Hello Kevin,
thank you for your news from Puerto Rico.
The media reported a lot about the difficulties restoring power (and
potential scandal involving Whitefish Energy).
I haven't heard much on a personal level, only
- my cousin is relaying ham radio messages via NYC
- my doctor's family (from Puerto Rico) may move to the mainland
I'm not familiar with the government of Puerto Rico. It would be
interesting to hear your views on the political leadership, state of
readiness for emergencies, efficiency of response, etc.
====
Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2018 09:43:53 -0400
From: Kevin Shockey <shockeyk(a)gmail.com>
Just started laying the ground work for a mesh network here in Puerto Rico.
<snip>
What have you heard about the communications challenges after the
hurricane? Any questions?
Im still investigating the gap between what is possible versus what is
feasible versus how it actually happened (what we learnt from the actual
experience).
Most people stayed connected using smartphones post disaster. As wheels and
spokes came on line then more pc, laptop, tablets came online.
As the cell network was repaired, then I started doing a mobile hotspot in
my house, or usb tethering. I have to assume other tech-savvy families did
the same.
I know some first responders, but there is a lot more to learn about the
comms implications for search and rescue efforts.
If you think of us a rural/urban networking topology, most of the San Juan
metroplex is fine. Within that area are pockets without power, water,
Internet.
Then in most of the larger cities the same, now we switch immediately to a
rural model. Spokes of functionality extending into smaller pueblos. If the
spoke you live on is with out a service, then everyone down stream is
usually without that service.
It turns out that the utilities were laid out in daisy chains. Many the
chains that are completely inoperational may take years for the
infrastructure to be rebuilt again.
Hey mesh people,
Have you been dying to help build the People's Open Network, but aren't
sure where to start. Maybe you've heard about our mysterious node mounts,
but don't have a smartphone or aren't part of some __super secretive chat
group__. Or perhaps you'd just like help selecting a local ISP for your new
apartment. Fear not, we're here to help.
Starting this Sunday, Feb. 4th, SudoMesh will now be holding regular
"office hours" on Sunday afternoons in SudoRoom. Running loosely from 1pm
until late afternoon or early evening, this time serves dual purpose:
1. A jumping off point for people interested helping with a scheduled
Sunday node mount, but who are not able to attend a Tuesday night meeting
or are not "in the know."
2. A friendly, non-confrontational time for new people to get oriented to
the project or just ask general questions about networking, the internet,
and their service provider.
Finally, when either of these purposes are not present (i.e. no node mount,
no new people), we will use the time to hold training sessions on a topic
of choice, conduct outreach to potential node locations, address finances
and purchasing, or tackle any other outstanding issues.
For this Sunday, we do not have a scheduled node mount yet and do not
expect new people (since this just now being announced). Instead, we will
be doing basic training on how lead or participate in a node mount. We will
also be contacting and scheduling our existing list of node requests.
If you'd like to help out, stop by SudoRoom on Sunday, Feb. 4th, around 1pm.
Thanks and hope to see y'all on Sundays,
-grant
PS: if someone with access would like to add this as a recurring event to
https://omnicommons.org/calendar/ that'd be cool, or we can just discuss it
on Sunday :-)
