RAN - Remote Area Networking

Remote Area Networking (RAN)

Game changer disruptive technology for off-grid communications

You've heard of WAN and LAN - now meet RAN - the Remote Area Network!

OK, that's the BETA name whilst we are developing the system, but it does encapsulate the concept.

RAN creates both a wide area network (WAN) and local area networking (LAN) for your van, truck, boat, or remote building.

In simple terms for RV owners this means a wi-fi hotspot for you all over the campsite, and remote monitoring of your vehicle when you are out and about.

Locally, in your vehicle, you can connect laptops, tablets, and other devices both wirelessly and over ethernet to surf the web and save to the cloud. RAN is ideal for remote working, Netflix, or just plain old web browsing.

RAN also integrates vehicle security, navigation, media storage.

You can control IoT devices inside and outside of your van

DIY designing and assembling such a system presents a monumental task requiring a huge range of skills. We're doing it so you don't have to.

Voice and Phone App control

You can connect up to 10 phones to share the wi-fi and, if you give them permissions, any of those phones can control smart features like switching lights on and off, controlling LED colour light shows, and any home automation feature you might find in your house. You can monitor your battery, water, and lights from your cell phone.

You also have voice control from Amazon Echo using Alexa digital assistant or Google Home Assistant.

Touch Screen Control

You don't need to get your cell phone out for every minor adjustment to settings. RAN comes with a 5" touchscreen you can mount on your dash. That is controlled by its own small board computer running Android Auto right there in the cab, to integrate GPS navigation, music, Bluetooth hands-free phone whilst driving.

This screen pops up your reversing camera when you select reverse gear, or manually override. You can also see all four external cameras simultaneously giving you 360-degree coverage or zoom in on one. Any, or all of them, can be recorded to your onboard NAS storage - making it an ideal dashcam too.

Added Security

Suppose you're out for a hike, miles from where you parked, and someone breaks into your vehicle. Our system sends you intruder notification by SMS to your phone. If you have another, independent internet connection on your cell phone you can see the thieves in real time.

You can even talk to them, "Hey, smile, you're on CCTV and the police are on the way - better run scumbags". Imagine the look on their faces!

You can also trigger a siren inside the van remotely to help them on their way.

Their images have been recorded, not just locally but also uploaded automatically to the cloud.

If you are stealth camping or boondocking in a remote location imagine the peace of mind, when you hear sounds in the middle of the night, of being able to see the threat. You can then trigger external search lights and sirens to scare the critters away.

The RAN server uses Ai to do face recognition thus minimising false alerts. It can even do car number-plate recognition and store them to a database.

Modular

Integrated devices tend to be at the trailing edge of technology, so we are fully modular. This ensures the system is future proofed and maintenance is simplified. If a component fails, you plug in a new one. This is why we do not offer default configurations; we tailor a system to your needs. Already got some equipment? We can probably integrate it in to save costs.

Some features...

Mobile Internet

Communications is at the heart of RAN.

If on a commercial campsite with your RV, or your boat is moored in a marina, you can hook into the operators wi-fi. Depending on a number of factors you may get the bandwidth you require. RAN will still create a local hotspot of up to 300 metres for your users and they don't need to know the campsite password, just yours. RAN can blend campsite and cellular services seamlessly to optimise user experience.

RAN manages your antennae intelligently, switching between omni directional and directional signals.

Of course, all mobile internet is at the mercy of your local cell tower coverage, which will vary according to location but VAN optimises the connection using MIMO. Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) is a wireless communication technology that uses multiple transmitter and receiver antennas to increase the capacity of a radio link.

The LTE modems we use are multi band and perform carrier aggregation, two strategies to allow you to get more hooks into the available signal.

Beyond cellular networks

Selecting an intelligent multi-radio strategy is becoming increasingly more important to succeed in a connected world.

Redundancy should be built in. RAN is not solely reliant on LTE cellular networks. It can intelligently switch to LoRa® which is a long range, low power wireless platform that has become the de facto technology for Internet of Things (IoT) networks worldwide. LoRa® connects devices up to 30 miles apart in rural areas and penetrates dense urban or deep indoor environments. Many van owners have handheld radios and know they have limited line-of-sight application. LoRa leverages the unlicensed radio spectrum in the Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band and so goes way beyond the range of walkie talkies, the record is 100Km! It includes end-to-end AES128 encryption, mutual authentication, integrity protection, and confidentiality.

Conclusion

RAN is just a concept at present. If you would like it to become a reality support our Kickstarter campaign and be first in the queue to get it for your remote location networking