

Mesh network before/after Hurricane Sandy in Red Hook, Brooklyn [pdf] - jrbaldwin
http://tidepools.co/files/RHIwifi_tidepools_case_study.pdf

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legutierr
I've recently wondered, what's the maximum bandwidth that can be pushed
through a mesh network? Where would current wireless technology max out if
significant portions of currently-allocated spectrum were reassigned for
general consumer and business use, and used to build mesh networks?

For example, would it be feasible to reallocate FM and AM spectrum for
general-use wireless mesh networks, and then replace the lost commercial radio
service by installing, let's say, mesh routers in automobiles and having them
programmed to easily pull audio streams from radio broadcasters via a
pervasive wireless mesh network?

In other words, how close could we get to replacing the current broadcast
TV/radio infrastructure (in terms of broadcasting and consuming video and
audio) with mesh-routed wireless IP communications, if all of that spectrum
were made available to be used by the mesh network?

Would pervasive mesh networking be more feasible if more spectrum were made
available, and if so, could the displaced services be replaced via IP over the
mesh network itself?

~~~
ars
There is no general answer.

It depends on the granularity of the mesh, i.e. the range of each node.

The smaller the range the greater the bandwidth (and the more complicated the
mesh).

A wire essentially has a range of one centimeter * length. If you had a mesh
with nodes with a range of one centimeter (and multiple of them line up to
create the length) you can duplicate the bandwidth of a wire.

In a perfect world you would saturate the air or ground with tiny transmitting
stations (powered by magic presumably). They would automatically make a mesh
and create an almost unlimited bandwidth for everyone.

In a less perfect world you glue them (you don't want people breathing them)
to buildings, trees, rocks, etc. Then saturate the ground and air with a
powerful electrostatic field that the nodes could use for power. (A la
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardenclyffe_Tower](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardenclyffe_Tower)
.) Probably with a bunch of synchronized towers for efficiency.

Make the bandwidth and electrical power a public good paid for by taxes. (Each
country could probably opt in individually.)

PS. I know people will suggest solar power, but that would require solar
collectors that are just too large, plus batteries that wear out (or
capacitors that are too large). It would also complicate installation - you
can no longer apply the nodes randomly everywhere.

------
zokier
There seems to be so many meshnet projects. Is there any comprehensive list of
them? Both actual deployments and related software/hardware projects.

~~~
ics
[https://wiki.projectmeshnet.org/Category:Mesh_Local](https://wiki.projectmeshnet.org/Category:Mesh_Local)

It's a small list, and it doesn't say anything about their activity. The
project posted here is unrelated to Project Meshnet (which is an outgrowth of
r/darknet et al).

~~~
jrbaldwin
The Red Hook mesh is not related to meshnet (meshnet is a
reddit.com/r/darknetplan intitiave from the beginning).

This one was developed directly with the community from the beginning, and it
is still growing today. The city now funds Digital Stewards (local residents
who learn about mesh networking) to expand and maintain their own network.

~~~
ics
Edited to clarify. Yesterday's Chicago mesh thread prompted a search that
didn't turn up much besides darknet/meshnet which is why I posted it. I'm glad
to see this update though– when I saw the title I was a little bit worried
that it was going to be a project postmortem. (I was only tenuously aware of
the project beforehand, but seeing the OTI affiliation made it much more
clear.)

------
thejosh
Seems some dummy text was left in, or content encoding issues on multiple
pages.

~~~
jrbaldwin
Weird, here's a Scribd link: [http://www.scribd.com/doc/147627564/Red-Hook-
Initiative-Tide...](http://www.scribd.com/doc/147627564/Red-Hook-Initiative-
Tidepools-Case-Study)

