For basic texting Meshtastic is quite OK within a city.
this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2024
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Sadly, I don't have the time or money to put into the plans that we should really have in place. Both for this, and just for hurricane emergencies. The plan would be mesh networking and local data caches though. I'd follow the book on these matters. (The book is the freely distributed "Wireless Networking in the Developing World", a practical guide to building local networks anywhere.)
Thank you for this. It might be beyond my capabilities but I'm going to give this a serious read.
So far I've been testing out low-power, handheld LoRa radios running the Meshtastic open source firmware on them. The data-rate isn't great, at 37.5kbps, so slightly slower than traditional dial-up. It's line of sight, but it can travel 250km with a handheld device. The handheld ones can be linked with bluetooth to a phone, or USB to a computer, to send messages to other devices. The really cool part is in the name thiugh, you can achieve greater distances by meshing with other nodes. There are also devices and designs made to be used as stationary repeaters, and they sip power. You can run one off a 5-10w solar panel, with an 18650 to keep it going when the sun isn't shining. The community also kind of already has a bit of a solarpunk element to it in my opinion :) Oh, and they're cheap! That repeater project is about US$50 but a handheld one is only ~US$20.
Deploy my own city wide mesh, then sell the kits to help people extend it.
If any corpos want in, get fucked
Cyberpunk AF yo
Governments Are Suddenly Shutting Down The Internet
They are not. And can not, especially individually.
Imma go read a book or two
That sounds nice. But what happens if all communication is cut during an emergency of some kind. How do you check if your friends and family are safe. How would you organize to help your community?
Which "governments are suddenly shutting down the internet"?
Edit; no, I won't watch your YouTube video.
What are your backup plans for an internet and telecom shutdown?
We've been trying lora based protocols such as disasterradio, meshtastic and reticulum. However, the quality of the available hardware is pretty poor, the price is reaching insane levels, and software stability is not fit for leaving it unattended in remote locations.
If shit really hit the fan, the standard old wifi gear with directional antenna would be better in reach, bandwidth and stability.
I'm older than the internet, i have books and backups and know how to build fhe ol' pringle can yagi
Piratebox, I think
They're coming for your ~~guns~~ Routers!