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.
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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