Difference between revisions of "Mesh"

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[[File:510NetworkDishes.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Dishes in Action]]
<center>{{#setlogo:Meshlogo.png}}
510pen (pronounced five-one-open, based on the local area code 510) was initiated in 2009 with a series of mesh routers located in private homes and local businesses around Oakland. The project went on hiatus due to shifting priorities of the primary organizers. 510pen has recently been rebooted in the form of a small commited group working out of the downtown Oakland hackerspace sudo room. The sets of problems being worked on can be split into social and technical:
[[File:Sudomesh.jpg|350px]]</center>
   
=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 satelitte 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 satelitte 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 mayor 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==
Sudo Mesh is a people-powered project. That means that anyone can join the network if they're willing to contribute by [https://github.com/sudomesh/bugs/issues/new reporting bugs], improving [https://github.com/sudomesh software], fixing hardware, [https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Mesh/WalkThrough setting up a node], [https://peoplesopen.net/blog/new-node-in-the-berkeley-hills/ installing rooftop nodes], telling your friends about us, [https://peoplesopen.net/blog/build-your-own-internet-workshop/ joining for a workshop], bringing pizza to a hack session, donating  [[Mesh/Wishlist|equipment]]/[https://www.patreon.com/peoplesopennet money]/[https://blockchain.info/address/12RxU4DpLpdWcmEBn7Tj325CCXBwt5i9Hc Bitcoin], learning with us about how the internet works, or just being patient if something is broken :)
*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.
'''Interested in learning more and exploring?''' Check out our [[#Join Us|Join Us]] section. You do not need to be technically skilled to be part of this project. We need people willing to mount gear on rooftops, folks who want to do public outreach, graphic design artists, film-makers, documentarians and so much more! Show up at a monthly general meeting and get involved!


==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.
<center>{{Mesh nav}}</center>


==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.


=Meetup Info=
__NOTOC__
*Join the [http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/mesh Mailing List!]
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*We meet weekly on Thursdays, 8:30-10pm at [[Getting_there|Sudo Room]]
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=What does it mean?!=
Imagine if the wifi router in your home connected to the wifi routers in your neighbours' homes and they again connected to their neighbours to form a huge free wireless network spanning the city! That's exactly what a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh_networking mesh network] is, or at least what it can be. Roads and telephone poles are owned by government or private interests and laying down cable is expensive, but by using wireless signals that hop from building to building we can create a community-owned and -operated, free-as-in-freedom alternative to corporate Internet Service Providers. Community wireless mesh networks are growing around the world, creating local 'internets' that support Net Neutrality and community control of critical infrastructure.


=Meeting Minutes=
We are spending a lot of time developing [https://github.com/sudomesh/ software] to make it cheap and easy for anyone to be participate in cooperative communications infrastructure, regardless of technical skill.
*[http://lists.sudoroom.org/pipermail/mesh/2013-January/000000.html 2013-01-31]
*[[Mesh/7_February_2013|2013-02-07]]
*[[Mesh/14_February_2013|2013-02-14]]
*[[Mesh/21_February_2013|2013-02-21]]
*[[Mesh/28_February_2013|2013-02-28]]
*[[Mesh/07_March_2013|2013-03-07]]
*[[Mesh/21_March_2013|2013-03-21]]
SPRING SHIFT HIATUS
*[[Mesh/11_April_2013|2013-04-11]]
*[[Mesh/18_April_2013|2013-04-18]]


=Web Resources=
= Who are you? =
*[http://510pen.org 510pen] - East Bay community wireless mesh network spawned in 2009 by [[User:mfb|Mark Burdett]]
'''sudomesh is a group of volunteers operating out of the [https://sudoroom.org sudo room] hackerspace at the [https://omnicommons.org Omni Commons] - a collective of collectives stewarding a large community space in Oakland, California. We develop software and assemble hardware systems to help build open community networks like the [https://peoplesopen.net People's Open Network], a community-owned and -operated non-profit internet infrastructure in Oakland.''' We are all unpaid volunteers building open technology that helps to connect our neighbors, support local businesses, and enable community collaboration and cultural production. In the event of a natural disaster or state censorship, community mesh networks can be a resilient means of communication and sharing of information.
*[http://wiki.tidepools.com Tidepools] - [[User:tunabananas|Jenny Ryan]] is designing 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].
= Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)=
* [[Mesh/Decisions|Decisions]] - What decisions have we made, and why?
* [[Mesh/Funding|Funding]] - How the heck do we fund this thing?
* [[Mesh/Legal|Legal]] - How do we use exit nodes, relays and legal structures to protect node owners and ourselves?
* [[Mesh/Hosting|Hosting]] - How are we hosting and what does it cost?
* [[Mesh/Backup|Backup]] - How do we handle backups?
* [[Mesh/Server security|Server Security]] - How do we ensure server security?
 
