Sudo Room - User contributions [en]

Why municipal actors should care about the mesh

2014-01-24T20:32:44Z

Lilrambam: Created page with "People's Open Net provides aims to provide free wireless internet access for all, starting in Oakland and moving out across the East Bay and beyond. Internet access has become..."

People's Open Net provides aims to provide free wireless internet access for all, starting in Oakland and moving out across the East Bay and beyond. Internet access has become as much a necessity as electricity and power, and we are working hard to ensure that all of the social goods that the internet provides are available to everyone. As more and more homework moves online, it is unacceptable that some students lack internet connectivity in their home. And in order to break ongoing cycles of poverty, people living in affordable housing projects need to be able to apply for jobs online and access educational content. We know that people working in schools, libraries and local governments care deeply about these issues as well, and we hope that you'll see People's Open Net as an ally in the effort to bridge the digital divide.

How you can help:
*Create open wireless networks- Municipal buildings already pay for a lot of bandwidth. If you create open wireless networks that do not require a password to connect to, we can take care of using your connectivity to provide wireless service to the citizens that need it most.
*Install one of our routers
*Help spread the word!

Mesh

2014-01-24T20:14:25Z

Lilrambam: /* Getting municipal actors to support the mesh */

'''<big>Oct 25: Launched [https://peoplesopen.net/ PeoplesOpen.net] our public project page!</big>'''
 

'''''We are a group of volunteers building a community mesh network in Oakland, California.'''''

A mesh network is, in essence, free as in freedom alternative internet. Using low-cost routers (often donated or recycled) mounted on rooftops, we're currently building the backbone of the mesh throughout downtown Oakland, from West Oakland to the Fruitvale BART and beyond!

Mesh networks are awesome because they don't depend on the existing centralized Internet Service Providers to function. Though they can be connected to the Internet as we know it now, a mesh network provides a decentralized mode of communication with our local community. We view mesh networks as a means of connecting to our neighbors, supporting local businesses, and enabling grassroots community collaboration. In the event of disaster or government censorship, an active mesh network is a resilient means of communication and sharing of information.

 

[[File:510NetworkDishes.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Dishes in Action]]

{{Mesh nav}}

 

 

= Meetup Info =
*Join the [http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/mesh Mailing List!]
*We have weekly hack nights on Thursdays, 7:30-10pm at [[Getting_there|Sudo Room]]. The first three Thursdays of the month are work nights - so come by and jump in! General meetings for discussion and planning are Last Thursdays of every month. We plan to have local focus groups in the near future - watch this space or join the mailing list for details.
*Find us on IRC: #peoplesopen.net on [http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=peoplesopen.net Freenode IRC]
*We generally take meeting notes at: https://pad.riseup.net/p/sudomesh

= Crowdfunding campaign =

In July 2013, we successfully concluded our bootstrap [https://www.wepay.com/xtewtey crowdfunding campaign on WePay] to buy the first 100 wifi routers for the mesh! Thanks to all who supported with a donation. See [[Mesh/Purchases]] for details on how much was raised, who contributed, and what we've procured thus far with the funds!

Here are some other ways you can help out:

*Support us with a small weekly donation on [https://www.gittip.com/sudomesh/ Gittip].
*Send bitcoins to our wallet address: {{bitcoin wallet}}
*Come to our work meetings in Oakland! (listed above).
*Form a project and/or a neighborhood working group to create new and locally-relevant ways of plugging into the mesh.

= Mesh pages =
*[[Mesh/ToDos]] - Tangible To Dos! Add some on, take some on!
*[[Mesh/Wishlist]] - List of hardware we'd love to experiment with!

==Design==
*[http://meshmap.sudoroom.org Map] - of potential nodes.
*[[Mesh/Website]] - Notes and documentation for the design of peoplesopen.net and meshthepla.net.
*[[Mesh/MeshApps]] - Local applications to run on the mesh!
*[[Mesh/Swag]] - Research on custom-printed t-shirts and other swag.
*[[Mesh/Stickers]] - Sticker design
*[[Ascii Art]] - for linux logins

