Communications of the ACM
Home Wi-Fi Routers Could Operate as Emergency Network, Say Scientists
Credit: Christine Daniloff / MIT News
Home Wi-Fi routers could be used as a backup mesh network by fire, police, and ambulance services during emergencies in cities and towns with overwhelmed cell and phone systems, according to German researchers.
In a test of the concept, Kamill Panitzek and colleagues at the Technical University in Darmstadt found 1,971 routers in central Darmstadt, 212 of which had no encryption applied, and others that used the obsolete WEP standard. On the basis of the pattern of routers, the team calculated that a resilient and sufficiently dense mesh network would be possible if a distance of about 30 meters between nodes was assumed.
However, there were not enough open routers, which would require citizens to create an emergency switch mode to allow access to the number of nodes needed to create a viable mesh. Most recent home routers would be able to support the system without modification as long as they allow for the creation of an open guest network that runs in parallel to the user's secured Wi-Fi access. Beyond the density of routers available in a particular locality, getting users to agree to have an open channel enabled on their routers would be a barrier to the idea.
From Techworld
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