Foundation Projects
Deployment of a Community based Hybrid Wireless Network Using TV White Space and Wi-Fi Spectrum in Remote Valleys around Manaslu Himalaya
E-Networking Research and Development
The project involved building a long range hybrid wireless network in the villages near the Manaslu Himalaya region of Nepal using Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz) and TV White Space (472 MHz to 698 MHz) spectrums to bring broadband Internet for the villagers.
Later it was also decided to use VHF (192.5 MHz to 202.5 MHz) band because the equipment at this band also became available.
The reason for not using only the Wi-Fi band was because there are several limitations with Wi-Fi networks, such as the need of clear LOS, the obstruction by the forest and cloudy weather, and so on.
The reason why E-Networking Research and Development (ENRD) proposed building the network using the combination of Wi-Fi, VHF and TVWS technology was because it was assumed that a hybrid network would perform better and would make the network more reliable than building the wireless network only by using Wi-Fi bands.
Thus the plan was to do comparative study of Wi-Fi, VHF and TVWS regarding coverage, throughput, performance, and other relevant factors. The network is providing Internet services for e-medicine in the community clinics and e-education in community schools and for communication in the villages by creating hotspots.
