Comments on: Google Wifi Balloons? Is it April Fools 2008 Already?

By: robertM

robertM — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:05:07 +0000

This thread shows how uninovated the average person is.
This is a great idea for google and companies with lots of money.
The company thats been sending these balloons up have been selling services to trucking companies to assist in lagistical activities and must be making money or the wouldnt be paying farmers 50$ a launch and gps nerds 100.00 per tranciever they reretrieve.
Weather or not this is idea for wifi transmission i dont know but i do know that wifi is all about line of sight and if you can see the antenna hanging from a balloon 1-2 miles in the sky then odds are youll be able to recieve the signal, but by sailing these balloons into the stratusfeer and letting them blow i dont believe it the right idea for wifi.
By the way i have a wifi station that transmits 25 miles ptp with a clear line of sight and 15 miles point to multipoint.
I think im goin g to buy a few of these balloons and see if tethering a balloon 3-400ft in the air with a high gain antenna and wifi repeater attached to it will be economical and ill report back.
Stop being a bunch of pussies sitting infront of your computer with a thumb in your fat ass and get out and experiment.
You might make something out of yourself.

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By: Mike Montague

Mike Montague — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 17:26:07 +0000

Where can I get my hands on one of these killer balloons? I need a vacation!

By: Steve Elliott

Steve Elliott — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:55:37 +0000

“if I could get my hands on one..”

What, a rifle, or a balloon?

By: Andy Beal

Andy Beal — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:22:55 +0000

@Steve – crappy router.

By: Steve Rosenbaum

Steve Rosenbaum — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:01:25 +0000

Andy, you saying that you’ve got a huge house?

By: Mike Mothner

Mike Mothner — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:50:51 +0000

This is the first time I have ever heard of these Wifi balloons and they are certainly a bit out-there. Although innovative, it definitely seems quite risky to place $500 technology on balloons. But if it actually works, what is there to lose? It may end up being a great cost-saver.

By: Andy Beal

Andy Beal — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:19:13 +0000

@Jordan – I knew it didn’t seem right, but a party sounds good!

By: Jordan McCollum

Jordan McCollum — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:08:52 +0000

Silly Andy. If it were April Fools, tomorrow would be our birthday!

Aw, heck, let’s have a party anyway.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:34:09 +0000

@cesar you asked why Google would be interested… They’re supporting technology that can bring more customers into the market.

By: Search Engine Optimization Journal

Search Engine Optimization Journal — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:10:16 +0000

They’re “very reliable people,” says Mr. Knoblach. They have to “milk the cows 24-7, 365 days a year, so they’re great people to use as a launch crew.”

Wow. Interesting? Google – always on top of “new and innovative” ideas?

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:57:54 +0000

I don’t know if the wifi balloon idea will work in practice, but I hope it does. It attempts to the solve the problem of delivering wifi/mobile service to areas where the population density can’t support cell phone towers every few miles.

I don’t know enough about weather systems to know if this is a hair-brain idea or not. I have read as part of the plan balloons would be launched on a schedule to ensure full coverage and redundancy.

If it works or not, it’s certainly creative.

By: Cesar

Cesar — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:12:47 +0000

This is something new for me. I never heard about these transmitter and balloon but it’s look like interesting. But why is Google intersted on this?

By: Keri Morgret

Keri Morgret — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:59:21 +0000

Ham radio operators and other hobbyists have been doing this type of thing for a while now, though without the added transceiver to make it accessible to others. It can be under a couple of hundred dollars that way, and no special needs for permits if the payload is under four pounds (at least in California).

In 2006, I left a couple of days early for Pubcon and we launched a weather balloon in the Mojave Desert, it went to 106,000 feet, and took over 1000 pictures. It transmitted its position to digipeaters, which took the information and put it on the internet. We had people from all over following its path online.

Details of our launch: http://n1vg.net/balloon/. A search for near space balloons or HALO (High ALtitude Object) balloon will turn up many other projects.

By: Andy Beal

Andy Beal — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:42:39 +0000

@Steve – if I could get my hands on one, maybe, just maybe I can get wifi to reach from one corner of my house to the other!!!

By: Steve Rosenbaum

Steve Rosenbaum — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:37:39 +0000

I like the rifle idea I can only imagine how great these transceivers are to broadcast a strong single from a high altitude.

By: Pierre

Pierre — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:49:45 +0000

Consider using those in case of a massive disaster.
After all, it’s one of Google.org’s missions

By: Zen

Zen — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:20:03 +0000

Next thing you know we’ll be hearing about birds with strange types of cancer in the area.

By: Branon

Branon — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:13:13 +0000

Why don’t they just make the balloon a little stronger and tether it to the ground?