BACH2014/Mesh

Mesh and Community Wireless

Why are you here?

Steve: Early idea of mesh when wi-fi first came out seemed like a good idea! Why didn't it work?
Marshall - Wants to mesh Benicia!
- Sudomeshers: Just do it!
Carl: Wants wi-fi to cover the East Bay

Goal: To make it possible for someone with some technical skill to deploy a mesh in a dense urban area
Hardware: home router, omnidirectional antenna, directional antenna
Things to consider: Fresnel zone, hidden node problem, fog, water, trees
Friends: High-gain panel antennas
FSO (Free Space Optics)? A: See Koruza (gigabit laser links)
What's the backbone?
- Not dependent on a single source - decentralize all the things!
- Internet Archive has a 1Gigabit tower in Richmond
- Just got a matching donation of $3K for two AirFibers for long-distance gigabit links
Discussion of failed mesh projects (eg Portland)

Works Cited