= Logistics =
* [[Mesh/Minutes|Meeting Minutes]] - Notes from our weekly meetings dating back to January 2013.
* [[Mesh/Taxes|Taxes]] - Filed taxes for the sudo mesh non-profit
 
= Research =
* [[Mesh/Other mesh projects|Other mesh projects]] around the world that have inspired us to make our own network!
* [[Mesh/Interviews with other meshers|Interviews]] - we interviewed other experienced meshers
* [[Mesh/Documentation|Other documentation]] - books, articles, wikis, blog posts.
* [[Mesh/Oakland|Oakland]] - information and resources pertaining to Oakland community organizations, wireless initiatives, policy and research initiatives
* [[Mesh/Other muni networking projects|Municipal projects]] - examples of progressive uses of municipal networks.
* [[Mesh/Decentralized FM/AM radio|Decentralized FM/AM radio]] - Bit of research on adding legal FM/AM transmitters to nodes.
* [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.
 
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<center>
= Our Projects =
[[File:Mesh_Oakland_High_Res.png|center|187px|thumb|Building a community-owned and -operated wireless mesh network in Oakland, California and beyond!|link=https://peoplesopen.net]]<br />
[[File:Disasterradio.png|center|187px|thumb|link=https://disaster.radio|Disaster-resilient communications network powered by the sun.]]<br />
[[File:Byoi.png|center|187px|thumb|link=https://buildyourowninter.net|Instructions for building your own internet, plus a global directory of community wireless mesh networks.]]</center><br />
[[File:Laptops4all.png|center|187px|thumb|link=https://laptopsforall.org|Upcycling retired/donated laptops to those who can't afford them.]]<br />
 
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<center>
= How To Participate =
</center>
If you want to join the mesh you'll need a mesh router at your home! Currently the best way to get one is to [http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/mesh join and send an email to the mailing list ]. We need more people on the network to improve the quality of the service. When you setup a node, you improve the service for everybody on the network and give more access to your community. We encourage participants to ask their communities to join their networks and create distributed services for them. We have a [[Mesh/User_Guide|user guide]] to help you get on the network!
* Chat with us on the #peoplesopen channel in [https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/ Secure Scuttlebutt], or on [http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/irctutorial.html IRC]: [http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=peoplesopen.net #peoplesopen.net] (see also [[IRC | IRC Intro]])
* Join the [http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/mesh email list]
* We have focus groups and collaborate on different parts of the project - from [https://github.com/sudomesh/propaganda design] and events, to [https://github.com/sudomesh software development], documentation, hardware hacking, [https://sudorom.org/wiki/Mesh/SFBayArea community outreach] and [https://github.com/sudomesh/mounting/blob/master/PONIprogram.md climbing rooftops to mount nodes and distributing hotspots to encampments]!
* We generally collaborate on [https://peoplesopen.net/notes notes] at each meeting (currently on hold as we regroup in 2024). Look at our archive of past [[Mesh/Minutes|meeting minutes]]!
* Contribute to the network by installing a mesh node at your location using our handy [https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Mesh/WalkThrough Mesh Node Setup Walkthrough]. This is especially helpful for those who are within range of an existing node (seen as a wireless SSID named "peoplesopen.net").
* Check out our [[Mesh/ToDos|ToDo list]]
* Support us with a small monthly donation on [https://www.patreon.com/peoplesopennet Patreon], here's [[Mesh/Purchases|how we spend it]].
* Send bitcoins to our wallet address: {{bitcoin wallet}}
* Check out our [[Mesh/Wishlist|wishlist]], we have requests!
* Improve our documentation
* Talk to your community about joining the mesh - here are some [https://github.com/sudomesh/propaganda resources] for doing so!
* Follow us on [https://twitter.com/sudomesh twitter] and like us on [https://www.facebook.com/sudomesh facebook].
 
== Developers ==
 
We need hardware and software engineers to help us with our code. We have an overview of [[Mesh/Technical_Overview|technical documentation]] that will be helpful in understanding the network.
 
If you want to immediately help, check out [https://github.com/sudomesh our code], [https://github.com/sudomesh/sudowrt-firmware/milestones look at our remaining issues for upcoming milestones], report any [https://github.com/sudomesh/bugs bugs] or help us squish them!
 
Here are some of the projects that need attention:
 
* [https://github.com/sudomesh/sudowrt-firmware sudowrt-firmware] - The sudowrt firmware
* [https://github.com/sudomesh/sudowrt-web-ui sudowrt-web-ui] - The new and improved web admin UI for sudowrt nodes
* [https://github.com/sudomesh/ubus-https-forwarder ubus-https-forwarder] - Allow management of extender nodes from home node web UI
* [https://github.com/sudomesh/service-browser The Service Browser] - Web UI for browsing mesh services
* [[Mesh/Distributed Services|Mesh Services]] - Which services should we provide?
 