==Technical Documentation==
*[[Mesh/Tracking]] - Problems and solutions related to tracking, logging and anonymity
*[[Mesh/WalkThrough]] - Easy how-to for setting up OpenWRT & BATMAN-adv on Ubiquiti routers
**[[Mesh/OpenWRT]] - Experiences with the OpenWRT router firmware
**[[Mesh/BATMAN-adv]] - Experiences with the batman-adv mesh protocol
*[[Mesh/Firmware]] - Everything related to our firmware
**[[Mesh/Firmware/Splash page]] - Splash page / Captive Portal
**[[Mesh/Firmware/Bandwidth shaping]] - QoS / Bandwidth shaping
**[[Mesh/Firmware/Zeroconf]] - Issues related to mDNS and DNS-SD
**[[Mesh/Firmware/MTU_issues]] - MTU issues
**[[Mesh/Firmware/Generating]] - How do we generate firmwares on demand
**[[Mesh/Firmware/Web Admin Development]] - Web admin development
*[[Mesh/Network topology]] - High-level explanation of the mesh network structure
*[[Mesh/Specs]] - Specs sheet on different access points
*[[Mesh/Frequencies]] - Information on different frequencies.
*[[Mesh/Software tools]] - List of useful mesh troubleshooting tools
*[[Mesh/Terms]] - Hidden Node, Fresnal zone, and other jargons
*[[Mesh/Power]] - Stuff about power usage, batteries and solar power.
*[[Mesh/Monitoring]] - notes about how to monitor systems
*[[Mesh/Spectrum]] - Different forms of spectral analysis
*[[Mesh/Hardware support]] - Officially and unofficially supported hardware / routers
*[[Mesh/Relay setup]] - Setting up a relay node
*[[Mesh/Exit setup]] - Setting up an exit node
*[[Mesh/Spectrum mapping]] - The setup we use for mapping local spectrum and wifi usage
**[[Mesh/Spectrum mapping/XO-1 Laptop]] - How to configure an XO-1 laptop for use with our spectrum mapping setup

==Operational==
*[[Mesh/Legal]] - How do we use exit nodes, relays and legal structures to protect node owners and ourselves?
*[[Mesh/Hosting]] - How are we hosting and what does it cost?
*[[Mesh/Backup]] - How do we handle backups?
*[[Mesh/Server security]] - How do we ensure server security?
*[[Mesh/Naming]] - What do we call ourselves?
*[[Mesh/Marketing]] - Inspiration and links to marketing materials in progress.
*[[Mesh/Purchases]] - Details on our purchases, made by either individuals or through our crowdfunded money.
*[[Mesh/Inventory]] - What we currently have.
*[[Mesh/Donations]] - List of donations
*[[Mesh/Decisions]] - Decisions on how to operate
*[[Mesh/Challenges]] - Challenges faced. Problems to be solved.
*[[Mesh/Checkouts]] - Who took what gear home
*[[Mesh/Funding]] - Ideas on funding structures and list of grants to apply for.

==Background Research==
*[[Mesh/Interviews with other meshers]] - In which we attempt to extract the results of their hard-won experience.
*[[Mesh/Other mesh projects]] - List of active and inactive meshes we know about
*[[Mesh/Documentation]] - Books, articles, wikis, blog posts.
*[[Mesh/Oakland]] - Information and resources pertaining to Oakland community organizations, wireless initiatives, policy and research initiatives
*[[Mesh/Other muni networking projects]] - Examples of progressive uses of muni-networks

= Firmwares / groups =

*[[Mesh/Freifunk]]
*[[Mesh/Commotion]]

=Technical=
==Building a backbone of point-to-point line of sight rooftop wifi mesh nodes to bootstrap the reach of the network==
*The mesh right now has very few nodes that are directly connected (as opposed to connected over the Internet), which makes the usefulness of the mesh questionable in disaster and extreme censorship scenarios.
*We've been focusing on finding a simple and inexpensive solution for point to point rooftop nodes in order to create a far reaching backbone of high-bandwidth interconnected nodes. Currently we're testing a solution using recycled small satellite dishes with cheap usb wifi adapters mounted and weatherproofed at the dish's point of focus. Inexpensive computers such as a raspberry pi can then, when hooked up to one or more of these nodes, connect rooftops more than a mile apart. Finding people willing to host rooftop equipment and others willing to donate unused satellite dishes has become another way we engage with the local community.

==Mesh coverage of local areas from connected nodes using powerful omnidirectional wifi equipment==
*510pen currently uses a variety of mesh routers from open-mesh.com. Some of them have good coverage, but they are all currently mounted indoors, which inhibits street coverage and mesh links between blocks.
*Better outdoor omnidirectional routers need to be purchased, tested and installed.

==Low bandwidth disaster recovery mesh==
*The likeliest disaster scenario in the bay area is a major earthquake. Such an event is likely to disrupt many wifi nodes, and especially finely tuned point to point links.
*We're building a separate mesh using low-bandwidth, long range radio communication that will run something like a decentralized twitter, where short text messages can be shared and synchronized as radio links are available.
*To implement this, we're using $12 off the shelf tv tuners that can be used as receive-only general-purpose digital radios. Transmission is stil being worked out, but the current idea is that receive-hardware is cheap enough that 2 gig bootable usb sticks, tv tuners and very simple home-made antennas can be distributed both before and after a disaster, and that these will allow people to set up local stations where updates about local resources such as shelters, food and power can be accessed, while stations capable of transmitting new messages will be fewer (possibly requiring more expensive hardware) but will announce their locations such that anyone can walk to a local transmit station if they want to send a message out on the mesh.

=Social=

==Community-Based Participatory Action Research in the San Antonio district of Oakland==
*We are currently researching existing community organizations in the San Antonio neighborhood for potential collaboration, and have established relationships with (and set up mesh nodes for) three grassroots organizations in the San Antonio neighborhood: Liberating Ourselves Locally (LOL), a makerspace run by and for people of color; Sustaining Ourselves Locally (SOL), a community garden and food justice advocacy and education space; and Cycles of Change, a community bike repair, advocacy and education space. Moving forward, we intend to expand the mesh through reaching out to grassroots organizations and local businesses, our process of designing and deploying mesh services guided by the needs and desires of existing community actors.

