Exploiting Regular Hot-Spots for Drive-thru Internet

IEEE 802.11 WLAN technology has become an inexpensive, yet powerful access technology that is targeted at mobile users that remain within reach of the hot-spot. Such hot-spots are usually provided by a wireless Internet service provider (WISP) in locations often frequented by travelers. Past measurements have shown that WLAN is even able to support mobile users passing by without stopping and “hopping” from one hot-spot to the next. The Drive-thru Internet project develops a disconnection-tolerant architecture that enables such unconventional usage of WLAN technology. In this paper, we focus on two prime aspects relevant for interworking with existing hot-spot installations: we investigate the impact of auto-configuration and authentication and present performance results for a driving user accessing the Internet via a hot-spot using different access link technologies. We finally suggest enhancements to hot-spot architectures to facilitate Drive-thru Internet access.