Vehicle Mounted WiFi hotspot
Farmers, agricultural businesses, and rural residents often struggle with poor internet coverage, limiting productivity, connectivity, and access to digital tools. Zetifi, a leader in rural connectivity solutions, wanted to expand their offering with a roaming WiFi hotspot device that could be vehicle-mounted, flexible, and robust enough to work in remote environments.
The approach:
Gomotiv and Outerspace partnered with Zetifi to refine and engineer this product into a manufacturable solution. Starting from Zetifi’s initial hardware outline, we worked collaboratively to define requirements, balance cost versus features, and create a system that could deliver reliable connectivity across a wide range of rural applications.
Our team worked with Zetifi to develop ZetiBoard — a consolidated electronics platform that replaced three off-the-shelf products with a single, versatile PCB. This allowed multiple product configurations while reducing size and complexity. The design fit within the narrow footprint required to mount on vehicles or sheds, with modular connectors enabling manufacturers to choose the right connectivity options for each SKU. We also collaborated with Zetifi’s RF engineers to design a robust antenna enclosure. Combined with Zetifi’s multi-carrier software, the system optimises overlapping mobile and WiFi networks to deliver seamless coverage. The ZetiRoverX hotspot can broadcast WiFi up to 300 metres, enabling farmers to work productively around machinery, sheds, and paddocks with reliable voice, video, and data connections.
The outcome:
The electronics and systems engineering teams faced complex challenges in designing a compact, high-performance board for harsh environments. A System-on-Module (SOM) was chosen for maximum peripheral support, enabling USB modems, high-power WiFi cards, and up to five Gigabit Ethernet ports. We also engineered a custom SIM card switching multiplexer, allowing software-controlled transitions between 4G and 5G carriers to maximise connection reliability. Advanced PCB design techniques were applied, including matched differential pairs, impedance-controlled stack-ups, and careful noise isolation to protect sensitive RF components.
Thermal management was addressed with copper heat-sinking layers and thermal pads to maintain operating stability in high temperatures. The wide-range power supply was built to accept inputs from car batteries, solar panels, and sources exceeding 50V, while remaining resilient to vehicle power fluctuations. By combining innovative electronics engineering, robust design for environmental durability, and seamless integration with Zetifi’s software, Gomotiv and Outerspace delivered a system that empowers rural users with reliable connectivity, enabling GPS-guided farming, stock tracking, and remote operations at scale.
