Here is a way to use WiFi and stick it to the NAB and run a LONG RANGE part 15 station (WiFi is part 15). It involves running a Router (you don't even need to have it connected to the Internet more on that later). Next you run an Icecast or Shoutcast server and set the port to 800. Set the server to allow any ip address including local IP 127.0.0.1. Now set the wireless netowrk name to your station's name. Leave the Wifi to open so anyone can log into it. You could even use your android phone to set up a personal network and have your shoutcast or Icecast server configured to send and receive internet streams through it. Now put up a sign and advertise everywhere to have listeners log into the open network your Radio station's name. They will need to Download Xiia which is a FREE app for Android and in favorites type in this address and port like this: 127.0.0.1:800/listen.pls or 127.0.0.1:800 and press save. It should see your station and the listener could listen to your Radio. Now set up repeater stations for your station. You could buy Android phones which don't even need to be activated and set them up as repeaters for the Wifi signal. You could have every house down your street have a repeater plugged into their home and set to your network's name thus having a wireless station going several miles and not even using a paid Internet service. This makes it next to impossible for the RIAA to track you down as there is no IP address to track. Since its part 15 the FCC won't get involved as long as your Wifi don't interfere with anything. Potentially you could have a station that could go several miles so long as you keep repeating the signal. Even getting permission to put some Android phones in a weather proof enclosure is possible just keep each phone every few feet. As soon as the bar would drop you put in another repeater. Hobby Radio could even be in places like the Bronx and there would be nothing the NAB could do about lost listeners whatsoever except sit and cry because we beat the man legally and to boot have CD quality audio. Since you don't have to worry about bandwidth you could have your stream at 320K 44.1 Khz sampling rate and you'd have a signal better than HD Radio, Satellite or anything the NAB could possibly compete with which would put your station at the forefront of the town. You could even get listeners to be repeater stations. So you have FREE Wifi Radio that is untouchable by greedy corporate mongers. It would be hard to do, but its a possibility. Not quite as fun as FM or AM but if you had some listeners it only starts from there. I think even those Logitech Squeezebox Internet Radio's could connect to your FREE Wifi Radio service too.
I'm just proving a point that there is more than one 2 ways to compete with the NAB and have a hobby station. 1 being AM or FM while they chase you and try and shut you down. 2 is the better way which is Wifi with no ISP. That way there is truly no way to shut you down unless your router is modified over the part 15 field strength. If they keep picking on part 15 stations this is the way to tackle them where it would really hurt because car Radio's even have WiFi Internet on some of them.
It may not be legal to tell people how to flaunt laws, rules and regulations.
I didn't realize the motivation for all this was to "stick it to the NAB" an organization who helps protect the radio industry and the jobs of hundreds of thousands of Americans such as me.
Nor did I realize the motivation was also to find a way to distribute music any way you can think of to be sure that the music industry can't "catch" you either.
If you want to listen to ANY type of music you like you can do so now with over 500,000 thousand streaming stations available online now, from commercial broadcasters with streams (most of them) to thousands upon thousands of other legal independent streamers, not to mention services such as Pandora (free with an occasional commercial), Rhapsody, Spotify, Apple Music and others.
Part 15 stations that are operating illegally *should* be picked on, and *should* be shut down. I always thought the purpose of this site was to promote LEGAL Part 15 radio, not "stick it to the NAB" and find ways to defeat the music industry.
I noticed the headline says "Legal...." then explained how you would distribute music in such a way you wouldn't be able to be tracked by the RIAA, which of course would make this scheme illegal.
I'll now bow out of any further discussion on the Part 15 Initiative as the motivations seem ill-advised. I shall however post my transmitter test results when I get a chance to complete them as that would be of interest to all. Several days of rain has kept me out of the testing field.
I wish you all well in your quest.
Tim in Bovey
It's not as easy as you think to build a wireless network. You need a hierarchy of access points and repeater nodes, and it costs a fair bundle for each. Consumer signal repeaters just won't cut it (they don't even cover a house). It's also important at those high frequencies to have line of sight between nodes, with highly directional antennas. You can use off-the-shelf boxes, and there are also proprietary solutions that will work as well.
This idea has been discussed at some length previously. It isn't 'sticking it to the NAB'. It's a legal (but expensive and complex) alternative to broadcast radio, as long as each device in your network is Part 15 certified. It would make sense for a small neighbourhood, or a small downtown area, where the number of repeater nodes and access points would be reasonably small (the number you would need would grow exponentially the larger area you wanted to cover - there's a reason why ISP's and other large companies haven't done much of it to date). Besides, there already is another proprietary wireless network - the cell network.
This solution wouldn't relive you of your obligation to pay royalty fees. It would be just like streaming, but over your own Intranet (as opposed to the Internet). You should be able to still use your streaming service that pays those fees - you're just providing an alternative method to getting to it. However, you would have more potential problems than just with FM or even streaming using the Internet - security for one. Now you would be responsible to stop anyone attempting to hack into your Intranet (that's the streaming service's problem with the Internet).
I also don't think that it's a good or even wise idea to continue to attack the NAB, FCC, and any other regulatory body. You're going to need their approval for your Part 15 Initiative. And it doesn't reflect positively on this Forum (or yourself).
I"m not saying to DO IT of COURSE. I just said there is more than one way a person could transmit music and it would not have to be FM that is all I'm saying with the statement. Wifi could have been used not FM, AM, SW or anything else. It does not mean I'd do it for it would be an expensive way to go about it. But its only a proof of concept not that people will turn around and do it. That is the problem with this country. You say anything at all as an opinion and suddenly people hink your gonna get WiFi boosters all arund the country and use them. Its just a concept not something anyone on here will do. It started with all the Piracy crap I keep hearing all over the place. It sort of P's me off. In all actuality I'll probably Delete it.
