Re: [mesh-dev] Progress update

Thanks Marc and April. This is so exciting and you are really being thoughtful about the build out and testing. Laura On 3/13/15 7:07 AM, April Glaser wrote: > Hi Laura, > > To clarify, the $40 node isn't $40 a month for an Internet connection. > It's the price of the antenna set up to connect to the network. > > So we're still working out the details on how we will distribute > access to the network. Some parts of Oakland still report that less > than 50% of residents have access to a reliable Internet connection. > In those areas we might experiment with other methods of distribution. > To that end, we're doing outreach to local organizations and the like > to discuss how to best expand the network. > > Here's a description of our work that we used recently to apply for a > grant, in case this also helps. > > *What's your project? What's below is about 30 words over. Can someone > tighten it up?* > We are a homegrown, community-owned network in Oakland, California > working toprovide free Internet access at faster speeds than > traditional providers. > The People's OpenNetworkis dedicated to the idea that our community > must have a central role in theoperation of ourcommunications > networks. That is why we are building our own free network that > provides high-speed, open access to the global Internet, while hosting > local applications and services crafted by and for users in the East

> We are committed to universal, equitable, and unfettered access, free > of unwanted surveillance and censorship. People's Openuses Sudo Mesh > firmware, a free software project developed by > volunteersenablingrobust, non-hierarchical mesh networks. The firmware > provides a simple way for users to share a configurable portion of > their Internet connection with the network – made relatively safe > because the traffic from the shared connection is notassociated with > the donor's IP address. Sudo Mesh is distinct from other opensource > firmwaresbecause we prioritize both sharing andprivacy. > Every aspect of People's Open is participatory, and every week we host > three open meetings, including firmware development and community > organizing. We're collaborating with local organizations and our > diverse neighbors to co-create the network. > *What assumptions will you test? * > We hope to establish that a small-scale community-run network can > provideservices currently assumed to be the province of large, > top-down Internet providers. Specifically, we are exploring how local > media and applications can be developed on such a network tobenefit > local users. Examples of services include a local bulletin board, > grassroots journalism outlets, local Voice-over-IP, archives, > community asset maps, and Internet radio, all hosted on our local > network. > Instead of paid-subscribers, our goal is to have active participants. > To that end, we currently offer training and hold open hack-nights at > Oakland community hackerspaceSudoroom. Topics range from cryptography > and network administration to antenna design and firmware hacking. We > are actively designing our network through conversations with > community partners, like Media Alliance, AspirationTech, > ICSI/UCBerkeley, and others as part of our long-term outreach

> Access to the Internet is a human right, and we oppose practices that > corner users into paying exorbitant rates to get online. Our network > offers a free connection to anyone within range or willing to host a > node. We challenge the idea that users need to trade personal data to > engage with their community online, and People's Open encourages our > neighbors to support other free software projects. > *Who is the audience/user of this project? How will they be impacted?

> The current model of Internet distribution in the East Bay isn't > working for everyone. Many neighborhoods continue to report that over > fifty-percent of residents lack a reliable home Internet connection. > People's Open is partnering with community anchors, like churches, > neighborhood gardens, schools, small businesses, and libraries, to > mount antennas in underserved neighborhoods. > This is a community network, and we're working with our neighbors to > build and maintain it collectivity. We meet with local leaders and > invite our neighbors to participate, fostering collective expertise > and helping to ensure sustainability of the network. > We are building a captive portal that directs users tolocal > applications, such asa community calendar, grassroots media, maps, and > bulletin boards. Working directly with activist groups to co-design > trustworthy platforms, we're exploring ways to host local social media > and digital classrooms. We are also in conversation with branch > libraries and social service organizations about hosting information > directories on the network. People’s Open is a grassroots media > project, and we want to help meet the information needs of our > communities. > In sum, we provide a faster connection to the global Internet than a > traditional residential ISP, while strengthening our community’s > relationship with technologies that we depend on everyday. > > *What have you made so far? * > For the past year and a half, most of our work has gone into > developing and testing our firmware, which is a heavily modified > version of OpenWRT. Our sources are on GitHub > (https://github.com/sudomesh/) <https://github.com/sudomesh/%29>and > are available for other communities wishing to create a similar > network. We are finally at a point where we can begin to offer a > reliable networking service. > We have also deployed two testbed networks, one in Omni Commons, a > giant community center which houses Sudoroom, and one in West Oakland, > consisting of routers running our firmware. > People's Open also has a long-term outreach and communications > strategy, with the goal that the network will bloom and remain > responsive to our communities. Our outreach strategy focuses on three > tiers: large organizational partners, community anchors like churches > and small businesses, and neighborhood mapping. In working with > existing and trusted community groups, we hope to invite their > networks to join and participate. > Finally, we have a dedicated team in the project for the long-haul. We > have three open hack-nights a week at Sudoroom, a well-known community > center, where anyone is welcome to get involved at every level of the > project. We frequently welcome new participants and keep our website > up-to-date. > > > > > On 3/13/15 3:04 AM, Marc Juul wrote: >> On Thu, Mar 12, 2015 at 3:13 PM, Laura Turiano&lt;scylla(a)riseup.net&gt; >> wrote: >> >>> Hello meshers, >>> >>> I'm writing an update for Oaklandish about the Omni and would like

>>> include info about progress on the mesh network. Can someone tell me >>> how >>> many nodes have been installed, any other accomplishments, what are

>>> next steps, etc.? >>> >> Hi. Here are my thoughts. Other mesh folk, please correct or expand >> as you >> please. >> >> Next week we're activating a test network at the Omni to test our

>> nodes in an apartment-complex-like setting, as well as a small six

>> high-speed roof-to-roof network in west Oakland. We have been working >> on a >> new, friendlier, web admin interface as well as features that will

>> people to start out with an entry-level ~$40 node and upgrade their >> coverage later by adding rooftop or street-facing nodes without any >> extra >> configuration. >> >> Over the next month or so we'll be stress-testing our two networks

>> completing these new features. The next phase will be a beta release >> where >> we invite the adventurous to adopt nodes. I would like to see a beta >> test >> network with maybe 50-100 node locations. The beta test will be less >> about >> testing the technology (though there will be some of that) and more >> about >> understanding the problems and opportunities that arise when a

>> group of people with diverse skill-sets have to run their own >> network. If >> the network is to succeed as it grows, then it cannot rely only on

>> small group of volunteers that make up sudo mesh. We're going to

>> figure out how to communicate to node operators that this is not a >> traditional ISP with a support line. Instead it is rather like a >> community >> garden where everyone helps out to make it succeed and we want so

>> out how to best facilitate that cooperation. During this phase we'll >> also >> be finalizing our automation tools for receiving orders for new

>> automatically configuring those nodes and shipping them out. Once

>> comfortable that everything is ready for a rapidly expanding network