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I don't think we have the technology today make a "global mesh network". We need new Wi-Fi technologies and products to appear, and I think they will over the n

I don't think we have the technology today make a "global mesh network". We need new Wi-Fi technologies and products to appear, and I think they will over the next 10 years or so. We need to get the Wi-Fi Alliance to create new Wi-Fi standards for longer ranges, too, which would make this easier. It would also help commercial companies, especially if they want to disrupt wireless telcos (such as Google and Microsoft, who have been trying to work on this, too). But until we get to that point, we can build the technology, and have it more localized in villages, towns, or even big cities. We can use the latest Wi-Fi routers, or mobile phones, to form these meshnets now. Then perhaps we'll get Wi-fi balloons like what Google is building in Africa, although I'm not sure how resilient those would be against a government, but perhaps there will be so many of them that shutting them down would be much like shutting down the Internet. As for intercontinental meshnets, I think DIY sattellites will become more popular in the future, and could help with this, too.

femto 13y ago
Think low-cost drones [1,2], not satellites. I can imagine a constellation of drones, linked by modulated laser/led/radio beams beamed though the air. If using light/IR, a challenge would be keeping the beam pointing at the photo-diode (optical phased array?). The drones could link to the ground using either optical or radio. An awful lot of this work is already underway in the context of satellites. [1] http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Solar-Powered-Drone-can-Remain-Airborne-for-Five-Years.html http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Solar-Powe... [2] http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/08/new-9-hour-solar-powered-unmanned-aircraft-to-hit-market/ http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/08/new-9-hour-solar-pow...
- morphle 13y ago
  They forget about wear and tear. The bandwidth is limited, as you should measure it in low-power high-bits/cubic-meter[1]. The higher the drone, the greater the distance therefore the lower the bandwith per cubic meter. A fast mesh network needs optical or should have ultra low power butterfly like drones with many gigabits, say one butterfly per human or per cubic meter. [1] http://thor.cs.ucsb.edu/~ravenben/papers/coreos/wei93.pdf http://thor.cs.ucsb.edu/~ravenben/papers/coreos/wei93.pdf

femto 13y ago

Think low-cost drones [1,2], not satellites. I can imagine a constellation of drones, linked by modulated laser/led/radio beams beamed though the air. If using light/IR, a challenge would be keeping the beam pointing at the photo-diode (optical phased array?). The drones could link to the ground using either optical or radio. An awful lot of this work is already underway in the context of satellites. [1] http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Solar-Powered-Drone-can-Remain-Airborne-for-Five-Years.html http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Solar-Powe... [2] http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/08/new-9-hour-solar-powered-unmanned-aircraft-to-hit-market/ http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/08/new-9-hour-solar-pow...

morphle 13y ago
They forget about wear and tear. The bandwidth is limited, as you should measure it in low-power high-bits/cubic-meter[1]. The higher the drone, the greater the distance therefore the lower the bandwith per cubic meter. A fast mesh network needs optical or should have ultra low power butterfly like drones with many gigabits, say one butterfly per human or per cubic meter. [1] http://thor.cs.ucsb.edu/~ravenben/papers/coreos/wei93.pdf http://thor.cs.ucsb.edu/~ravenben/papers/coreos/wei93.pdf