*The ethnographic research component of the project also involves interviewing local residents, designing and distributing community surveys, historical and political analysis, and asset mapping of existing and potential community resources.

==Documentation of use cases and user stories==
*Articulating use cases for mesh networks involves the creation of user stories based on interviews with local residents and participatory engagement with existing community organizations and groups. The research process will be transparently documented on a research wiki, incorporating interview notes, meeting minutes, an annotated bibliography, written analysis and visual infographics (for an example, see Jenny's current research wiki here: http://wiki.tidepools.co).

*This documentation is intended to support a model of open source technology design that is bottom-up in nature, rooted in the interests of those who would receive the greatest humanitarian benefit from the technology and participate intimately with the development process.

==Illustrated instructables for adapting recycled/reused items for DIY hardware==
*A major focus of the project is to experiment with recycled and donated hardware for the purposes of designing mesh solutions at minimal cost. Experimentation with various firmwares (eg; Commotion, Freifunk, Byzantium) and protocols (eg; OLSRd, batman-adv, Babel) using off-the-shelf and upcycled hardware (eg; donated routers and satellite dishes) will be extensively documented. Well-designed instructables/comics will incorporate use cases, user stories, and DIY building processes in an effort to engage everyday folks to experiment with mesh technology in their local neighborhoods.

==Getting municipal actors to support the mesh==
*Over time, we expect municipal actors (people working for local governments, libraries, schools, etc.) to see the mesh as an ally in efforts to bridge the digital divide. We are creating a [[why municipal actors should care about the mesh|short introduction]] to the project explaining why municipal actors should care about the mesh what they can do to support it.

=Meeting Minutes=
See the [[Mesh/Minutes|Minutes]] page.

=Web Resources=
*[http://510pen.org 510pen] - East Bay community wireless mesh network spawned in 2009 by [[User:mfb|Mark Burdett]]
*[http://wiki.tidepools.com Tidepools] - [[User:tunabananas|Jenny Ryan]] designed local use cases for a community mobile mapping application built to run on mesh networks.
*[https://wiki.projectmeshnet.org/Main_Page Project Meshnet] - Extensive wiki on the /r/darknet project, including extensive list of [https://wiki.projectmeshnet.org/Projects projects coordinating with them].
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-range_Wi-Fi#Notable_links Long Range Wifi] - Info on the longest-range wifi connections ever made.
*[https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-WebIDE Adafruit's Web IDE built for Raspberry Pi] but probably good for editing code on any device and ensuring it is managed with a code repo. By default it uses [https://bitbucket.org bitbucket.org] but it could probably be configured for Github.

[[Category:Projects]]

Mesh

2014-01-24T20:09:45Z

Lilrambam: /* Social */

'''<big>Oct 25: Launched [https://peoplesopen.net/ PeoplesOpen.net] our public project page!</big>'''
 

'''''We are a group of volunteers building a community mesh network in Oakland, California.'''''

A mesh network is, in essence, free as in freedom alternative internet. Using low-cost routers (often donated or recycled) mounted on rooftops, we're currently building the backbone of the mesh throughout downtown Oakland, from West Oakland to the Fruitvale BART and beyond!

Mesh networks are awesome because they don't depend on the existing centralized Internet Service Providers to function. Though they can be connected to the Internet as we know it now, a mesh network provides a decentralized mode of communication with our local community. We view mesh networks as a means of connecting to our neighbors, supporting local businesses, and enabling grassroots community collaboration. In the event of disaster or government censorship, an active mesh network is a resilient means of communication and sharing of information.

 

[[File:510NetworkDishes.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Dishes in Action]]

{{Mesh nav}}

 

 

= Meetup Info =
*Join the [http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/mesh Mailing List!]
*We have weekly hack nights on Thursdays, 7:30-10pm at [[Getting_there|Sudo Room]]. The first three Thursdays of the month are work nights - so come by and jump in! General meetings for discussion and planning are Last Thursdays of every month. We plan to have local focus groups in the near future - watch this space or join the mailing list for details.
*Find us on IRC: #peoplesopen.net on [http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=peoplesopen.net Freenode IRC]
*We generally take meeting notes at: https://pad.riseup.net/p/sudomesh

= Crowdfunding campaign =

In July 2013, we successfully concluded our bootstrap [https://www.wepay.com/xtewtey crowdfunding campaign on WePay] to buy the first 100 wifi routers for the mesh! Thanks to all who supported with a donation. See [[Mesh/Purchases]] for details on how much was raised, who contributed, and what we've procured thus far with the funds!

Here are some other ways you can help out:

*Support us with a small weekly donation on [https://www.gittip.com/sudomesh/ Gittip].
*Send bitcoins to our wallet address: {{bitcoin wallet}}
*Come to our work meetings in Oakland! (listed above).
*Form a project and/or a neighborhood working group to create new and locally-relevant ways of plugging into the mesh.

