How to build a LAN without internet for volunteer NGO in Africa

[WarrenTee]

Hello. I am new to SNB. If posted in wrong section, please advise.
My story:
Would like to set up an Intranet without internet.
I volunteer with a small NGO in Tanzania, providing direct medical care. Currently all our processes are with pen and paper.
We have no internet access. We have access to electricity at the end of the work day. We have access to 12V (car/truck) power during the day.
On average each day we will assess 300-400 clients with one chart (8.5" x 8.0") that includes probably up to 200 datapoints.
Clients stream through the various stations - registration, health assessment, medical, dental, optometry, testing, education and pharmacy. Their chart is updated at each station.
I envision a laptop and router to act as a server, a webpage being the chart, and being accessed (retrieved, edited and re-written) by up to 12 to 15 tablets (or small computers) (at up to 8-10 stations) used by the medical providers.
(I envision the laptop to store the various databases we use in clinical decision making. That would be a bonus.)
My key point: a client chart that is accessible by tablet or notebook, on the intranet/lan, continually updated. And of course, printable at the end for client take-away.
Where do I start? What do I need?
Happy to receive your general and specific steps to make this project work for our clients and our volunteers.

 

[thiggins]

The networking part is the easy part. All you need is a wireless router. It will create the wireless network and assign IP addresses to the tablets and laptops. It will work fine without an internet connection.

The more difficult part will be the application design to get the info into the database and make sure that only one user at a time has write access to the chart. Edit and view permissions will also need to be controlled.

 

[System Error Message]

you didnt mention wifi but you mentioned tablets.
It would help if you mentioned the area of wifi you need to cover in each area, the distance between 1 net and the next.
In terms of networks you have LAN, intranet and internet. An Intranet would connect multiple LANs together.

Your data is basically only documents?

You should have 2 NAS, each with drives in redundant config. Some NASes (DIY especially) can be set to have a webserver too. (you can make your own NAS from scavanged hardware and just get a couple of drives for each and create raid 1 for start, even a laptop with 2 USB drives can become a NAS if you can perform RAID 1 on usb drives).

Building the network part isnt hard, but the cost also depends on your expertise as well. If you can find other volunteers that can help with building the infrastructure it could help a lot and in procuring hardware . Your main concern should be electricity. vehicle batteries dont make the best backup batteries. Car batteries have much wider voltage rage unlike other batteries do though if you are already using them for your clinics you would already either have some sort of inverter or voltage booster. If you operate computers directly via DC voltage from the battery even when there is electricity to charge it, it makes the whole process more efficient and cost less as you dont lose power at the inverter but make sure that the battery's charge and flat voltages are within the voltage range of the equipment you run.

It looks like you charge your batteries at night and use them during the day. Make sure not to let your batteries discharge below 40% as car batteries dont like it.

Any wireless router will make a wifi lan for you, make sure to have reliable ones. Post here the brand and model if you find any thats available or scavanged and we can mention how reliable it is or if there is any hope for it. Stuff from companies like ubiquiti and mikrotik have POE in which if used with a POE out device like a POE out switch with direct DC input can be used directly from car batteries for better efficiency but make sure the voltage range is within the range of voltage the battery outputs. If your monitoring equipments also have ethernet jacks it can be useful if you want to wire everything up and have the data collected automatically and be able to be accessed from any location.

Consider building a diesel generator from a junkyard older diesel card engine. All recent diesels use a fuel system that is intolerant to fuel made from recycling. Older diesel systems that lack all the complicated electronics that allow a diesel to rev high will accept fuel made from recycled sources like used cooking oil. Combined with solar this may let you operate entirely off the grid.

 

[WarrenTee]

Thanks Tim. What do you think might be the maximum range for the tablets/computers to see the router? And if less than 10 meters, can I boost the range? Super Thanks!
As for the chart, there will be one master chart, that gets copied and saved as each individual client, (up to 300 per day). So the chart for thiggins will only be open on one device at a time. Doable?

 

[sfx2000]

Hello. I am new to SNB. If posted in wrong section, please advise.
My story:
Would like to set up an Intranet without internet.
I volunteer with a small NGO in Tanzania, providing direct medical care. Currently all our processes are with pen and paper.
We have no internet access. We have access to electricity at the end of the work day. We have access to 12V (car/truck) power during the day.
On average each day we will assess 300-400 clients with one chart (8.5" x 8.0") that includes probably up to 200 datapoints.

