Mesh & community networks

Mesh networks are non-hierarchical networks where nodes (or devices) are connected to each other to route data to interconnected devices instead of relying on a centralised Internet Service Provider. As these devices are connected to each other, this strengthens the resilience of the network in case of system failure or outages, as there is no one point of failure. Mesh networks can span large physical spaces and allow devices to share internet connectivity or transmit information via wireless networks and bluetooth.

These networks are becoming an increasingly popular solution to poor broadband infrastructure, internet shutdowns during protests, and internet outages during natural disasters.

"We built a custom power bank made out of sixteen e-waste batteries which would provide adequate backup to the server at nighttime and during periods of limited sunlight. Image: Anish Mangal

Rural connectivity in India

In Ladakh, a rural area in India, mesh networks are used to circumvent power outages during poor winter conditions. A technologist involved in the project explained, “We thought that having a locally owned and locally maintained mesh network might offer a reliable alternative, especially so in the months when road access between villages is blocked by many feet of snow. A community owned mesh might also come in handy during times of emergency.”

Communicating during internet shutdowns and outages
In cases of internet shutdowns, popular mesh networks include Fireside messenger (used in Sudan during the military coup) and Bridgefly (used after the 2017 Mexican earthquake and protests in Hong Kong). While these apps allow people to communicate offline in close range, the communication channels are limited to local jurisdictions so cannot be used to communicate with global audiences.

Likewise, community networks connect or strengthen weak internet infrastructure in areas where it is not economically beneficial for commercial networks to operate.

They are typically built and maintained by the communities who use them. One definition of community networks claims they are when, “infrastructure is built, managed, operated, and administered by a community-driven organisation or by a community itself by pooling their existing resources and working with partners to start-up and scale their activities.”

The following examples of Meshtastic, RAMA community network and Maria Lab’s Fuxico network showcase how alternative internet can provide local communities with crucial networks to communicate and share crucial information, often in affordable and more accessible ways.

Meshtastic

Screenshot from Meshtastic website

Meshtastic is an encrypted, wireless network that can be used to send and receive messages and location data securely. It is open source, and works on low power devices. It is a radio protocol that automatically rebroadcasts messages so everyone connected to the group’s network (up to 80 devices) will receive them. Meshtastic is also very affordable—the starter kit starts around 25 USD and can be connected to a phone using a USB-C cord. Users can create their own private networks or connect to local networks.

Entry last updated: January 2024

RAMA community network

In Brazil, activists, technologists, researchers and community members came together to build a community network in the quilombo of Ribeirão Grande/ Terra Seca in Barra do Turvo city. Quilombos were created by runaway and freed enslaved people during the transatlantic slave trade (between the 16th and 19th century) in Brazil.

Today, residents of quilombolas territories have the right to live on and own the land. In this quilombola community, a group of women in the Agroecological Network of Women Farmers (RAMA) came together to build a community network, to facilitate communication in the area. In the creation of this network, researchers spoke to members of the community to learn about ancestral communication practices prior to electricity, and specifically prioritised the inclusion of young Black women to maintain the network.

The RAMA community network also upends the business model of Big Tech, by centering the most unconnected members of the community. For instance, members of RAMA insisted on including an isolated elderly woman in the network, going so far as to install a node near her house.

They also agreed to support 20 families in the community through the network, rather than just the five RAMA members, resulting in weaker connection for all over stronger connectivity for the few.

Last updated: January 2024

Maria Lab’s Fuxico network

Fuxico is an autonomous, feminist wireless community network on a portable device that allows for anonymous, secure sharing. It can be used as a communication network for a neighbourhood or as a wifi network for a community or collective. It was created by a group of Brazilian feminist hackers and named after a crafting technique in Brazil of shaping leftover fabric into flowers.

Part of the intention behind this naming was to shift the understanding of technology as feminist practice and build a sense of belonging through popular imagery. It is a free software, licensed under a feminist peer production licence, which maintains that it must only be used for non-capitalist purposes (non-profits, self managed collectives and worker organisations). While it operates as a single portable router, the goal of the initiative is to allow women to extend the network through adding more nodes and routers as necessary.

Last updated: January 2024

Page last updated: January 2024