= Mesh pages =
*[[Mesh/ToDos]] - Tangible To Dos! Add some on, take some on!
*[[Mesh/Wishlist]] - List of hardware we'd love to experiment with!

==Design==
*[http://meshmap.sudoroom.org Map] - of potential nodes.
*[[Mesh/Website]] - Notes and documentation for the design of peoplesopen.net and meshthepla.net.
*[[Mesh/MeshApps]] - Local applications to run on the mesh!
*[[Mesh/Swag]] - Research on custom-printed t-shirts and other swag.
*[[Mesh/Stickers]] - Sticker design
*[[Ascii Art]] - for linux logins

==Technical Documentation==
*[[Mesh/Tracking]] - Problems and solutions related to tracking, logging and anonymity
*[[Mesh/WalkThrough]] - Easy how-to for setting up OpenWRT & BATMAN-adv on Ubiquiti routers
**[[Mesh/OpenWRT]] - Experiences with the OpenWRT router firmware
**[[Mesh/BATMAN-adv]] - Experiences with the batman-adv mesh protocol
*[[Mesh/Firmware]] - Everything related to our firmware
**[[Mesh/Firmware/Splash page]] - Splash page / Captive Portal
**[[Mesh/Firmware/Bandwidth shaping]] - QoS / Bandwidth shaping
**[[Mesh/Firmware/Zeroconf]] - Issues related to mDNS and DNS-SD
**[[Mesh/Firmware/MTU_issues]] - MTU issues
**[[Mesh/Firmware/Generating]] - How do we generate firmwares on demand
**[[Mesh/Firmware/Web Admin Development]] - Web admin development
*[[Mesh/Network topology]] - High-level explanation of the mesh network structure
*[[Mesh/Specs]] - Specs sheet on different access points
*[[Mesh/Frequencies]] - Information on different frequencies.
*[[Mesh/Software tools]] - List of useful mesh troubleshooting tools
*[[Mesh/Terms]] - Hidden Node, Fresnal zone, and other jargons
*[[Mesh/Power]] - Stuff about power usage, batteries and solar power.
*[[Mesh/Monitoring]] - notes about how to monitor systems
*[[Mesh/Spectrum]] - Different forms of spectral analysis
*[[Mesh/Hardware support]] - Officially and unofficially supported hardware / routers
*[[Mesh/Relay setup]] - Setting up a relay node
*[[Mesh/Exit setup]] - Setting up an exit node
*[[Mesh/Spectrum mapping]] - The setup we use for mapping local spectrum and wifi usage
**[[Mesh/Spectrum mapping/XO-1 Laptop]] - How to configure an XO-1 laptop for use with our spectrum mapping setup

==Operational==
*[[Mesh/Legal]] - How do we use exit nodes, relays and legal structures to protect node owners and ourselves?
*[[Mesh/Hosting]] - How are we hosting and what does it cost?
*[[Mesh/Backup]] - How do we handle backups?
*[[Mesh/Server security]] - How do we ensure server security?
*[[Mesh/Naming]] - What do we call ourselves?
*[[Mesh/Marketing]] - Inspiration and links to marketing materials in progress.
*[[Mesh/Purchases]] - Details on our purchases, made by either individuals or through our crowdfunded money.
*[[Mesh/Inventory]] - What we currently have.
*[[Mesh/Donations]] - List of donations
*[[Mesh/Decisions]] - Decisions on how to operate
*[[Mesh/Challenges]] - Challenges faced. Problems to be solved.
*[[Mesh/Checkouts]] - Who took what gear home
*[[Mesh/Funding]] - Ideas on funding structures and list of grants to apply for.

==Background Research==
*[[Mesh/Interviews with other meshers]] - In which we attempt to extract the results of their hard-won experience.
*[[Mesh/Other mesh projects]] - List of active and inactive meshes we know about
*[[Mesh/Documentation]] - Books, articles, wikis, blog posts.
*[[Mesh/Oakland]] - Information and resources pertaining to Oakland community organizations, wireless initiatives, policy and research initiatives
*[[Mesh/Other muni networking projects]] - Examples of progressive uses of muni-networks

= Firmwares / groups =

*[[Mesh/Freifunk]]
*[[Mesh/Commotion]]

=Technical=
==Building a backbone of point-to-point line of sight rooftop wifi mesh nodes to bootstrap the reach of the network==
*The mesh right now has very few nodes that are directly connected (as opposed to connected over the Internet), which makes the usefulness of the mesh questionable in disaster and extreme censorship scenarios.
*We've been focusing on finding a simple and inexpensive solution for point to point rooftop nodes in order to create a far reaching backbone of high-bandwidth interconnected nodes. Currently we're testing a solution using recycled small satellite dishes with cheap usb wifi adapters mounted and weatherproofed at the dish's point of focus. Inexpensive computers such as a raspberry pi can then, when hooked up to one or more of these nodes, connect rooftops more than a mile apart. Finding people willing to host rooftop equipment and others willing to donate unused satellite dishes has become another way we engage with the local community.

