trango

Yes. We could have. But that would be point to point. We have done point to multipoint (thats why its called a hotspot). We had villages and remote areas in mind.

WiFi is an ubiquitous feature of the modern landscape, but due to power restrictions on most hardware alongside the high-frequency signal it’s typically fairly limited in range. This of course leads to frustration where a WiFi signal can be seen, but the connection is unreliable or slow. While most would reach for a range extender or other hardware bridge, [tak786] was able to roll out a better solution for his workplace by using a high-gain antenna and a single-board computer which gets him an amazing kilometer-wide WiFi network.

The build uses a 10 dBi antenna from TP-Link that’s rated for outdoor use and a single-board computer which acts as a sort of router. The antenna is placed at the top of a building which certainly helps with the extreme range as well. This setup doesn’t actually broadcast an open Internet connection, though. [tak786]’s employer needed a teleconferencing solution for their building, and he also created a fully open-source video conferencing solution called trango that can run on any LAN and doesn’t require an Internet connection. The WiFi setup in this build is effectively just a bonus to make the conferencing system more effective.

[tak786] is planning on releasing a whitepaper about this build shortly, but for now you can access the source code for the video conferencing system at his GitHub page. And, before anyone jumps to conclusions, apparently this is well within FCC rules as well. Some of the comments in the linked Reddit post suggest that with an amateur radio license this system could be pushed much further, too. If you need more range than a kilometer, though, it’s not too much more difficult to do once you have all the right hardware.

Trango is a cross platform, calling and file sharing solution which works on LAN and the wider internet. Your data never leaves your local Wifi. The internet is only used to discover those on the same network as you.

We were in the same office and needed a fast, simple way to communicate with eachother without coming in close contact (covid 19) and wanted to do that over LAN rather than use tools over the internet NOR use our ancient intercom system. So now we are using this internally for fast file sharing and good quality video calls.

It is open source and a self hosted version is available here https://github.com/trango-io/trango-self-hosted. Native Windows, Mac, iOS and Android applications are in the works right now and should be ready sometime at the end of this month.

We have been talking to quite a few of you as to how you would like to use trango. Many of you would like to use it in offices, factories, hotels and even homes.

Some very interesting use cases have been built about how trango can be used off-grid, connecting remote communities to eachother over W(LAN). If you guys are interested, please join the trango community on reddit and suggest as to how/where you would like to see trango going:

/r/trango/

Thank you very much guys! Really appreciate the feedback

Hello,

We created trango, a (W)LAN based audio/video calling and file sharing solution. Ideal for talking to colleagues, family and friends in any shared space. Can be used by offices, hotels, factories, off-grid establishments and any shared space. It is free, open source and cross platform. A self hosted version is also available for Linux and Windows machines/servers. With self-host, you completely bypass the internet which can be found at https://github.com/trango-io/trango-self-hosted. The web version only uses the internet to discover those on the same network as you. In either case, your data never leaves your own network. We have even encrypted it for further security. Group calls and online calls are being added as we speak.

We are working on an Android and iOS mobile app along with desktop apps for more convenience. We are also enhancing the functionality of the self-hosted version so that it can work on an enterprise level with a slew of admin and security features. The program is still in beta so please bear with us.

Background: We started using trango in our factory of 100 or so people since the internet connectivity wasn’t great. Also, due to Covid, we were shunning meetings and reluctant to meet eachother in person. Other establishments around us liked the idea of communicating over LAN so we deployed trango for them and now they too are using trango instead of their local landlines (intercom/pbx). Trango is very simple to set up and we would like to keep it that way. On the client side, trango is also easy to use due to its visual nature. The goal is to create an instant messaging solution which works online and offline seamlessly.

We would love your feedback on trango. If anyone of you wish to contribute to open-source, you are most welcome. You can also subscribe on our webapp https://web.trango.io to keep yourself updated to our full launch and other feature additions.

Thanking you,

T. Khan

thank you! Inspired by Apple's Airdrop graphics and interface.

Thank you!

It works over some VPN's but not all. We will look into why and try to resolve.

Yes, it works very well when we need to call eachother or share files with eachother in the office. At home, I mainly use it to share large pictures and videos with my wife as it is very fast.

Yes, different channels and group calling should be added. We could add a chat function in it aswell.

Even though it is based on your local wifi and the data never leaves your home/office network, we have still encrypted it by default so we can integrate online calling and file sharing in a secure manner and dont have to redo the whole security aspect again!

There is no range. Whoever is connected to the same Wifi network can communicate or share files. You could say the range is only as good as the signals from your router.

Sure. We used webrtc, websockets and a signalling server which helps in discovering who is available on your local network. However, none of the calls or files ever go through the server.

We want to refine it a bit further before taking it opensource. :)

I created https://web.trango.io a LAN based calling and file sharing service. Essentially, you can share files, make video and audio calls to those on the same network as you without having to go through the internet. Your data never leaves your local Wifi. The internet is only used to discover those on the same network as you. We use webrtc and a signalling server to make this system work.

We were in the same office and needed a fast, simple way to communicate with eachother without coming in close contact (covid 19) and wanted to do that over LAN rather than use tools over the internet NOR use our ancient intercom system. So now we are using this internally for fast file sharing and good quality video calls.

Going to be introducing group calls soon and also the ability to integrate online calling and file sharing.