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Offline networking: Difference between revisions
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Due to our habitual relationship with WiFi and connecting to the public Internet, we can often overlook WiFi's applications in 'offline' contexts. A a WiFi access point (AP) does not need the public Internet to provide access to content, if the content is locally accessible to the AP. In such applications, either the WiFi router itself holds the data (perhaps on a USB stick), or the data is served from another device connected directly to the AP. 'Captive portal' wireless access points are those whereby connecting to the | Due to our habitual relationship with WiFi and connecting to the public Internet, we can often overlook WiFi's applications in 'offline' contexts. A a WiFi access point (AP) does not need the public Internet to provide access to content, if the content is locally accessible to the AP. In such applications, either the WiFi router itself holds the data (perhaps on a USB stick), or the data is served from another device connected directly to the AP. 'Captive portal' wireless access points are those whereby connecting to the | ||
Some commercial routers provide ability for file sharing across their network using the factory firmware installed on the device. However in the majority of applications, ''an after market firmware'' is used, like OpenWrt<https://openwrt.org</ref>. OpenWrt is an open source project and community dedicated to writing and testing firmware that can be 'flashed' onto scavenged or bought WiFi routers, providing them with new functionality and customisation options. At the time of writing, 2043 wireless access points are supported by OpenWrt to some degree<ref>https://openwrt.org/toh/start</ref>. | Some commercial routers provide ability for file sharing across their network using the factory firmware installed on the device. However in the majority of applications, ''an after market firmware'' is used, like OpenWrt<ref>https://openwrt.org</ref>. OpenWrt is an open source project and community dedicated to writing and testing firmware that can be 'flashed' onto scavenged or bought WiFi routers, providing them with new functionality and customisation options. At the time of writing, 2043 wireless access points are supported by OpenWrt to some degree<ref>https://openwrt.org/toh/start</ref>. | ||
Many projects have been done exploring the practical application of offline networking in a wireless context using OpenWrt. However, many small form-factor computers can be repurposed as WiFi access points, that either route through to another network (like the Internet) or remain hermetic. | Many projects have been done exploring the practical application of offline networking in a wireless context using OpenWrt. However, many small form-factor computers can be repurposed as WiFi access points, that either route through to another network (like the Internet) or remain hermetic. | ||