Wifi in A Box

Problem : Need to update firmware and information on devices in vehicles in remote locations without Internet access.

Solution : Create an all-in-one server/wifi hotspot that has the necessary information and can interact directly with devices, while being generally disconnected from the Internet, only connecting for updates.

Technologies used : ALIX single board computers (pcengines.ch), Perl/CGI, thttpd web server, Ubuntu Linux, OpenSSH, BASH scripting, 802.11b Wifi, Ubiquiti Networks mini-PCI wifi cards, and Spring CDMA (U727 USB modems).

Result : 40 units were assembled, and over the course of a year shipped to locations all over the world and over 4,000 vehicles were updated multiple times, preventing slow, expensive, and painful, manual upgrading.