Survival Communications After a Collapse: Pringles Can And Broadband Routers Could Create a WiFi NetworkBy Mac Slavo It could prove to be the darkest period yet for modern civilization and the age of technocracy. An EMP, a natural disaster, a nuclear attack, an economic collapse or a declaration of martial law rank among just some of the worst scenarios that could befall our society. And if you are not prepared, you will fall along with the masses. Not long ago, the London Guardian interviewed global crisis expert and author Nafeez Ahmed, extracting lots of great info to think about prepping for survival. Ahmed, who was involved with advising on a video game that included realistic portrayals of crisis aftermath, brought up lots of good points, including basics like: 1. Dont hole up alone with hundreds of tins of baked beans 3. You need access to running water and agricultural land 5. Dont necessarily trust the government or law enforcement But the most interesting discussion was on communications during a survival situation. Of course, a lot of it has been brought up by different survival sources, but it is amazing how inventive people could be in setting up networks, even if the main Internet went offline or was inaccessible. 4. Establish communications Apparently, using a few repurposed items in tandem with alternative sources of energy could go a long way, and in the right configuration might even successfully set up a worthwhile local network. If the Internet providers and content sources go down, you can go it alone on a small scale, according to Ahmed: Your best option, then, may be to set up your own community computer network and the most sensible technology would be Wi-Fi, as the components are easily available. You could loot a PC World for broadband routers and then hit a garage or supermarket for some Pringles cans, says Bloch. With those, you can probably build a reasonable network across a scorched suburb. Why a Pringle can? Well, it can be used to create a cantenna which would be capable of boosting a Wi-Fi signal from your computer. Some students in Kansas made a cantenna that transmitted over 100 miles a few years ago, says Bloch. He suggests using a cheap Raspberry Pi as the combined communications hub and router (although a basic netbook may be a good alternative). I ran an old Pi off four AA batteries for four hours just to play a video game a while back, and that was wasting power on bluetooth and speakers. They can shift a lot of traffic, and run little servers, so I imagine you could run tiny hubs off a car battery for 1-2 weeks at a time. If you ran an old-school email network off those, itd be quite handy and expandable piece by piece as you contacted neighbouring villages, cleared the zombies out, etc. I guess thats the nice thing about the internet: the oldest protocols still adapt to this situation. I think some people really want to see this happen, just so they can prove it. A Pringles can to create a cantenna for WiFi transmission? That bears some further explanation: Getting a WiFi antenna from Pringles tube (DIY Cantenna) Along with a number of low-tech alternatives, there is also the chance that you and a network of survivors could piece together a wireless mesh network with radios or cell phones: Broadband Over Radio Wireless Mesh Network Experimentation for Emergency Communications Its all very technical, so if you are serious about survival, it is obviously essential to test it before things collapse. Nevertheless, it offers up some rewarding possibilities. According to Ahmed, who posts his work regularly to his personal website, it would be a long time before everything is safe If you really wanted to stay safe, I think youll need to survive for a decade before civilisation sorts itself out. There are too many scenarios to list here, and every reason to think the world is titled towards ensuing chaos, and a grander attempt at order out of chaos than anyone has yet seen. Read More: Image Credit Click here to subscribe: Join over one million monthly readers and receive breaking news, strategies, ideas and commentary. You can read more from Mac Slavo at his site SHTFplan.com MacGyverisms and parlor tricks. moonbounce.. I think going on the net would probly b the last thing on my mind 