery will most probably work
 
I had an Nokia E51 plugged into a charger in the boot of my old car for a few years acting as a hotspot :-)

Just get a MiFi router and hook it up to (or install an extra) 12v outlet + adaptor.
 
Get a MikroTik Routerboard with USB modem support and integrated WiFi, run a captive portal on it. Maybe cap each device to 150MB or more.
 
Depending on the number of vehicles you could always approach Rain directly, ask them if they would be willing to give you a personalized APN and then you can control everything through one account at a fraction of the price.

This way you could could provide access via a hotspot portal if you really want control.
 
Your standard run-of-the-mill LTE routers (Huawei units - MTN, telkom?) are all 12V DC.


Cut the cord (get rid of the 12V adapter that you usually stick into the wall socket)

a) buy a "vampire fuse" and piggy-back onto your car's lighter fuse. The LTE unit then switches off when your car does.

b) buy a car lighter adapter and connect it to the lighter socket - The LTE unit then switches off when your car does.

c) connect the LTE router straight to your car's battery (after a fuse) - the LTE unit NEVER switches off but may drain your car's battery if you forget about it
 
Don't do it. We ran a trial on a luxury bus last year. Only option for consistent internet was Vodacom and cost us R1k / day for 20GB.

If you're willing to burn money and not give it to me, here's how we did it:

We installed a Mikrotik SXT LTE device in the bus, really great power handling in the 12V region. Connected that to a circuit that only comes on when the bus is on (Marcopolo helped with that - as well as recommending an in-line fuse). Ran that back to a centralised hotspot system. All pretty cool. I see the new Mikrotik LTE routers have Dual SIM; maybe try this with RAIN unlimited (R250 between 11pm and 6pm) and then Voda for the rest?
 
cantankerous said:
Don't do it. We ran a trial on a luxury bus last year. Only option for consistent internet was Vodacom and cost us R1k / day for 20GB.

If you're willing to burn money and not give it to me, here's how we did it:

We installed a Mikrotik SXT LTE device in the bus, really great power handling in the 12V region. Connected that to a circuit that only comes on when the bus is on (Marcopolo helped with that - as well as recommending an in-line fuse). Ran that back to a centralised hotspot system. All pretty cool. I see the new Mikrotik LTE routers have Dual SIM; maybe try this with RAIN unlimited (R250 between 11pm and 6pm) and then Voda for the rest?
Click to expand...
I doubt rain's coverage will work for this
 
"Vehicles transporting people" = a mini bus? / short distances ?/ airport shuttle? & a Marco Polo bus (long haul, 50 people?) are two VERY different use cases.

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cantankerous said:
Don't do it. We ran a trial on a luxury bus last year. Only option for consistent internet was Vodacom and cost us R1k / day for 20GB.

If you're willing to burn money and not give it to me, here's how we did it:

We installed a Mikrotik SXT LTE device in the bus, really great power handling in the 12V region. Connected that to a circuit that only comes on when the bus is on (Marcopolo helped with that - as well as recommending an in-line fuse). Ran that back to a centralised hotspot system. All pretty cool. I see the new Mikrotik LTE routers have Dual SIM; maybe try this with RAIN unlimited (R250 between 11pm and 6pm) and then Voda for the rest?
Click to expand...
We did our math and it was extremely costly, pretty crazy.
 
ThatOtherDude said:
"Vehicles transporting people" = a mini bus? / short distances ?/ airport shuttle? & a Marco Polo bus (long haul, 50 people?) are two VERY different use cases.

-
Click to expand...
Would be 13 seater Toyota Quantums and 21 Seater Mercedes Spriters to the airport and back roughly 400 km a day per vehicle. Although we already did some math and the cost is just way too much especially if you have 4 services running a day.
 
Kosmik said:
What about a telkom connect spot or something? Like Always on type thing?
Click to expand...

You still need data for this... It's easy to set up a hotspot. It's difficult to actually get internet for it cheaply. Voda/MTN Lte are pretty much your only options. As @Bond mentioned, RAIN probably won't work because of choppy coverage.
 
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