Publication: Imagining new systems of exchange What is a MESH network?

October 2020 - February 2022

mesh11-e1643488696293-1000x0 — Image: Michelle Campos Castillo

MESH networks offer a way for a community to own and run a Wi-Fi network. Store-bought hardware and open-source software are all that’s required to launch a MESH. Typical use cases for MESH networks include providing an alternative to corporate ISPs, as a way to run internet in areas that lack this service, or in temporary, emergency situations. The simplest MESH starts with a Wi-Fi router placed at a high vantage point—on the roof of a house or building—connecting to one or more additional routers.¹ Such a setup has only limited capacity, however; streaming services like Netflix would be out of the question for users of a simple MESH. Instead, extensive, well-functioning MESH networks use an ISP-like hub and spoke system for strong, reliable data transmission.

The simplest MESH starts with a Wi-Fi router placed at a high vantage point—on the roof of a house or building—connecting to one or more additional routers.

Like the internet, a MESH network is fault tolerant—i.e., the network finds the most efficient route for data transmission between nodes. Data transmission is dynamic and defaults away from broken nodes. In this way, resilience is built into the network. Redundancy is also a feature of a node device. Each node is equipped with three wireless radio systems: a dual-band 2.4/5GHz system offering Wi-Fi connections for devices, and a 5GHz radio that connects with other nodes. This allows for a fluidity of device-to-node and node-to-node data exchange, optimizing network performance.

MESH nodes self-configure routes of data transmission in a contingent and self-correcting fashion. Communities that opt for MESH networking are similarly self-organizing; a network happens through reciprocity, whether between devices or within communities through forms of mutual support.² NYC MESH, which has more than 600 active nodes, specifies that “by joining our network you agree to extend it to others!”³ Every new node grows the network, with participants united by the idea that neighbourhood-run tech leads to better civil society. A MESH is run in the interest of its citizens and not the bottom line of a corporation. Toronto MESH is similarly motivated, stating that they advocate for MESH networks as a way to explore “tech as a practice, as opposed to a form of consumption.”⁴ Not all forms of tech lend themselves this civic-minded ethos—for instance, a citizen-led initiative most likely will not be able to make their own cars. A MESH, however, makes one thing abundantly clear: a network is made up of people.⁵

Communities that opt for MESH networking are similarly self-organizing; a network happens through reciprocity, whether between devices or within communities through forms of mutual support.

ALOHAnet⁶ was the first MESH network, built in 1971 by researchers at the University of Hawaii. With ARPANET,⁷ which laid the foundation for today’s internet, transmissions of data happened directly between nodes via network cables. ALOHAnet differed in that it used ultra high frequency (UHF) radio wave networks. All nodes used the UHF frequency to communicate with each hub and no priority was given to any one transmission at any time. Instead, any unsuccessful transmission was resent until it connected with its destination. The resulting system, known as random-access channel, is the basis for today’s Wi-Fi networks.

While MESH networks are not illegal, they aren’t necessarily welcome by the ISPs, which provide the network connectivity most MESH networks operate from. Not surprisingly then, the most successful MESH networks provide internet in areas where the major ISPs either don’t operate, or offer only spotty service. Detroit is a city with many low-income communities, underserved by the major ISPs. The Detroit Digital Justice Coalition has set up two MESH projects. While providing low-cost internet, community organizing is the DDJC’s larger goal; the tech is nothing without the community networks that make it a reality. As Josh Breitbart, a funder of the project through the Open Technology Institute notes, “it’s not the technology [but] the social networks”⁸ that matter in this initiative.

The Catalonia region in Spain is home to perhaps the world’s most impressive MESH network. Guifi.net boasts over 36,000 active nodes in a self-organized and community-owned network. Started in 2004, Guifi provides free internet using nodes connected to open optical fiber links. A goal of propagating the internet as a commons drives the project. New participants are invited to get involved and extend the network—"You are guifi.net!”⁹ the Guifi website proclaims. Guifi was started due to a need for better internet in the region. Its success could also be attributed to the communalist and anarchist traditions in the area. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-39),¹⁰ factories and farms in Catalonia were controlled by workers. Influenced at the time by the ideas of Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin, Catalonia remains today the largest territory ever to be governed by anarchist ideas. Implicit not only in the historical legacy of the region, Guifi shows that a MESH is a truly horizontal technology with the capacity to empower its users. In cases like Guifi.net, this capacity is fully realized and a potent example of what is possible.