Mesh

Feb 21: Launched "Snow Crash" release candidate v.0.1.0 - now deploying the first batch of experimental nodes!  

We are an all-volunteer organization building the People's Open Network, a community-owned and operated non-profit internet infrastructure in Oakland.

A mesh network is a way of freely sharing internet connectivity with one's neighbors and creating a community-owned 'internet' that doesn't necessarily have to be connected to the Internet as we know it now. It consists of routers running software that allow them to communicate with other routers around them. The users who join the network enable others to be on the network and support net neutrality. These networks are resilient to disasters because the routers are distributed throughout the community rather than being dependent on the infrastructure developed by service providers.

The software we've created is open source and we're using it to develop free internet for Oakland and the surrounding areas. We hope the community will use our software to create a network that's available everywhere for free. It's a project that will give access to internet, regardless of income, and reduce the divide between communities. We hope these networks will connect our neighbors, support local businesses, and enable community collaboration. In the event of disaster or censorship, a mesh network is a resilient means of communication and sharing of information.

Dishes in Action

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

 

Join Us

• Join the email list!
• Follow us on twitter and like us on facebook.
• We have weekly hack nights on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7:30-11:00pm at sudo room. The first three Thursdays of the month are work nights -- help us change the internet!
• Learn more at our general meetings, which are the last Thursdays of every month. We have focus groups and we collaborate on different parts of the or join the mailing list for details.
• Chat with us on IRC: #peoplesopen.net
• We generally collaborate on meeting notes at each meeting. Look at our archive of past meeting minutes!

How to Help

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 create your network!

• Check out our action items
• Support us with a small weekly donation on gittip, here's how we spend it.
• Send bitcoins to our wallet address: 12RxU4DpLpdWcmEBn7Tj325CCXBwt5i9Hc
• Check out our wishlist, we have requests!
• Come to our meetings in Oakland! (listed above)
• Improve our documentation
• Talk to your community about joining the mesh

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! We're currently focused on these areas:

• Firmware
• Service Browswer
• Services

Designers

We need artists and designers to make things look nice! We have design scheme we already use, but we're always looking to improve it. We need to improve our presentation content and diagrams too!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• 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.

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

Other Firmware and Networks

• Mesh/Freifunk - network based out of Germany.
• Mesh/Commotion - network based out of

Web Resources

• 510pen - East Bay community wireless mesh network spawned in 2009 by Mark Burdett
• Tidepools - Jenny Ryan designed local use cases for a community mobile mapping application built to run on mesh networks.
• Project Meshnet - Extensive wiki on the /r/darknet project, including extensive list of projects coordinating with them.
• Long Range Wifi - Info on the longest-range wifi connections ever made.
• 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 bitbucket.org but it could probably be configured for Github.