How long until the cities’ PDs start busting down peoples doors for this?
Why would they? This is a legitimate business
Okay I read the explanation on their faq page but I’m still kinda confused on how this works. Don’t they need like satellites for internet access? What exactly is this in simple terms? Like it seems good, I just want to understand it
You don’t need satellites, just some connection on a datacenter (like but internet in bulk, maybe they have some special deal and is free or very cheap). But this is the boring part, the fun part is that you can connect to the hubs (light blue dots in the map) with a router with an antenna or you can connect to another router (red dots). The network is like a living being that keeps expanding. Then to go out to the Internet, the packets are jumping as they can between neighbors (they have a way to know the path) until they reach the datacenter. It looks like you only have to pay for the initial equipment (plus some donations to maintain the network), but it will probably end up costing you some of your time maintaining the network, learning and helping other people in the network.
Getting ready to drop some raspberry pi OpenWRT WiFi 7 with WiFi HaLow around westchester to downtown. Let me know needed areas!
This sounds cool but what exactly will it do and what’s the purpose? What will these devices be connected to for internet? Local stores wifi and then extending it for others to use?
This^
Can they start building affordable housing and go around the manipulated housing market?
That only part of the issue. An affordable home today can quickly raise in value, gentrification, the secondary real estate market, tax appraisal, these are all still problems.
That is for sharing! I’m up to see what I can do on the UWS (signed up) but maybe that’s too far
This is fucking awesome
Right?
Cue lawsuits from ISPs in 3, 2, 1…
Time to go cyberpunk. Hidden routers using stolen electricity.
There’s a bunch of LoRaWAN and Meshtastic out here too. Join the movement!
I’m shocked this is going through. I gotta imagine at least Tennessee will block it. They’re super pro-big isp.
Okay, going off the title to start with you’re building a WiFi network, that’s very cool (I’m guessing it’s a mesh network), but will you connect it to the Internet too?
That’d be more of a headline if so, then just building a WiFi network.
My friend has been using NYCmesh for a couple years now. He has nothing. It positive things to say about it.
I think that goes without saying, no? What’s the point of a network with no internet?
Many many good reasons. Intranets are a thing pretty much everwhere.
Mostly for documents and resource sharing. Perhaps its a way to connect locally to a library and its resources without the vileness and enshittification of web2.0 getting in the way?
I wish I were in an area with people I’d like to share an intranet with.
I wish I were in an area with people I’d like to share an intranet with.
So no Internet when it rains?
Sorry but this idea strikes me as it’s just not gonna work.Like I don’t even get it - NYC probably has many competing internet providers.
What stops working when it rains?
It’s all wireless isn’t it
???
Yeah but that doesn’t stop working when it rains
This seems like a bad idea.
What sort of protections are in place against nefarious actors that gain access to this network? Do they do anything to isolate each connected device from each other so that two devices on the network cannot connect to each other, such as making use of subnets? Are users connections throttled, and if so, to what degree? Are certain websites blocked to prevent potential malicious actors from intercepting sensitive data more easily, such as bank sites?
I mean, the idea is a well intentioned one, but I can easily see this going very wrong very quickly.
Why would you not use TLS to connect to sites on a mesh network?
I don’t know, I find people do all sorts of stuff with their networks all the time that has me scratching my head trying to figure out why they set it that way when I am eventually called to fix it.
As a service provider, you’re not legally responsible for what others do on your network.
Yes… But technically you do have other legal obligations like reporting and certain data collection, like who owns what IP for example.
If your bank credentials can be intercepted that way, then the bank had poor security. They’re not responsible for that anymore than any other ISP.
Yet somehow ISPs are expected to police piracy.
You really think this would even have live long enough to write an article about it if it wasnt built properly?
I wish I had that near me, but unfortunately I don’t live in New York (United States), I live in New York (United States).
ARGH PLACENAMES
The domain has a c in it
in reality though I did get excited seeing this only to be disappointed that it’s only in new york city and I live in upstate new york
I hope they are aware of https://freifunk.net/ and don’t start from scratch completely. They’ve been doing that kinda stuff for decades and have developed a modified OpenWRT version and maintain lists of compatible routers
I see freifunk networks more rarely nowadays. They also are notoriously slow. Usually the mobile phone network is faster, even in Germany.
Yeeah it kind of fizzled out, that’s true. In larger cities it used to be useful sometimes because of abysmal cell coverage and shady public WiFi. That has improved a lot since then, so yeah nowadays it can’t hold a candle to 4G/5G mobile data.
NYC Mesh has been around for more than a decade. I assume they talked to other similar projects when building it.
Ah nice! :D Yeeeah just thought it’d be a shame to not utilize existing work that has been done on OpenWRT. But then again, it’s highly unlikely that actors from similar groups haven’t met at hacker conferences, GitHub repos, etc.
Reminds me of Wireless Seattle, that must be what, 25 years ago?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Wireless almost had it right.
Anyone remember ricochet wireless? That was awesome. It can happen again! Why not?
I was just thinking about ricochet while perusing the thread. Ricochet was new when I was starting in IT and I can still remember connecting a ricochet modem to a company laptop and then pulling up our novell netware file share over our vpn. It was jaw dropping to see it at the time. Amazing how far we’ve come since then.
