[tlug] Portable private wifi lan

[Dave M G <dave@example.com>]

TLUG,

I had an idea today for a fun sort of interactive stage performance.
What exactly happens in the performance could vary a lot depending on
what the performers want to do, but the key thing is that it rests on
having a wireless network in the theatre that people with wifi devices
on hand.

I'm sure this is possible, but I just don't quite know how it would work.

Let's say you have a room with 30 people, all of whom have Wifi capable
devices. Laptops, mobile phones, PDAs, whatever. You set up an open
network so they can all connect to the wifi router in the room. They are
then automatically connected to a particular web page. On that page,
they have an interface where they can give certain kinds of feedback
that the performers can use, that the performers can access with a
laptop on stage.

Not only am I sure that this kind of thing is possible, but all the
necessary components must already exist. I know when I go into some
coffee shops with my laptop, some have wifi networks that take you to a
page so you can log in and then go on to access the internet. So surely
it must be possible to have essentially a private network where, instead
of logging in to use the internet, you just stay within that private area.

Also, feedback needs to be monitored person by person. What I mean is,
when each individual device obtains an IP address, we then should be
able to attach any feedback from that person using their IP as an
identifier. Right...?

I can sort of see it all in my head, but I don't know exactly what it
takes to do it. I know little about how WiFi works. I only really know
how a web page is delivered over the internet, not so much over LANs.
Would one need Apache or something like that somewhere on the network in
order to serve up a local web page? Could that be handled by a laptop on
the network, so that the show could be portable to any venue that had Wifi?

Can someone maybe give me some pointers on what requirements I need to
meet in order to set this system up? When I look up setting a private
network, I get information about how to secure a regular home or
business network with internet access. But that's not what I'm after.

I drew up a little diagram of what I mean, just 'cause I was using
Impress anyway at the time. You can see it here:
http://autotelic.com/portable_private_lan.png

Any general descriptions so that I know what terminology to use to make
better searches would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.


-- 
Dave M G
http://tlug.jp/mediawiki/index.php?title=User:Dave_M_G