Wi-Fi in your car

[Aebous]

My passengers are like like Shipkillers. Sometimes hanging on, talking with me, or passed out. I'm still waiting for that female passenger that will uhm play with my "Itouch" :evil: On a side note, that would prove to be more distracting that using a wifi while driving.

 

[AlanL]

in order for your car to be an wifi hotspot you have to get a signal from somewhere

For our friends across the pond - we have a mobile 3G network that allows a 7.2 Mbps connection, that comined with the Billion Wireless router and you are done.

We used this very sucessfully on a coach trip recently

Very nice - but that still underscores my point - if you have this mobile connection why did you need to add your car into the equation?

 

[Andy]

i actually think the idea is brilliant.. if perhaps a little redundant with the adequate oem stuff we mosly use already.

Off topic, but im totally taken at the moment with an internet radio i bought for £40, has wifi and then plays real streams (live or ondemand) off my house wifi broadband, and also any mp3's from a upnp server. google ir100 for a look if anyone else likes cheap toys.. =)

the reason i mention this is that internally it just links some circuitry to a usb wifi dongle and some have swapped this for a usb lan adapter, meaning they can wire in the radio instead of relying on wireless signal.

i have in front of me here a pretty typical 3g usb adapter which runs at about 4mbps (and a unlimited usage account), which if you were to bridge that to a wifi router in some form, (a la the inet radio..) it would give a broadband-esque access point in the car, subject to 3g coverage.

now the reason for all of this? i can quite easily see a form of car pc being used in the not too distant future. imagine filling it with mp3s on a laptop hdd, streaming internet radio to the HU, providing access to google earth (for more effective sat nav).. notifications (perhaps when stationary) of email, in the same way as texts appear on the bmw nav.. and being able to park up outside your house and bridge the routers to home to update your music files without taking a catridge or something out first.

also, the idea of it being a router and not just direct from the car pc.. would mean u could also share it to any devices in the car, such as my p1i, (which i would heartily recommend to anyone who isn't as interested in Itunes, wants 3g and doesn't want something quite as large as Apple's still impressive offering...)

passengers could also use this for browsing, i have a voip application on my phone which would allow international calling from the cat at massively reduced rates.. all for the 3g flat rate at currently £17pm.

have i just stumbled on something the more ive typed? lol..

 

[AlanL]

That might work, but since you would need to pay for the receiver as an ongoing monthly cost and don't need it in the car 24x7 ideally the actual broadband receiver would be a mobile device that could be tethered to the car only when you need the connection.

Most of the functionality you describe seems like it would be best left to mobile devices you have with you when you are in the car. Consider GPS - the one built into my car is a pathetic joke compared to the portable Garmin unit I have that can be interfaced to my computers to download routes and destinations. I can easily update the portable unit as technology changes which is far more frequently than I change cars. The same is true for almost all of the other wish list items you describe above.

 

[inTgr8r]

...........
Most of the functionality you describe seems like it would be best left to mobile devices you have with you when you are in the car. .............

I agree....
I've been looking at the Nokia N810 which gives me wireless hot spot capabilities,
and is also GPS capable with an internal antenna.
With the Wayfinder Navigator™ 7 app it can also function as a full blown Navi.
..comes with car cradle as well.

 

[BlueMoon]

Slightly off-topic here, cool avatar and what's the story with the name "Gunhilde" for your car? Excellent color btw.

Thanks! (pics soon!)

I work for a German company, drive a bimmer, and I learned German in college. All a coincidence, of course. "Gunhilde" translates to Battle Maiden. Thought I'd name her because she's so perty! [awwww]

 

[BlueMoon]

Alan, it's obvious that you know more than I do when it comes to doo-hickies like Wi-Fi connections and atmospheric-based communication electromagnetic channeled currents (or whatever you call it). But I beg to differ that having your car connected to the Interweb (is that what you call it?) is like bringing a shiny new G.I. Joe to the schoolyard so all the kids can surround you and check it out. Or that it merely serves as a bridge to what you're trying to achieve.

If you check out AutoNet (http://www.autonetmobile.com), they seem to be on the right track - though it looks like they're not offering service just yet.

I would get an iPhone, but as others mentioned on this board, AT&T has the least dropped calls because you can never make calls in the first place.

Here's the heart of the matter for me...

I have a cellphone with browsing capabilities, but its browser stinks and I can't find a better replacement for it. The screen is too small. I've gotten used to the microscopic buttons... but it could be better.

So I decided to use my cellphone for what it was intended... to make calls only.

