3 ms·

Dunno if this is allowed or not, but paywall free version is here: https://archive.is/Z6GXD https://archive.is/Z6GXD I would really love to do something like t

Dunno if this is allowed or not, but paywall free version is here: https://archive.is/Z6GXD https://archive.is/Z6GXD I would really love to do something like this in my neighborhood. Seems like an interesting project and a fun hobby but sadly I think I would have a hard time with hardware and finding willing people to help out.

cartoonworld 5y ago
The hardware is readily available, you can also just use yagi or directional normal wifi, but the real difficulty is getting buy in and people to want to connect. Is it the sole internet or backup is an important question to answer. Find a local ham group, they may already be doing something similar and might be interested in other projects.
- ThaDood 5y ago
  Oh yeah, hardware access is no problem. Its just cost, for me atleast. Finding people to connect would also be difficult. Funny you mention hammers. I checked and my local ham group is run by a bunch of right-wing nut jobs, so I don't think they would be interested in a meshnet.
  - gravypod 5y ago
    To echo this: When I was in college at NJIT I had access to a building, with roof access, 10G networking, head of networking was a friend, battery backup, and staff members on site at all times [0] and attempted to figure out what we'd need to connect to NYC Mesh or if they'd be interested in starting a sister mesh. We're in NJ so connecting to the NYC Mesh might have been difficult but we likely had line-of-sight to some parts of Manhattan. tl;dr: No one was able to help at the time and we'd have to foot the bill for the equipment which was not possible at the time. This is obviously completely reasonable but hopefully as they grow they can do more outreach. A Mesh alternative to standard ISPs is critical in my opinion. It could even be used for emergency communications in the next Sandy-like scenario. [0] - https://www.k2mff.club/ https://www.k2mff.club/ & https://web.njit.edu/~k2mff/ourwork.html https://web.njit.edu/~k2mff/ourwork.html > and we'd have to foot the bill for the equipment which was not possible at the time. This is obviously completely reasonable but hopefully as they grow they can do more
senectus1 5y ago
same... would def be down for this and my place is on an elevated lot, I'd make a great place for a omni directional.
l00sed 5y ago
Pittsburgh, Chicago and Toronto are a couple other cities with community-driven network initiatives that I've researched. Also, the recent #yosoysnet movement and the Cuban state-run telecoms company (ETECSA) trying to cut off its citizens from the internet is another really relevant and interesting topic. Basically Cubans have built a full fledged branch of thousands of (illegal) nodes which is tangentially connected to the global internet. There were a few articles that Vice did about El Paquete, the daily couple terabytes of new "internet" (movies, music, news) that was shared over the SNET and by flashdrive. If you're interested, I've written a few articles on why I think community mesh nets could provide a solution to social media echo chambers and reduce the proliferation of conspiracy theories by providing a route for local-first news: https://l-o-o-s-e-d.net/public-internet https://l-o-o-s-e-d.net/public-internet

cartoonworld 5y ago

The hardware is readily available, you can also just use yagi or directional normal wifi, but the real difficulty is getting buy in and people to want to connect. Is it the sole internet or backup is an important question to answer. Find a local ham group, they may already be doing something similar and might be interested in other projects.

ThaDood 5y ago
Oh yeah, hardware access is no problem. Its just cost, for me atleast. Finding people to connect would also be difficult. Funny you mention hammers. I checked and my local ham group is run by a bunch of right-wing nut jobs, so I don't think they would be interested in a meshnet.
- gravypod 5y ago
  To echo this: When I was in college at NJIT I had access to a building, with roof access, 10G networking, head of networking was a friend, battery backup, and staff members on site at all times [0] and attempted to figure out what we'd need to connect to NYC Mesh or if they'd be interested in starting a sister mesh. We're in NJ so connecting to the NYC Mesh might have been difficult but we likely had line-of-sight to some parts of Manhattan. tl;dr: No one was able to help at the time and we'd have to foot the bill for the equipment which was not possible at the time. This is obviously completely reasonable but hopefully as they grow they can do more outreach. A Mesh alternative to standard ISPs is critical in my opinion. It could even be used for emergency communications in the next Sandy-like scenario. [0] - https://www.k2mff.club/ https://www.k2mff.club/ & https://web.njit.edu/~k2mff/ourwork.html https://web.njit.edu/~k2mff/ourwork.html > and we'd have to foot the bill for the equipment which was not possible at the time. This is obviously completely reasonable but hopefully as they grow they can do more

senectus1 5y ago

same... would def be down for this and my place is on an elevated lot, I'd make a great place for a omni directional.

l00sed 5y ago

Pittsburgh, Chicago and Toronto are a couple other cities with community-driven network initiatives that I've researched. Also, the recent #yosoysnet movement and the Cuban state-run telecoms company (ETECSA) trying to cut off its citizens from the internet is another really relevant and interesting topic. Basically Cubans have built a full fledged branch of thousands of (illegal) nodes which is tangentially connected to the global internet. There were a few articles that Vice did about El Paquete, the daily couple terabytes of new "internet" (movies, music, news) that was shared over the SNET and by flashdrive. If you're interested, I've written a few articles on why I think community mesh nets could provide a solution to social media echo chambers and reduce the proliferation of conspiracy theories by providing a route for local-first news: https://l-o-o-s-e-d.net/public-internet https://l-o-o-s-e-d.net/public-internet