==Mesh coverage of local areas from connected nodes using powerful omnidirectional wifi equipment==
*510pen currently uses a variety of mesh routers from open-mesh.com. Some of them have good coverage, but they are all currently mounted indoors, which inhibits street coverage and mesh links between blocks.
*Better outdoor omnidirectional routers need to be purchased, tested and installed.

==Low bandwidth disaster recovery mesh==
*The likeliest disaster scenario in the bay area is a major earthquake. Such an event is likely to disrupt many wifi nodes, and especially finely tuned point to point links.
*We're building a separate mesh using low-bandwidth, long range radio communication that will run something like a decentralized twitter, where short text messages can be shared and synchronized as radio links are available.
*To implement this, we're using $12 off the shelf tv tuners that can be used as receive-only general-purpose digital radios. Transmission is stil being worked out, but the current idea is that receive-hardware is cheap enough that 2 gig bootable usb sticks, tv tuners and very simple home-made antennas can be distributed both before and after a disaster, and that these will allow people to set up local stations where updates about local resources such as shelters, food and power can be accessed, while stations capable of transmitting new messages will be fewer (possibly requiring more expensive hardware) but will announce their locations such that anyone can walk to a local transmit station if they want to send a message out on the mesh.

=Social=

==Community-Based Participatory Action Research in the San Antonio district of Oakland==
*We are currently researching existing community organizations in the San Antonio neighborhood for potential collaboration, and have established relationships with (and set up mesh nodes for) three grassroots organizations in the San Antonio neighborhood: Liberating Ourselves Locally (LOL), a makerspace run by and for people of color; Sustaining Ourselves Locally (SOL), a community garden and food justice advocacy and education space; and Cycles of Change, a community bike repair, advocacy and education space. Moving forward, we intend to expand the mesh through reaching out to grassroots organizations and local businesses, our process of designing and deploying mesh services guided by the needs and desires of existing community actors.

*The ethnographic research component of the project also involves interviewing local residents, designing and distributing community surveys, historical and political analysis, and asset mapping of existing and potential community resources.

==Documentation of use cases and user stories==
*Articulating use cases for mesh networks involves the creation of user stories based on interviews with local residents and participatory engagement with existing community organizations and groups. The research process will be transparently documented on a research wiki, incorporating interview notes, meeting minutes, an annotated bibliography, written analysis and visual infographics (for an example, see Jenny's current research wiki here: http://wiki.tidepools.co).

*This documentation is intended to support a model of open source technology design that is bottom-up in nature, rooted in the interests of those who would receive the greatest humanitarian benefit from the technology and participate intimately with the development process.

==Illustrated instructables for adapting recycled/reused items for DIY hardware==
*A major focus of the project is to experiment with recycled and donated hardware for the purposes of designing mesh solutions at minimal cost. Experimentation with various firmwares (eg; Commotion, Freifunk, Byzantium) and protocols (eg; OLSRd, batman-adv, Babel) using off-the-shelf and upcycled hardware (eg; donated routers and satellite dishes) will be extensively documented. Well-designed instructables/comics will incorporate use cases, user stories, and DIY building processes in an effort to engage everyday folks to experiment with mesh technology in their local neighborhoods.

==Getting municipal actors to support the mesh==
*Over time, we expect municipal actors (people working for local governments, libraries, schools, etc.) to see the mesh as an ally in efforts to bridge the digital divide. We are creating a [[intro for municipal actors|short introduction to the project]] specifically for municipal actors explaining why they should care about the project and what they can do to support it.

=Meeting Minutes=
See the [[Mesh/Minutes|Minutes]] page.

=Web Resources=
*[http://510pen.org 510pen] - East Bay community wireless mesh network spawned in 2009 by [[User:mfb|Mark Burdett]]
*[http://wiki.tidepools.com Tidepools] - [[User:tunabananas|Jenny Ryan]] designed local use cases for a community mobile mapping application built to run on mesh networks.
*[https://wiki.projectmeshnet.org/Main_Page Project Meshnet] - Extensive wiki on the /r/darknet project, including extensive list of [https://wiki.projectmeshnet.org/Projects projects coordinating with them].
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-range_Wi-Fi#Notable_links Long Range Wifi] - Info on the longest-range wifi connections ever made.
*[https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-WebIDE Adafruit's Web IDE built for Raspberry Pi] but probably good for editing code on any device and ensuring it is managed with a code repo. By default it uses [https://bitbucket.org bitbucket.org] but it could probably be configured for Github.

[[Category:Projects]]

Mesh/Other muni networking projects

2014-01-24T20:02:28Z

Lilrambam: Created page with "Libraries- As part of the Gigabit Libraries pilot project, a number of libraries have begun sharing their connections with public parks and downtown districts. [http://www.mun..."

Libraries- As part of the Gigabit Libraries pilot project, a number of libraries have begun sharing their connections with public parks and downtown districts. [http://www.muninetworks.org/content/white-space-pilot-project-brings-basic-internet-library-residents-%E2%80%A6-free Here's an article] about the project, and an example of a [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1360234848/library-sponsored-public-hotsots-for-paonia-co community in Colorado that has used kickstarter] to purchase the equipment they need to keep the project going after the initial pilot ends.