== Designers ==
 
We need artists and designers to make things look nice! We have [[Mesh/Design|design schemes]] we already use, but we're always looking to improve it. We need to improve our presentation content and [[Mesh/Diagrams|diagrams]] too! We've been focused on these areas:
* [[Mesh/Presentations]] - Past presentations, talks, workshops, tutorials and videos
* [[Mesh/Diagrams|Diagrams]] - Diagrams outlining the network topology and technical stack
* [[Mesh/Design|Design]] - Website & logo design; swag for enthusiasts; and marketing inspiration.
|}
 
----
 
''Please note that all contributions to Sudo Room may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Sudo Room:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!''
 
[[Category:Projects]][[Category:Mesh]]

Latest revision as of 20:16, 19 January 2024

Sudomesh.jpg

Sudo Mesh is a people-powered project. That means that anyone can join the network if they're willing to contribute by reporting bugs, improving software, fixing hardware, setting up a node, installing rooftop nodes, telling your friends about us, joining for a workshop, bringing pizza to a hack session, donating equipment/money/Bitcoin, learning with us about how the internet works, or just being patient if something is broken :)

Interested in learning more and exploring? Check out our Join Us section. You do not need to be technically skilled to be part of this project. We need people willing to mount gear on rooftops, folks who want to do public outreach, graphic design artists, film-makers, documentarians and so much more! Show up at a monthly general meeting and get involved!

Quick Links (see below for more details)
Documentation Technical Outreach Operations Research External Links
Install Instructions Overview FAQ Minutes User Research peoplesopen.net
Net Topology Hardware Blog To-Do's SF Bay Area network map
Presentations Power How to Help Legal Interviews code on github
History Security Wishlist Inventory Other Meshes DisasterRadio
Press Backup Website Meetings Software Tools BuildYourOwnInter.Net
Firmware Hosting Propaganda Funding Local Services
Mounting Decisions Self-Education
Next gen


What does it mean?!

Imagine if the wifi router in your home connected to the wifi routers in your neighbours' homes and they again connected to their neighbours to form a huge free wireless network spanning the city! That's exactly what a mesh network is, or at least what it can be. Roads and telephone poles are owned by government or private interests and laying down cable is expensive, but by using wireless signals that hop from building to building we can create a community-owned and -operated, free-as-in-freedom alternative to corporate Internet Service Providers. Community wireless mesh networks are growing around the world, creating local 'internets' that support Net Neutrality and community control of critical infrastructure.

We are spending a lot of time developing software to make it cheap and easy for anyone to be participate in cooperative communications infrastructure, regardless of technical skill.

Who are you?

sudomesh is a group of volunteers operating out of the sudo room hackerspace at the Omni Commons - a collective of collectives stewarding a large community space in Oakland, California. We develop software and assemble hardware systems to help build open community networks like the People's Open Network, a community-owned and -operated non-profit internet infrastructure in Oakland. We are all unpaid volunteers building open technology that helps to connect our neighbors, support local businesses, and enable community collaboration and cultural production. In the event of a natural disaster or state censorship, community mesh networks can be a resilient means of communication and sharing of information.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

  • Decisions - What decisions have we made, and why?
  • Funding - How the heck do we fund this thing?
  • Legal - How do we use exit nodes, relays and legal structures to protect node owners and ourselves?
  • Hosting - How are we hosting and what does it cost?
  • Backup - How do we handle backups?
  • Server Security - How do we ensure server security?

Logistics

  • Meeting Minutes - Notes from our weekly meetings dating back to January 2013.
  • Taxes - Filed taxes for the sudo mesh non-profit

Research

Our Projects

Building a community-owned and -operated wireless mesh network in Oakland, California and beyond!

Disaster-resilient communications network powered by the sun.

Instructions for building your own internet, plus a global directory of community wireless mesh networks.

Upcycling retired/donated laptops to those who can't afford them.

How To Participate

If you want to join the mesh you'll need a mesh router at your home! Currently the best way to get one is to join and send an email to the mailing list . We need more people on the network to improve the quality of the service. When you setup a node, you improve the service for everybody on the network and give more access to your community. We encourage participants to ask their communities to join their networks and create distributed services for them. We have a user guide to help you get on the network!

Developers

We need hardware and software engineers to help us with our code. We have an overview of technical documentation that will be helpful in understanding the network.

If you want to immediately help, check out our code, look at our remaining issues for upcoming milestones, report any bugs or help us squish them!

Here are some of the projects that need attention:

Designers

We need artists and designers to make things look nice! We have design schemes we already use, but we're always looking to improve it. We need to improve our presentation content and diagrams too! We've been focused on these areas:

  • Mesh/Presentations - Past presentations, talks, workshops, tutorials and videos
  • Diagrams - Diagrams outlining the network topology and technical stack
  • Design - Website & logo design; swag for enthusiasts; and marketing inspiration.

Please note that all contributions to Sudo Room may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Sudo Room:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!

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