[IMC-Video] [Fwd: Wi-Fi Experience]

[Sasha Costanza-Chock]

No, this is proof that using wifi to do this barely works, even if you 
have the complete support of the City (who gave them a directional 
antenna and access to a network in City Hall), and a tech person and 
server from a company that does nothing but streaming, and even THEN you 
are not at all mobile.

I was asking more people and researching this week and I think I was too 
quick to dismiss the mobile phone options. It turns out that several 
providers (Verizon, Sprint, Helio, etc) now offer some kind of mobile 
broadband service in the LA area. There are two kinds that might work 
for us: 3g mobile phone connections or mobile broadband cards for laptops.

Still researching these. One thing I noticed is that they all seem to 
have terms of service that explicitly say you're not allowed to stream 
media using them (!)

schock

Echograph wrote:
> So this is proof that is can be done. Like we have been discussing?
> 
> 
> 
> On Friday, August 25, 2006, at 02:37  PM, Sasha Costanza-Chock wrote:
> 
>>  From a recent project to do live streaming from downtown LA
>> schock
>>
>> -------- Original Message --------
>> Subject: Wi-Fi Experience
>> Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 11:42:29 -0700
>> From: Scott McGibbon <mcgibbon at usc.edu>
>> Reply-To: <mcgibbon at usc.edu>
>> Organization: The Norman Lear Center
>> To: <schock at riseup.net>
>> CC: <blakley at usc.edu>
>>
>> Hi Sasha:
>> I coordinated, or rather struggled, with the wifi setup we used for our
>> Grand Ave Park webcast. We used a directional antennae, graciously 
>> supplied
>> as a favor, by the City at the last minute. The source antennae was 
>> pointing
>> out of a window in City Hall. I tried, just for our own viewing 
>> purposes, to
>> use a Verizon wifi card on a laptop, but the speed was completely
>> unacceptable. So we ended up hooking into a hub connected to the 
>> directional
>> antennae. Our webcaster, Take One Digital, used a pro-sized video cam, 
>> fed
>> into a laptop that was hooked up to the hub. Camera was on a tripod, so
>> there was not much movement. Speed was at least 300kbps, since that 
>> was the
>> minimum for Take One. Don't know the exact speed. Don't know the 
>> streaming
>> software, but ask Troy Witt, who owns Take One. No firewall issues at 
>> all.
>> Satellite and microwave links were all long contract and tens of 
>> thousands
>> of dollars. Don't have those names now, but got them via Google.  I 
>> did talk
>> with a consulting firm about bringing permanent wifi to the park and the
>> space around it and learned alot: picking up wifi at a library or 
>> Starbucks
>> is a vastly different game than covering outside space with buildings 
>> (which
>> can bounce the signal around, causing loss of connection), trees 
>> (leaves and
>> trunks can greatly affect signal strength) and changing topography. I 
>> hope
>> that wifi backpack is something that can work for you!  Here's Troy's 
>> info:
>>
>> Take One Productions, Inc.
>> http://www.takeonedigital.com
>> <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=a8685wbab.0.ovcz7a44.ctymd6n6.319&ts=S0192&p=http%3 
>>
>> A%2F%2Fwww.takeonedigital.com>
>> Troy at TakeOneDigital.com
>>
>>
>> Best,
>> Scott McGibbon
>> The Norman Lear Center
>> 8383 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 650
>> Beverly Hills, CA 90211
>> t: 323-782-3318  f: 323-782-3320
>> www.learcenter.org
>>
>>
>>
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> 
>