Actually I thought this would be Deleted as even I tried to do when Tim was upset for me ranting. OK so get the info maybe he'll edit it instead take out all the negative stuff. Still could work just for LD high res Radio. It would be fun to try someday.
I like the idea TheLegacy!
Everytime the subject of Part 15 Wi Fi Radio comes up I listen and read, because it makes big sense to employ this newest of wireless technologies.
I'm waiting for someone to experiment with it and publish their results for others to copy.
Do you have the old Shoutcast 1.9.8? If so Carl you could do it. You could even get a Belkin Router for about $30 and connect it to a spare computer. Maybe even a Verizon Prepaid Hotspot may work without activating it I don't know if it allows local networking or not most hotspots and routers do. I happen to have a prepaid hotspot I'll have to see if I can get this to work with the 127.0.0.1 trick. I know when your out of data it forwards to the page where you click for Verizon's website. So I think the allow 127.0.0.1 on this hotspot. I have to get the server but if I can find the DNAS 1.9.8 for Windows it could be something to play with. Then I could put an android phone outside my house as the signal fades. Next I'd take my working Android and try and tune in. I don't have that many Android phones to try this with but I think my daughter in law has one we could experiment with. If so I can set her phone outside and to receive the repeater network and send the signal to the next Android. I'd call them The Legacy 1,2,3 and so on. I'll not encrypt them as the hotspot won't be activated. Then walk around with the android. If I get it right I should get it so I can hear my Wifi Radio 800+ feet. I really wonder how many android phones one could possibly hook up. A friend of mine brought this up way back in 2003 when Napster got shut down. We thought about it for laughs. I'm just thinking Radio however not a way to file share or use p2p. You could do your talk Radio that way for that matter it doesn't have to be music. Its just a neat concept we thought of and during my Pro FM Rage I dreamed up this idea again. Really it is part 15 as Wifi is a Transmitter now isn't it? its just at 2.4 Ghz not 88.1-107.9 Mhz. And its Digital not analog. Even if you used it as a neighborhood audio hub of some sort it would be cool.
Thanks dude. At least I'll have a nice private link now for my AM Transmitter using Wifi. I could simply set it for Local IP only or simply not make it public. I'll also have to try the Wifi Hotspot I have and see what would happen. There are several ways to try this. One way is for me to get a nice solit signal from downstairs to an upstairs location where I'll put the Talking House AM Transmitter.
Are we not talking about creating Wi Fi Hot Spots?
There is a whole world of discovery awaiting me because I've never used Wi Fi at all, and knowing that some coffee houses, libraries, etc., have Wi Fi Hotspots is like a vacation experience yet to be had.
Do Hotspots put up their own Browser Page? I don't think so, because I expect the browser in your laptop presents the screen that's seen... leaving the Wi Fi internet access invisible in the background.
Main question... how does a Wi Fi Hotspot manage to "pop up" on someone's custom browser?
Putting it another way, how does a streaming radio station get shown right away on the Home Page of someone's browser?
My expectation is that a Hotspot opens the entire internet for access, so what I don't understand is how you'd funnel the attention toward one radio station.
Unless a Radio Hotspot is confined to ONLY the radio station, I can't understand the point of it.
My prepaid Verizon hotspot when out of my allotted data for the month will route my browser to a page which has the make and model of my little hotspot. I have to follow the prompts to pay and get my access back. It does not just give you a blank page when your out. Also have you ever went to a Motel, Hospital, or anywhere where you had to read their terms of service before it allowed you access to the Internet? Well my ideas was NO INTERNET ACCESS don't even plug your Wifi into an access point. Routers have the ability to share data within the LAN (Local Access Network). If I knew how which I would have to study I could somehow create a web page with Komposer or any HTML web page creator and that would be the stations page. Since the station is local at 127.0.0.1 or 192.168.0.0.x x being your computer number you can route the public in this Radio only WiFi network to your Radio station. The concept could be done and you would not even have to put the Shoutcast server on the world wide net just a private network FOR your station and that ONLY. You can buy range boosters and just as bruce did you could instead of FM transmitters have WiFi range boosters arranged in such a way that the entire few city blocks could hear your station legally. You'd have local listeners and you would be a local community Wifi Radio station but instead of AM or FM your at 2.4 Ghz. It would be Digital Radio in a sense lol.
It is possible to set up a wifi network that goes nowhere. When someone connects and opens a web browser, it directs them to a static page. That static page could have a streaming player on it. Then someone could connect to a wifi network that went nowhere (preventing them from abusing the host’s internet connection) and listen to music. The down side is the person connecting would need to open a web browser to see the streaming player was the only thing the wifi did.
(I am bringing wifi up and digging up this thread because from reading the FM manifesto thread I don’t see unlicensed range on FM increasing any time soon. Wifi on the other hand has a ton of unlicensed range as is.)
stvcmty you have the right idea, we need to move in and develop Wi Fi radio systems intended to reach computor screens and speakers.
What would be good is to develop a "How To" manual that would be posted here at part15(dot)us and map out the ways of building a Wi Fi station.
The "dead end" totally controlled browser page + stream is a fascinating idea.
How soon can we have on up and running?
This is an interesting thread! Even for the Netherlands. I agree with Carl, we need a "How To" manual.
Rob Veld