In the cluttered backroom of a Lower East Side hacker space called xCubicle, a group of young engineers and tech enthusiasts meet Tuesday nights to discuss their shared goal: creating a city-wide network operated by the people.
Jokingly dubbed an “underground resistance” at a recent meeting (they used to meet in the basement of a nearby cafe), the group is organized around the subreddit r/nycmeshnet.
They’re united by a dissatisfaction with monolithic ISPs and overreaching government programs, and to avoid that, they want to set up a decentralized wireless network called a meshnet, which ideally could replace landlines owned by cable companies.
Basically, a meshnet (which we explained here) is a network where each device connected to it, called a “node,” both downloads and transmits data along to other peers. Using fairly simple equipment, a community of people running such nodes could set up and administer their very own wireless, encrypted, Web-like network.
“It essentially allows us to run the Internet by ourselves,” says Kurt Snieck, 23, an electric engineer involved in the project.
Great writeup on Curiousmatic about NYCMeshnet, a new project I just got involved with. Still trying to fix a bad flash of OpenWRT on my Nanostation, but as soon as I do, we're hoping to have the first working node up and running. Really exciting stuff happening here. I've missed the last few meetings, but it's a worthwhile project to get involved with if you're interested in privacy, security, and the next version of the Internet.