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The CBC reports: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/navy-warship-wifi-1.4481346
The Canadian navy has dropped what its top sailor called the "draconian" policy on the technology and has embarked on a program to install Wi-Fi on each of its warships.
"There are other navies that operate with NATO that have Wi-Fi in far more spaces than we do." said Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd, commander of the Royal Canadian Navy. "And we're saying 'No you can't have it aboard' — period? That's crazy."
The U.S. navy began installing 4G LTE networks aboard its ships in 2012, while Canadian sailors have over the same period of time been forced to stow their cellphones while at sea — particularly when in secured areas — and rely on the occasional satellite phone conversation with family at home.
Those infrequent chats conducted through "morale phones" were largely dependant on the warship's jammed-up operational network.
Chief Petty Officer 1st Class Michel Vigneault was amazed to see, for the very first time, a sailor having a Facetime conversation with family back home on a smartphone. The moment neatly captured the conundrum he and the top brass have faced in making the navy, which has for a decade been perpetually short of sailors, an appealing place to work. The moment encapsulated two issues: the longstanding prohibition on Wi-Fi coverage aboard warships and the amount of time sailors are away from home.
Both have become central to the retention and recruiting makeover that is underway as part of the Liberal government's recently introduced defence strategy.
The ban on Wi-Fi was an obvious irritant.
"I realized then how important it is. Maybe not for my generation, because we didn't grow up with that, but for younger sailors, being connected is very, very important," Vigneault told CBC News is a recent interview. "Everything we can do to enable that for the benefit of the sailor and his or her family is very, very important."
(Score: 4, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Sunday January 14 2018, @02:35AM (2 children)
How about a CAT5 cable, connecting any number of WIFI routers, one in each compartment where WIFI is permitted to be used? Routers are pretty cheap, actually. A nice Netgear router with Tomato installed might cost $100 to $200, adjust for bulk discounts, then adjust again for graft and corruption and government waste. So, one router in each berthing space, another on the mess deck, plus whatever spaces are deemed appropriate. Engineering spaces, for instance, are hazardous, and WIFI should probably be disabled. (Wire any computer equipment used in these spaces.)
So, on a typical destroyer, you're only talking about 1000 feet of CAT5, and around ten WIFI routers. On an aircraft carrier, you would have to multiply those numbers by at least 100, and probably more.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Sunday January 14 2018, @04:50AM
Ahh, I figured 100 separate zones for a destroyer, not 10.
/ never been in the Navy
// have toured several ships though
/// not for me
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Sunday January 14 2018, @05:24AM
How about get rid of wifi and just make a big LAN for LAN parties? load up a good selection of old school videogames and let nature take its course.
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