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The CradlePoint MBR1000 instantly creates a WiFi hotspot that any WiFi enabled device can connect to—laptop, camera, PDA, etc. The MBR1000 connects devices to the Internet in two ways: via 3G/4G mobile broadband using an EVDO or USB air card, providing high-speed web access virtually anywhere. Or it can also be plugged into a DSL or cable modem. |
Rescue Team Uses CradlePoint Mobile WiFi to Enhance Communications
Volunteers in King County 4x4 Search and Rescue Able to Share Critical Information During Operations
Situation:
King County 4x4 Search and Rescue is a group of volunteers that works with the King County Sheriff’s office to assist local law enforcement agencies in locating
missing and/or lost persons. In addition to searches in rural/remote areas, they also conduct searches for individuals in urban areas. Their command vehicle is 1974 step van.
Challenge:
Internet access was crucial to maximizing the effectiveness of the unit. Thus, individual team members would have to bring their own personal laptops with aircards so they could access email or the Internet. Some team members had mapping software or other valuable capabilities on their laptops, but couldn’t share those resources with others in real time.
Solution:
One of the Search and Rescue team’s volunteers, Jeff Bird, had been using a CradlePoint MBR1000 Mobile Broadband N Router in his home. “Our house is located where we can’t get DSL or cable broadband service,” Jeff explains. “My wife and I both work from home and dial-up was proving too slow. I got an air card for my computer, but that left my wife stuck with dial up. I went online searching for an answer. That’s how I found out about CradlePoint routers and how they allow multiple computers share a 3G/4G broadband connection.”
Jeff thought it was an ideal solution for the command van. He approached CradlePoint to see if they could help the Search and Rescue team. “Now we have an MBR1000 permanently installed in the command van,” Jeff says. “There’s a desktop computer in the van that’s always plugged into one of the LAN ports of the MBR1000.” In addition, the MBR1000 creates a Wi-Fi hot spot that volunteers with laptops can access.
“A recent incident provides a good example of just how valuable the MBR1000 is,” explains Jeff. “A non-English speaking Alzheimer’s patient had wandered away from a care facility. We were called in to help with the search. The facility didn’t have a digital photo of the person, but the King County Sheriff was able to access state records and email us a photo. Using the MBR1000’s WiFi hot spot, our volunteers were able to access the image and put it on their laptops. We fanned out and in less than an hour we found the individual. If we hadn’t been able to share that photo as rapidly and easily as we did with the MBR1000, we might not have been so successful so quickly.”
Benefits:
Jeff offers another example of how the MBR1000 has helped make the Search and Rescue team’s job easier: “When there’s a mission, a page goes out to volunteers. The volunteers then call into a voice mail system and report if they’re on their way to help and their ETA. Before the MBR1000, the commander would have to call in to listen to the voice mails to know how many individuals were coming and when they would arrive. With the MBR1000, we can simply log onto a website that displays that information, along with a time-stamp of when the call was recorded. Now we know much more quickly who is going to be able to assist in the search and when to expect them.
- Easy. “[The MBR1000] is very easy to set up,” Jeff says. “It took just a couple of minutes.
- Reliable. “Durability-wise, it’s worked great,” reports Jeff. “So far, we’ve had no issues at all.
- Adaptable. The MBR1000 has three inputs for cellular broadband: “If we’re out at the edge of a coverage area and one carrier’s signal isn’t coming in strong,” notes Jeff, “we can plug in a cell phone or air card from different carrier and try to get a better signal.
- Time-saving. “At the end of a mission,” Jeff says, “we have to fill out after-action reports. A lot of times it’s 2 a.m. in the morning and you don’t feel like going home and booting up the home computer. With the MBR1000, we can complete our reports right on the spot while everything is still fresh in our minds and email them in.”
“Since we are a charity, supported entirely by public donations,” concludes Jeff, “the purchase of equipment is a critical decision. This is a superb product that works exactly as promised, and it has directly impacted our ability to help save some lives this year.”
