Getting ready to drop some raspberry pi OpenWRT WiFi 7 with WiFi HaLow around westchester to downtown. Let me know needed areas!
this post was submitted on 22 May 2025
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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^
This is super cool! That video mentions heavy rain could cause some interference, anyone know how significant of a concern that is? Like how heavy of rain has what kind of impact on speeds?
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.
I think I get it now! Thank you for explaining!
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.
Now if we could just talk to some EU internet satellites...
This is fucking awesome
Ditto
Right?
I am old enough and geek enough to be bothered by the use of the word "WiFi" instead of the Internet or just network.
It's only WiFi if you connect the wireless router at the end.
Edit: just noticed mention of the "antenna at the roof" on the page, but I still don't think it's WiFi, "WiFi" is a name of the technology that allows wireless access by multiple devices. I think it's rather radio communication between the router and the access point. They basically use radio waves instead of the cable, it was often used in rural areas in my country, where putting cables would be too expensive.
WiFi is a specific protocol, IEEE 802.11 (with a lower case letter at the end for the version). There have long been hobbyist and commercial methods for using it with point-to-point links. There are some other wireless methods for this, like LoRa/Meshtastc, but they tend to be slower and less developed. Everyone prefers using WiFi.
So, yes, they are using WiFi in a point-to-point way. The antenna is directional to give it (potentially) several miles of range.
Setup some multi km Wi-Fi bridges before, that was fun.
Same here and when people refer to the PC tower as the CPU
I didn't know that's even a thing.
It was a thing moreso in the '90s.
I was using computers in the '90s. Guess it just wasn't ubiquitous.
I heard it in computer labs a lot at school. The "CPU tower".
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It would seem a lot of people think Wi-Fi is internet. I've heard someone call it "Wi-Fi with exclamation mark" when without internet access.
My eldest when her internet want working confidently told me her computer couldn't connect to the globe
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But.. It is P2P WiFi...
I'm old enough and nerd enough to be slightly peeved that "community built" isn't hyphenated ("community-built").
The hyphen is for clarity. Its use is totally optional in that context
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I hope they are aware of https://freifunk.net/ and don't start from scratch completely. They've been doing that kinda stuff for over a decade and have developed a modified OpenWRT version and maintain lists of compatible routers
NYC Mesh has been around for more than a decade. I assume they talked to other similar projects when building it.
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I see freifunk networks more rarely nowadays. They also are notoriously slow. Usually the mobile phone network is faster, even in Germany.
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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.
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Does anyone know what other cities are building similar networks? Or how to get started doing it in your city?
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That is for sharing! I'm up to see what I can do on the UWS (signed up) but maybe that's too far
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