WiFi hotspot scraper

[qasim]

From #20

WiFi hotspot scraper, retrieves data from http://map.utoronto.ca (so it can use the LayerScraper).

Let's discuss possible schemas / what exactly to scrape and whether we can get more info somewhere else too.

[kashav]

There doesn't seem to be a lot of information available for the access points (also WiFi data is only available for UTSG). Nonetheless, I think the schema would look something like:

{
  "id": Number,
  "address": String,
  "building_name": String,
  "building_id": String,
  "access_points": Number,
  "image": String,
  "lat": Number,
  "lng": Number,
  "title": String
}

A quick search found this source as well: http://wireless.utoronto.ca/cmaps, which includes real time usage and coverage around each campus (I'm not sure how useful this is though, considering #13).

[qasim]

I think there is a chance here to email support@wireless.utoronto.ca asking to see if there is a possibility to get direct DB access for the sake of Cobalt (in this case, then this will be the first case of an API that will only be available on the hosted version of Cobalt and not the open source project, + it won't have a scraper).

I don't know if now is the best time to email or maybe we should wait until the DCS / NGSIS / Faculty decides to acknowledge our existence (I've emailed some faculty members and am waiting on replies yet). It might not hurt to try.

Otherwise, yeah, the real-time data is hard to integrate with Cobalt without a hit to performance.

[kashav]

It's definitely a good idea to ask, what do you think the chances of getting access are? As for when, I think the best bet is to do it as soon as possible – how long ago did you email the faculty members?

Also, a note about the schema above, turns out image is the same for all points, so I don't think that needs to be included.

[qasim]

I don't have enough experience to say, but from all the talking I've done with these subdivisions at UofT, no one has been in favour of providing their data directly to us.

But that's fine, we will continue to grow this service out until UofT will notice, and after that point things will get a lot easier. I have faith. 👊

I'll look into this after exam season and start sending more emails to DCS faculty. @kshvmdn would you like to see what you can get out of support@wireless.utoronto.ca and email them?

[qasim]

An update: the department's Associate Chair for undergraduate studies is currently looking into what the DCS can do for Cobalt. Of course I'll let everyone know what the result of that is.