Schools- As more and more schools start to move homework online, administrators are plagued by images of kids crowding into McDonals, using their open network to get their school work done. There's growing recognition that connecting the classrooms is not enough; kids need access in their homes. Mesh networks provide a low cost way to use the school's connection to provide internet to their student's homes. And as people in DC revisit the E-Rate program, one data point that drives incumbent ISPs crazy is the amount schools pay for bandwidth in places where a public utility runs a municipal fiber network, versus places where the schools must purchase connectivity from ISPs.

Muni-Fiber- Mayors all across the country are trying to figure out way to offer businesses high-speed, low-cost connectivity. A few are pursuing public-private partnerships with ISPs, but many more are building their own fiber networks, and either making them available on an open-access model, or provide internet, video and phone services through the local public utility. For a great map of all the muni-networking projects in America, [http://www.muninetworks.org/communitymap click here]. Chris Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self Reliance is one of the strongest advocates of community-owned communications infrastructure.

Mesh

2014-01-24T18:18:27Z

Lilrambam: /* Background Research */

'''<big>Oct 25: Launched [https://peoplesopen.net/ PeoplesOpen.net] our public project page!</big>'''
 

'''''We are a group of volunteers building a community mesh network in Oakland, California.'''''

A mesh network is, in essence, free as in freedom alternative internet. Using low-cost routers (often donated or recycled) mounted on rooftops, we're currently building the backbone of the mesh throughout downtown Oakland, from West Oakland to the Fruitvale BART and beyond!

Mesh networks are awesome because they don't depend on the existing centralized Internet Service Providers to function. Though they can be connected to the Internet as we know it now, a mesh network provides a decentralized mode of communication with our local community. We view mesh networks as a means of connecting to our neighbors, supporting local businesses, and enabling grassroots community collaboration. In the event of disaster or government censorship, an active mesh network is a resilient means of communication and sharing of information.

 

[[File:510NetworkDishes.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Dishes in Action]]

{{Mesh nav}}

 

 

= Meetup Info =
*Join the [http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/mesh Mailing List!]
*We have weekly hack nights on Thursdays, 7:30-10pm at [[Getting_there|Sudo Room]]. The first three Thursdays of the month are work nights - so come by and jump in! General meetings for discussion and planning are Last Thursdays of every month. We plan to have local focus groups in the near future - watch this space or join the mailing list for details.
*Find us on IRC: #peoplesopen.net on [http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=peoplesopen.net Freenode IRC]
*We generally take meeting notes at: https://pad.riseup.net/p/sudomesh

= Crowdfunding campaign =

In July 2013, we successfully concluded our bootstrap [https://www.wepay.com/xtewtey crowdfunding campaign on WePay] to buy the first 100 wifi routers for the mesh! Thanks to all who supported with a donation. See [[Mesh/Purchases]] for details on how much was raised, who contributed, and what we've procured thus far with the funds!

Here are some other ways you can help out:

*Support us with a small weekly donation on [https://www.gittip.com/sudomesh/ Gittip].
*Send bitcoins to our wallet address: {{bitcoin wallet}}
*Come to our work meetings in Oakland! (listed above).
*Form a project and/or a neighborhood working group to create new and locally-relevant ways of plugging into the mesh.

= Mesh pages =
*[[Mesh/ToDos]] - Tangible To Dos! Add some on, take some on!
*[[Mesh/Wishlist]] - List of hardware we'd love to experiment with!

==Design==
*[http://meshmap.sudoroom.org Map] - of potential nodes.
*[[Mesh/Website]] - Notes and documentation for the design of peoplesopen.net and meshthepla.net.
*[[Mesh/MeshApps]] - Local applications to run on the mesh!
*[[Mesh/Swag]] - Research on custom-printed t-shirts and other swag.
*[[Mesh/Stickers]] - Sticker design
*[[Ascii Art]] - for linux logins

==Technical Documentation==
*[[Mesh/Tracking]] - Problems and solutions related to tracking, logging and anonymity
*[[Mesh/WalkThrough]] - Easy how-to for setting up OpenWRT & BATMAN-adv on Ubiquiti routers
**[[Mesh/OpenWRT]] - Experiences with the OpenWRT router firmware
**[[Mesh/BATMAN-adv]] - Experiences with the batman-adv mesh protocol
*[[Mesh/Firmware]] - Everything related to our firmware
**[[Mesh/Firmware/Splash page]] - Splash page / Captive Portal
**[[Mesh/Firmware/Bandwidth shaping]] - QoS / Bandwidth shaping
**[[Mesh/Firmware/Zeroconf]] - Issues related to mDNS and DNS-SD
**[[Mesh/Firmware/MTU_issues]] - MTU issues
**[[Mesh/Firmware/Generating]] - How do we generate firmwares on demand
**[[Mesh/Firmware/Web Admin Development]] - Web admin development
*[[Mesh/Network topology]] - High-level explanation of the mesh network structure
*[[Mesh/Specs]] - Specs sheet on different access points
*[[Mesh/Frequencies]] - Information on different frequencies.
*[[Mesh/Software tools]] - List of useful mesh troubleshooting tools
*[[Mesh/Terms]] - Hidden Node, Fresnal zone, and other jargons
*[[Mesh/Power]] - Stuff about power usage, batteries and solar power.
*[[Mesh/Monitoring]] - notes about how to monitor systems
*[[Mesh/Spectrum]] - Different forms of spectral analysis
*[[Mesh/Hardware support]] - Officially and unofficially supported hardware / routers
*[[Mesh/Relay setup]] - Setting up a relay node
*[[Mesh/Exit setup]] - Setting up an exit node
*[[Mesh/Spectrum mapping]] - The setup we use for mapping local spectrum and wifi usage
**[[Mesh/Spectrum mapping/XO-1 Laptop]] - How to configure an XO-1 laptop for use with our spectrum mapping setup

