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Title: Call it 802.11baaa: Rural broadband experiment could use sheep as Wi-Fi hotspots Post by: HCK on February 14, 2015, 09:00:19 pm Call it 802.11baaa: Rural broadband experiment could use sheep as Wi-Fi hotspots
<article> <section class="page"> <p> Call it 802.11baaa: A new research project may look at ways to turn sheep into wandering, wooly Wi-Fi hotspots.</p><p> According to Wales Online (http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/wi-fi-connected-sheep-badgers-help-8630010), researchers at Lancaster University have received a grant of about $260,000 to equip sheep with digital smart collars. The primary purpose is to track the herd's location and measure environmental conditions.</p><p> However, the collars could also turn the herd into a Wi-Fi hotspot, helping bring better connectivity to rural areas. As the Atlantic notes (http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/02/internet-connected-sheep-and-the-new-roaming-wireless/385274/#disqus_thread), a herd of sheep can form a mesh network that transmits connectivity across large distances. Similar tests in Northern Scandinavia have already looked at offering Wi-Fi to nomadic people through reindeer. (If you're worried about animal safety, the sheep should be fine if the collars don't exceed 2 percent of their body weight.)</p><p class="jumpTag"><a href="/article/2883911/call-it-80211baaa-rural-broadband-experiment-could-use-sheep-as-wi-fi-hotspots.html#jump">To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here[/url]</p></section></article> Source: Call it 802.11baaa: Rural broadband experiment could use sheep as Wi-Fi hotspots (http://www.macworld.com/article/2883911/call-it-80211baaa-rural-broadband-experiment-could-use-sheep-as-wi-fi-hotspots.html#tk.rss_all) |