Ground Station Internet Connection Methods?

[zerb196]

Hello all.

I was curious how others are connecting their ground station to the internet while in the field. Is it better to use wifi? Should we find a way to hard-wire it? It seems to us that the best shot at internet access is a nearby school, but I have a hard time imagining an ethernet cable long enough to make it from somewhere inside the building to a location far enough away from the building so that the station has a clear view of the whole sky. The location we are launching from (near Nashville TN) doesn't have any real tendency in the direction of wind, so the balloon displacement could point in practically any direction from the launch zone and we won't know which way that could be until days before. This makes finding a good ground station spot with internet access very tricky. Any suggestions?

[Skylar MSGC]

I would recommend using the Wifi connection if you can. Usually around 200ft of Ethernet cable you need an amplifier to boost your signal that has been attenuated in the cable. A MSU we are using a Verizon Jetpack hotspot, but since we are expecting the network being overloaded we are going to be using a satellite connection called Hughsnet. On a scale of most wanted to least.

1. Hardline to internet locally (with better than DSL connection)
2. Wifi to hardline (same as 1.)
3. Satellite or Cell hotspot. (Satellite could be risky, not sure yet. Cell can be unstable and Verizon is throttling connection speeds right now with change in NetNeutrality laws.)

[zerb196]

Okay, thank you for the suggestions! If we were to try to use wifi, would you suggest asking schools for permission to use theirs ahead of time or should we try to find public connections somewhere?

[Skylar MSGC]

I would definately ask the schools ahead of time, the sooner the better.