User-friendly file sharing for a remote location
Off the Grid
© Lead Image © Tithi Luadthong, 123rf.com
A battery-powered WiFi hotspot can provide useful services like file sharing even when you're off the grid. A Pi Zero 2 W as the hotspot with ownCloud installed does the trick.
I am lucky enough to have access to my extended family's remote cabin. It's beautiful and remote (Figure 1), but there is no grid – no electricity or Internet, not even by cell service. I set up a solar-powered WiFi access point that hosts exactly one website: a place to share files. This lets the different people who visit the cabin exchange info with the next group who is staying. It's kind of fun, too: The shared data includes practical things like the new phone number of the fellow who delivers propane and playful things like photos of people swimming.
Figure 1: The cabin is located in an isolated area; its only power source is the solar panel.
Getting Started
It might sound easy, but it took me about two weeks to figure this all out. I started with the goal of running Nextcloud on a device that uses the smallest amount of power possible, as power is in short supply. I knew that the "W" in Raspberry Pi Zero W meant built-in WiFi and the "Zero" indicated a small, low-power form factor. My first attempts with a Pi Zero W model (released in 2017) showed that it was too slow, so I ordered a Pi Zero 2 W (released in 2021). It has four cores, and its speed is adequate.
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