Cult (n) = A small unpopular religion.

Religion (n) = A large popular cult.

I have been hearing about mesh neworks lately used to get entire hotels online in very little time and with few access points. So I would think that this is just a smaller scale version of that. There are a few mesh networking products out there and may be a good solution to your problem.

http://locustworld.com/modules.php?op=modload&na me =Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=6&page= 1