I purchased an Apple iTouch. GREAT device. One negative... you can never get online because you can't find a viable (and open) wi-fi connection outside. Many of you go to McDonald's or Starbucks - so problem solved. But no offense, I wouldn't be caught dead in either place for more than five minutes. But its touch screen is fantastic!!!

If only I can find a stable (and reasonably fast) wi-fi connection so I can browse the web, buy music to play in the car, check email, send money, etc., if you happen to be in your car.

If I could plant a hotspot microchip in my ear, I'd do it (maybe not).

Thanks for everyone's input!!

No one is suggesting that you surf the web and drive at the same time.

But your passenger(s) may want to use it while you're driving. Or you're parked somewhere and you're waiting for someone and you want to pass some time. Or it's for work.

Having wi-fi in your car is as convenient as having a cellphone in your pocket when you're walking down the street.

Perhaps the satellite radio companies will diversify and find a way to offer it. Or it becomes standard in each new car in a few years.

Lets go back to what you are trying to accomplish - in order for your car to be an wifi hotspot you have to get a signal from somewhere. Unless you are using broadband wireless you are dependent on being near an 802.11a/b/g access point that has a network connection so your car can act like a wireless bridge. If you are close enough to such a source then your wireless device can also access the same source in the first place so your car's bridge is irrelevant. Most broadband wireless is set up to directly interface with something like a laptop in the first place so just go ahead and hand the device over to your passenger in the first place.

One of the things I do is set up networks for various flavors of inspectors, traffic maintenance workers and law enforcement folks to be able to access our networks while they are in their cars. We do interface them using wireless broadband (EVDO-RevA from Verizon) directly connected to their laptops which presently gets us about 1.5Mbps downstream and just over 700Kbits upload. We use a VPN connection to a NetMotion server which allows the laptop to roam to one of our directly connected access points whenever they drive within range. The NetMotion connections keeps their session alive while the client switches between our wifi and the wireless broadband connection.

There is no payoff to having the vehicle being part of the equation at all - in fact it simply adds complexity and serves no purpose at all. Beyond being a gimmick to impress someone who has no clue how this type of technology works you really accomplish nothing by making your car act as a connection bridge.

Sadly iPhones in the US are hampered by completely outdated wireless broadband from AT&T. I'd love to have one myself but the available bandwidth on that network is about as exciting as a 14.4 dial modem anymore. I have Windoze Mobile 6 on my phone and am not a fan of it at all but it does offer me the ability to tether my laptop at workable network access speeds when I am otherwise out of range of my own nets.

 

[carl]

Should be pretty simple to do. All you need is a router with wireless AP included that can use a 3G datacard as the WAN connexion, plus an inverter to power it from 12V. However, I can't envisage any situation where I'd need more than one Internet-enabled device in a Z4 (it only has two seats, and not much space) so you may as well stick the 3G datacard in the laptop...

If we were talking about a 7-seater Landy Disco I could imagine more of a requirement.

Note though, that the bandwidth on 3G is usually fine but the latency sucks. You can't play World of Warcraft on it successfully...

 

[AlanL]

Alan, it's obvious that you know more than I do when it comes to doo-hickies like Wi-Fi connections and atmospheric-based communication electromagnetic channeled currents (or whatever you call it). But I beg to differ that having your car connected to the Interweb (is that what you call it?) is like bringing a shiny new G.I. Joe to the schoolyard so all the kids can surround you and check it out. Or that it merely serves as a bridge to what you're trying to achieve.

If you check out AutoNet (http://www.autonetmobile.com), they seem to be on the right track - though it looks like they're not offering service just yet.

I would get an iPhone, but as others mentioned on this board, AT&T has the least dropped calls because you can never make calls in the first place.

Kinda funny to note that AutoNet is going to be doing almost exactly what we did describe above - allow you to tether devices to your wireless provider's broadband network. My phone (Samsung i760) is actually capable of doing this right now.

 

[Shipkiller]

...........
Most of the functionality you describe seems like it would be best left to mobile devices you have with you when you are in the car. .............

I agree....
I've been looking at the Nokia N810 which gives me wireless hot spot capabilities,
and is also GPS capable with an internal antenna.
With the Wayfinder Navigator™ 7 app it can also function as a full blown Navi.
..comes with car cradle as well.

I love my Garmin Nuvi 660. I especially like the battery life. Turned it on when flying in a plane to see my route all the way to the Mideast....

When my trusty Palm Treo 650 died this year, after three good years of service, I upgraded to a Samsung i760. I do miss the Palm OS, but getting use to WM6. At least I don't have to use 'Documents to Go' for my Office files like I did with the 650.