==Operational==
*[[Mesh/Legal]] - How do we use exit nodes, relays and legal structures to protect node owners and ourselves?
*[[Mesh/Hosting]] - How are we hosting and what does it cost?
*[[Mesh/Backup]] - How do we handle backups?
*[[Mesh/Server security]] - How do we ensure server security?
*[[Mesh/Naming]] - What do we call ourselves?
*[[Mesh/Marketing]] - Inspiration and links to marketing materials in progress.
*[[Mesh/Purchases]] - Details on our purchases, made by either individuals or through our crowdfunded money.
*[[Mesh/Inventory]] - What we currently have.
*[[Mesh/Donations]] - List of donations
*[[Mesh/Decisions]] - Decisions on how to operate
*[[Mesh/Challenges]] - Challenges faced. Problems to be solved.
*[[Mesh/Checkouts]] - Who took what gear home
*[[Mesh/Funding]] - Ideas on funding structures and list of grants to apply for.

==Background Research==
*[[Mesh/Interviews with other meshers]] - In which we attempt to extract the results of their hard-won experience.
*[[Mesh/Other mesh projects]] - List of active and inactive meshes we know about
*[[Mesh/Documentation]] - Books, articles, wikis, blog posts.
*[[Mesh/Oakland]] - Information and resources pertaining to Oakland community organizations, wireless initiatives, policy and research initiatives
*[[Mesh/Other muni networking projects]] - Examples of progressive uses of muni-networks

= Firmwares / groups =

*[[Mesh/Freifunk]]
*[[Mesh/Commotion]]

=Technical=
==Building a backbone of point-to-point line of sight rooftop wifi mesh nodes to bootstrap the reach of the network==
*The mesh right now has very few nodes that are directly connected (as opposed to connected over the Internet), which makes the usefulness of the mesh questionable in disaster and extreme censorship scenarios.
*We've been focusing on finding a simple and inexpensive solution for point to point rooftop nodes in order to create a far reaching backbone of high-bandwidth interconnected nodes. Currently we're testing a solution using recycled small satellite dishes with cheap usb wifi adapters mounted and weatherproofed at the dish's point of focus. Inexpensive computers such as a raspberry pi can then, when hooked up to one or more of these nodes, connect rooftops more than a mile apart. Finding people willing to host rooftop equipment and others willing to donate unused satellite dishes has become another way we engage with the local community.

==Mesh coverage of local areas from connected nodes using powerful omnidirectional wifi equipment==
*510pen currently uses a variety of mesh routers from open-mesh.com. Some of them have good coverage, but they are all currently mounted indoors, which inhibits street coverage and mesh links between blocks.
*Better outdoor omnidirectional routers need to be purchased, tested and installed.

==Low bandwidth disaster recovery mesh==
*The likeliest disaster scenario in the bay area is a major earthquake. Such an event is likely to disrupt many wifi nodes, and especially finely tuned point to point links.
*We're building a separate mesh using low-bandwidth, long range radio communication that will run something like a decentralized twitter, where short text messages can be shared and synchronized as radio links are available.
*To implement this, we're using $12 off the shelf tv tuners that can be used as receive-only general-purpose digital radios. Transmission is stil being worked out, but the current idea is that receive-hardware is cheap enough that 2 gig bootable usb sticks, tv tuners and very simple home-made antennas can be distributed both before and after a disaster, and that these will allow people to set up local stations where updates about local resources such as shelters, food and power can be accessed, while stations capable of transmitting new messages will be fewer (possibly requiring more expensive hardware) but will announce their locations such that anyone can walk to a local transmit station if they want to send a message out on the mesh.

=Social=

==Community-Based Participatory Action Research in the San Antonio district of Oakland==
*We are currently researching existing community organizations in the San Antonio neighborhood for potential collaboration, and have established relationships with (and set up mesh nodes for) three grassroots organizations in the San Antonio neighborhood: Liberating Ourselves Locally (LOL), a makerspace run by and for people of color; Sustaining Ourselves Locally (SOL), a community garden and food justice advocacy and education space; and Cycles of Change, a community bike repair, advocacy and education space. Moving forward, we intend to expand the mesh through reaching out to grassroots organizations and local businesses, our process of designing and deploying mesh services guided by the needs and desires of existing community actors.

