looking for ideas for using email on low bandwidth at off peak times

[johnwhelan3316]

Basically in Africa so low cost solutions but some Internet providers provide much cheaper rates between 1 am and 6 am so I'm looking for something that will connect between set times and work off line at others.

Gmail app on Android might work with peak time set to 2-5am with an external battery. I have run fidonet in the past but its too complex for this application.

So simple to use, Android, Windows or Linux based. Suggestions please.

Thanks John

 

[geofelt]

Option 1:
Alarm clock with a snooze button. set it to 5:30 am.
Do your email and go back to sleep

Option 2:
Set your pc to wake up at 5:30 and connect to the internet
Here is how:
http://www.howtogeek.com/119028/how-to-make-your-pc-wake-from-sleep-automatically/

You should be able to use the same process to revert to sleep later.

 

[bill001g]

You could use one of the many free parental control software available. You can set time of day restrictions. You could leave the email software set to constantly check but it would only be allowed to connect during the times the software allows.

You might also be able to use the firewalls built into windows.

 

[johnwhelan3316]

I'd wondered if the alarm could be launch a program rather than play a tune.

The windows solution looks good but ideally you'd want it to run twice then not connect. I wonder if we can say only use the internet connection between these hours somehow? Certainly approaches to think about.

Thanks John

 

[johnwhelan3316]

> You could use one of the many free parental control software available.

I think that may well be a simple answer.

Thanks John

 

[mjslakeridge]

If I understand you correctly you want to be able to write emails during the day, but send them out (and receive emails) only during the early morning hours. Unless there are large files attached to the emails sent/received, I would think the actual emails themselves are very small and wouldn't consume much data, so would it make much difference in the cost? Or is it not the size of the emails that matters, but when you are actually connected to the internet?

 

[geofelt]

I'd wondered if the alarm could be launch a program rather than play a tune.

The windows solution looks good but ideally you'd want it to run twice then not connect. I wonder if we can say only use the internet connection between these hours somehow? Certainly approaches to think about.

Thanks John

Exactly. You can schedule a second started task to cause the pc to sleep or disconnect from the internet.

 

[johnwhelan3316]

I do a fair bit of mapping with openstreetmap HOT to be more precise. NGOs such as MSF, Red Cross etc send field teams in so often from US and Europe who are used to email. There are a number of schools and internet cafes floating around and as we map often we want to send the latest version of the area they are working in to them. So an email attachment works well. The cost of a satellite connection and a laptop is too high but a wireless connection to an existing Internet connection might be fairly easy to arrange, especially if there is no additional cost to the person providing the internet connection. There is another side to this which is local mapping and we now have a method whereby local edits can be added back into the map. It's cumbersome and needs training. However the main editor JOSM will accept edits then bundle them up back to the server at a later time.

Does that give you a bit more background and help understand the problem a bit better?

Thanks John

 

[jsmithepa]

Sounds like you already know what you want to do, now is to translate your wants to actual procedures.

Seems to me, each application needs to be tackled individually, PORTED, from an Internet-always-available to a hold-and-release model. Email App, am sure an exchange server configured properly can do this, but this would not be something folks can tell you in a couple of paragraphs in a forum like this, wo you having a dedicated IT person over there.

 

[johnwhelan3316]

I have a background in IT and email strangely enough and yes one of the main problems will be procedures. However the machines can be preconfigured so that side won't be a problem and in one of my previous jobs I supported machines in the arctic so I am sensitive to the problems of remote access and walking non technical people through configuring machines.

I think what the forum has given me are some valuable ideas and somewhere to start, as you say developing these into something workable will take some effort and involve other players.

I don't think there is a single post that is the total solution as different posts have brought up different aspects to consider. However in total I think there is a workable solution.

Thanks John

 

[jsmithepa]

Great.

I still think you have to tackle one App at a time, and know intimately how those Apps work. Armed with budget, name-dropping contacts, you may be able to convince the software vendors to modify their Apps just enough to suit you. Tell them "you are helping the third world and how is that for an Ad."

Sometimes you can modify some of these stuff locally, a banal example on top of my head is, ripping a CD, and the App will go out the Internet and queries the online CD database for metadata, well bless them you can download this database beforehand to your local HD, now you can tell it to query locally and not have to go out the Internet. As mentioned, familiarity with the App is critical.