JURI volunteers have prepared a proposal for the emergency communications system that is designed to survive a catastrophic event, such as the recent hurricane Sandy, and allow emergency personnel and local residents to keep in touch with each other and with the outside world. Preliminary approvals have been voiced by the representatives of Seagate Community Council and emergency personnel currently working on mitigating the most painful consequences of hurricane Sandy.

Proposal for the emergency wi-fi backbone network setup and maintenance for Seagate community

The communications backbone system is designed to withstand a severe natural (or hostile induced) disaster over the 90% of Seagate’s community area, to enable mobile or fixed voice communications and relatively wide band computer/PDA internet access.

The underlying technology is a standard 802.11 based wide area wi-fi system in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz band. Applications like MagicJack/Super MagicJack wil be able to ensure uninterrupted voice communications of standard quality for fixed voice communications service, whereas tringme or mobile Skype applications for smartphones will enable emergency mobile communications when local cellphone providers’ services fail for whatever reason. Regular TCP/IP internet access will be made available for both mobile/laptop and fixed desktop stations over the same network.

The engineering part of the project can take up to 3 days to implement, which will include topology analysis onsite, with signal measurements and liaison with local municipal and law enforcement systems and protocols. This part of the project will cost about $5000, to be spent on consulting services and measuring equipment.

It is assumed that about 10 hotspots with uninterruptible power supplies will have to be set up over  the high-rising buildings in the community or in the nearest vicinity of the community’s boundaries. The approximate cost of equipment needed for this is as follows:

802.11 Backfire Antenna by Radiolabs    10 pcs @ $75.00   = $750

A-AP2408, 800mW Wi Fi Access Point, Repeater, Bridge, Client         10 pcs @ $850 = $8,500.00
Amped Wireless High Power Wireless-N 600mW Smart Repeater and Range Extender (SR10000)     10 pcs @ $150 = $1500

UPS for active locations APC Power-Saving Back-UPS Pro 1000, 115V   20 pcs @ $200 = $4,000
Installation $2000

Total estimated cost of equipment and installation: $16,750.00

Implementation: 10 days upon completion of engineering stage.

Maintenance:  $200 per month, including broadband internet access