*The ethnographic research component of the project also involves interviewing local residents, designing and distributing community surveys, historical and political analysis, and asset mapping of existing and potential community resources.

==Documentation of use cases and user stories==
*Articulating use cases for mesh networks involves the creation of user stories based on interviews with local residents and participatory engagement with existing community organizations and groups. The research process will be transparently documented on a research wiki, incorporating interview notes, meeting minutes, an annotated bibliography, written analysis and visual infographics (for an example, see Jenny's current research wiki here: http://wiki.tidepools.co).

*This documentation is intended to support a model of open source technology design that is bottom-up in nature, rooted in the interests of those who would receive the greatest humanitarian benefit from the technology and participate intimately with the development process.

==Illustrated instructables for adapting recycled/reused items for DIY hardware==
*A major focus of the project is to experiment with recycled and donated hardware for the purposes of designing mesh solutions at minimal cost. Experimentation with various firmwares (eg; Commotion, Freifunk, Byzantium) and protocols (eg; OLSRd, batman-adv, Babel) using off-the-shelf and upcycled hardware (eg; donated routers and satellite dishes) will be extensively documented. Well-designed instructables/comics will incorporate use cases, user stories, and DIY building processes in an effort to engage everyday folks to experiment with mesh technology in their local neighborhoods.

=Meeting Minutes=
See the [[Mesh/Minutes|Minutes]] page.

=Web Resources=
*[http://510pen.org 510pen] - East Bay community wireless mesh network spawned in 2009 by [[User:mfb|Mark Burdett]]
*[http://wiki.tidepools.com Tidepools] - [[User:tunabananas|Jenny Ryan]] designed local use cases for a community mobile mapping application built to run on mesh networks.
*[https://wiki.projectmeshnet.org/Main_Page Project Meshnet] - Extensive wiki on the /r/darknet project, including extensive list of [https://wiki.projectmeshnet.org/Projects projects coordinating with them].
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-range_Wi-Fi#Notable_links Long Range Wifi] - Info on the longest-range wifi connections ever made.
*[https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-WebIDE Adafruit's Web IDE built for Raspberry Pi] but probably good for editing code on any device and ensuring it is managed with a code repo. By default it uses [https://bitbucket.org bitbucket.org] but it could probably be configured for Github.

[[Category:Projects]]

Mesh/ToDos

2014-01-20T18:48:33Z

Lilrambam: /* Community Outreach ToDos */

Below are a list of To Do items, separated by topical area. If you decide to take one on, please post your name after the item and send a note to the mailing list with your plan of action! We welcome contributions of tasks, also :)

=Community Outreach ToDos=
*Conduct User Research on what sorts of [[Mesh/MeshApps|Local Services]] people would like to have [Jenny, you?]
*Write up a compelling argument for mesh re: disaster preparedness [cite sources] [Jenny, you?]
*Outreach to churches with succinct argument [cite examples, e.g.; Sandy relief]
*Poster/flier at local coffeeshops, bikeshops, co-ops, collectives, community resource spaces, etc;
*Walkabouts/canvassing in E Oakland, Berkeley, Downtown Oakland
*Find folks in El Cerrito / Albany who can help us link up to the Internet Archive's Richmond node
*[https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Mesh/Presentations Presentations / talks / events promo]
*See if people in school system want to work with us to ensure every student has home connectivity
*Convince libraries to share their connectivity

=Operational Logistics=
*Make a project roadmap
*[https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Mesh/Funding Grants and other funds we can apply for]
*Financials [current and projected] [Jenny, you?]
*Time [of volunteers needed to sustain project]
*Tax status (set up 501c3) [Marc, Matt, Jenny]
*[https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Mesh/Funding#Sustainable_Business_Models Business models]

=Marketing / Branding=
*Blog posts [Jenny, you?]
*Articles & Research [Jenny, you?]
*Photo album [OpenPhoto?]
*Design 'pods' for the outdoor routers [eg; birdhouses, planterboxes]
*Infographics
*Videos
*Fliers
*Poems, songs and flags
*Bios, titles and photos of team members

=Technical=
*More brainstorming on [[Mesh/MeshApps|local applications]]
**Timebank
**Sensors - noise, gunshots, pollution [talk to nerds for nature]
*See [[Mesh/Firmware]] for the current status of the firmware we'll be running on the mesh. A things that techincal folks could plug into:
** Creating a [[Mesh/Firmware#Splash_Page | splash page]]!
** Secure and distributed remote update system.
** Integrating the watchdog
**There's lots to do for people with all sorts of technical expertise, including: UI/UX Design, Graphic Design, Web Development, OpenWRT development/hacking, distributed network setup/administration, etc. Chances are, if you're interested in contributing to the firmware project and have the time and energy to get up to speed, there will be somewhere you can help out a lot!
*Analyze the spectrum availability in your neighborhood
*Setting up pedicab spectrum analysis pole mount