I can appreciate the effort, and thanks for volunteering...

In the NGO space - you're not alone - what I suggest is looking to connect up with other NGO's - many might already have platforms in place, including connectivity...

That being said - there's been huge development/deployment of 2G/3G and even LTE in the continent - so there are Telco's that can offer bandwidth there.

But again - rather than try to reinvent the wheel - check on what the other NGO's have already in place.

 

[WarrenTee]

I can appreciate the effort, and thanks for volunteering...

In the NGO space - you're not alone - what I suggest is looking to connect up with other NGO's - many might already have platforms in place, including connectivity...

That being said - there's been huge development/deployment of 2G/3G and even LTE in the continent - so there are Telco's that can offer bandwidth there.

But again - rather than try to reinvent the wheel - check on what the other NGO's have already in place.

Thanks sfx2000. Much appreciated!

 

[thiggins]

Range depends on physical environment. If it is a large open space, then 10 meters is easily no problem. Could even be 30 or 50. But if you are trying to span cinder block or stone construction, range will be shorter.

It also helps that your application is relatively low bandwidth, i.e. no streaming, no large files.

If charts are in use by only one person at a time,you should be fine. I would look for an application that can check documents out and in, i.e. ensure access by only one person at a time.

 

[Samir]

As mentioned before, the networking hardware part is the easy part, especially since you can just run wires and put access points where you need them.

If data entry needs to be quick, I'd use laptops with keyboards and have someone dedicated to do the data entry from the paper chart to update the electronic version. Otherwise, tablets can also be used, and would need to be used if there is need to roam and enter data on the fly.

As far as the software part of it, you could write a very basic database program with a web front end. This would be lightning fast even on older or obsolete hardware as it would very simple text on the client side. The hardest part of this design will be the permissions--who can create new charts, update charts, retrieve charts. This would probably require some sort of login system. There may be a standalone system out there that someone has already written, so as also mentioned in the thread, definitely research what others have done.

 

[WarrenTee]

As mentioned before, the networking hardware part is the easy part, especially since you can just run wires and put access points where you need them.

If data entry needs to be quick, I'd use laptops with keyboards and have someone dedicated to do the data entry from the paper chart to update the electronic version. Otherwise, tablets can also be used, and would need to be used if there is need to roam and enter data on the fly.

As far as the software part of it, you could write a very basic database program with a web front end. This would be lightning fast even on older or obsolete hardware as it would very simple text on the client side. The hardest part of this design will be the permissions--who can create new charts, update charts, retrieve charts. This would probably require some sort of login system. There may be a standalone system out there that someone has already written, so as also mentioned in the thread, definitely research what others have done.

Thanks Samir. Much appreciated. Will get back to you later as the idea percolates. Re: the tablet/laptop query: clients will register and then be processed at up to 6 or 7 distinct stations in a range of up to 100 meters. They register, weigh, viral signs, visit medical station and/or testing and/or dentistry and/or ophthalmology and finally pharmacy. Ideally we want to retrieve an updated patient file at any one of those stations for reading and writing. Then at the end, the pharmacy team will add dispensed meds to the chart and print a copy of the chart for the patient ( another story for another day). Thanks!

 

[Samir]

Thanks Samir. Much appreciated. Will get back to you later as the idea percolates. Re: the tablet/laptop query: clients will register and then be processed at up to 6 or 7 distinct stations in a range of up to 100 meters. They register, weigh, viral signs, visit medical station and/or testing and/or dentistry and/or ophthalmology and finally pharmacy. Ideally we want to retrieve an updated patient file at any one of those stations for reading and writing. Then at the end, the pharmacy team will add dispensed meds to the chart and print a copy of the chart for the patient ( another story for another day). Thanks!

Thank you for share more details about the workflow as that's the most important part. The best systems are designed when automating an existing system piece by piece. In your case, each station could have a laptop or even a desktop machine with a keyboard for data entry into the system. And now looking at the workflow, you could even do this with a bunch of windows 95 systems running a dos database program. At the end there would be a query to organize all the patient data and print it out. Very barebones, but very simple and dead reliable.