Ask HN: Can FRS/GRMS Radio Be Used for a LAN? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Can FRS/GRMS Radio Be Used for a LAN?

9 pointsoblib8 comments

Starting from the "I know nothing about this" point, and ignoring any legal restrictions:

Could one hook a wifi up to a FRS/GMRS Radio and create a network that would cover a few miles?

If so, it would seem something like this could be pretty handy in emergency/disaster situations and for plain old fun.

If you want to extend a WiFi network over a few miles, you may be interested in Ubiquiti's radios [0]. These (and similar form factor radios from other manufacturers) are pretty common on rooftops for fixed point-to-point connectivity between sites. Only costs a few hundred bucks per station, depending on your range and bandwidth needs. My school district had them to connect all the schools (a few blocks apart from each other) rather than burying fiber. The other big use case is rural wireless ISPs, connecting farms to each other and eventually a POP with a wired internet connection.

They are point to point links though, things get a lot more complicated if your stations are mobile.

[0] https://www.ubnt.com/products/#default

Are the points fixed? i.e. 2 buildings or similar? Point to point links like this are probably not a good choice if you're going to be on a boat or something, but for a couple of buildings, Ubiquity is the tool for the job.

If you know specifically where your points are going to be, you can check out Ubiquity's link planner (https://airlink.ubnt.com/#/ptp) to make sure that you'll get a clear shot from one place to another (it has to be line of sight and totally clear of obstructions).

If you are looking for speeds on the order of 0.0024 Mbps (2400 baud) then maybe. You could use amateur radio packet radio gateways and radio modems and set something up.

You could do it legally (in the US) by paying a token amount and getting a part 90 business license or possibly by using MURS frequencies instead of FRS/GMRS.

I don't think there is enough channel bandwidth on those bands to support wifi.

>paying a token amount and getting a part 90 business license

The spectrum is reserved for actual business use; "amateur radio, but with encryption" is not on the list of eligible use cases for a business band license [0]. If you're willing to break the law, wouldn't it be simpler to go ahead and transmit encrypted on the amateur spectrum than to submit a fraudulent application for a business band license?

[0] https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-divis...

I believe there is an overlap with amateur radio bands and some of the wifi channels (1-6?). Can't remember which, but you can basically boost wifi to amateur radio ticket-holder powers all within regs. There has been discussion around having your encryption key in your log book, making that available for physical inspection, while retaining encryption on the wire.

Check out HSMM Mesh[0] and similar projects.

[0] - http://www.broadband-hamnet.org/

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15206567 (Sep 2017)

>superkuh: I run two ubiquiti nanostation M900 [$130 each] at home on a 10m pole and in my car through the sunroof for a mobile data link.

You also aren't allowed to have anything coded/encrypted, so it's useless for anything that requires privacy.

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