[liberationtech] Mesh Networking in Ramadi and Benghazi? was Re: Mesh Networks?

[Griffin Boyce]

Hi all,

Depending on what people would be using it for, a mesh *intra*net might be a
good option.  Most mesh internet projects are ambitious, but might be
over-estimating the functions that people will be using it for.

In the case of a place like revolutionary Egypt (or current Libya), most
people were looking for a way to communicate (messages in/out), a way to
read local alerts (no power in x district), and regional news.  For much of
this, full high-speed internet access is nice, but not necessary.

Which is to say, you don't need a full/continuous internet connection to
allow collaboration in these areas. It seems a lot closer to the old Usenet
or BBSs, where an admin could add the news or retrieve from RSS feeds.
People could upload videos/photos to the local network, and add short
messages, which could all be sent out as the node owner connects to the
internet at set intervals.

An anonymous Status.net/TagBoard style messaging system would be useful for
basic collaboration and information sharing. The communication would be
asynchronous, but it could serve basic functions.

It would take some custom coding, but could be very worthwhile project. This
has been on my mind a while, interested in what you all think.

Best,
Griffin

-- 
 الحب والحياة في وقت قصير
Love and Life in a short time

PGP Key etc: https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/User:Fontaine


On Fri, Jun 17, 2011 at 12:56 PM, Brian Conley <brianc at smallworldnews.tv>wrote:

> Colin,
>
> You're right of course, internal distribution and availability of new
> content are key use cases that are not really being discussed.
>
> One interesting element is that apparently a "mesh network" or something
> similar was used by citizens in Ramadi Iraq-honestly I'm not certain of the
> terminology, but from what I know its appropriate here. My understanding is
> that a group of engineers created a local network over wifi to maintain
> communication among friends and family while the city was under the control
> of US forces and much of the traditional communications were malfunctioning.
> That said, I'm unsure how accurate the account I received was, as its at
> this point simply anecdotal.
>
> However I do think alternate "semi-visible" communications means are very
> important.
>
> One potential interesting test case would be to fund the creation of a mesh
> network in Benghazi Libya. The outside internet is still unavailable for
> anyone who doesn't have a private satellite connection, however there is a
> plurality of wimax routers in the city, since this was previously a primary
> connection point to the internet. Perhaps there is a way to better leverage
> these tools to create an internal networking system for Benghazi? On the
> other hand, I'm not sure this is a necessity in an area that is now
> relatively calm.
>
> cheers
>
> Brian
>
> On Fri, Jun 17, 2011 at 9:44 AM, Collin Anderson <
> collin at averysmallbird.com> wrote:
>
>> Herein lies the problem:
>>
>>  But with a phone -- or a $90 router the size of one -- an individual can
>> link to thousands of others, creating a private network harnessing **the
>> firepower of the Internet.
>>
>> Mesh networks have generally failed because they have been oriented toward
>> propagating an outside connection to the Internet. However, if one dial up
>> connection is hardly enough to sustain a meaningful outlet for one
>> individual uploading content, it won't be enough for a collection of
>> activists. Moreover, in my experience individuals often utilize these
>> resources for more than just political content -- read piracy and worse.
>>
>
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