Mesh/Berkeley

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This page is for research on Berkeley's historical and planned internet infrastructure and access statistics, active organizations tackling the digital divide, local ISPs that allow for sharing bandwidth in their Terms of Service, as well as community hubs, local businesses, and other potential locations for mesh nodes.

Research

Organizations

The following is a curation of organizations addressing the digital divide in Berkeley:

Mesh-friendly ISPs

Some ISPs allow sharing of Internet access and others do not. We provide node owners with a list of local ISPs that are known to allow sharing of Internet access and advise them that some ISPs may not allow sharing. The worst case scenario here is that one or more users get their Internet disconnected for terms of service violation.

The ISPs in the East Bay that allow Internet Connection sharing (that we know of) are:

Key

+ = contact(s)

! = rooftop(s)

$ = interested in a space

Italics are relevant musings.

Locations

See also prospective node map

Schools

Resilient communication; internship opportunities; mentorship

Libraries

Hooking up library catalogs would be rad... and libraries are the last bastion of nurturing public spaces.

  • Talk to Ivan

Public Areas

Public wifi on the streets and in parks

  • People's Park

Cohousing Communities

Hyperlocal economies/sharing/barter/timebank; resilient communication tools; neighborhood watch; storytelling

Urban Farms & Community Gardens

Hook up sensors to be informed eg; if garden needs water, coordinate shifts, info on plant care, cropswap coordination...

Farmer's Markets

Announcing special kinds of produce / advertising healthy local food and crafts/vendors

  • Dover

Groups

Organizations Working to End the Digital Divide

Local Businesses

Free wifi attracts new people; community bulletin boards; local media streams

Hacker/Makerspaces

DIY instructables; Microcontroller projects; developing application; community media; community bulletin boards to promote classes and events; find tools / skilled people / projects

Community Media

Local streams from community spaces that foster self-expression, art and politics; archives and zine library; radio podcasts;

Non-Profits

By Donation-based gift economies and lending libraries; solidarity organizing; "craigslist free and de facto locally-relevant"

Collectives

Community events/gathering organizing; skill-sharing; documentation

Worker-Owned Cooperatives

Self-organizing and coordination tools; hyperlocal economies;

Ideas

Maps of High Demand Areas

Map of the Backbone Fiber, Data Centers and Free Wifi in Oakland and Berkeley

Map of the East Bay

Key:

Red Lines = Existing backbone fiber optic lines in the East Bay

Red Dots = Data Centers connected the the internet backbone (which can be used for future exit nodes)

Green Dots = Existing Relay Nodes with internet access

Blue Dots = Existing Mesh Nodes without internet access

Light Gray Dots = Locations with free wifi (which could become future relay nodes)

Dark Gray Dots = Locations that would benefit from free internet