#meshnetworks

[innerlurch]

Slow Streams 🌊

Data doesn’t need to rush. Low-bandwidth networks, efficient protocols, and community-focused connections allow the internet to flow at a gentle, sustainable pace.

[innerlurch]

Mesh of Life 🌐

Local mesh networks connect communities directly, bypassing wasteful infrastructure. Knowledge flows gently, like streams in a forest, rather than a river that floods everything.

[innerlurch]

The Quiet Web 🌿

The internet can be soft, intentional, and gentle. Solar hubs, mesh networks, and open-source knowledge create a digital space that doesn’t consume, but supports life. Minimal energy, minimal noise, maximum meaning.

[innerlurch]

Growing the Gentle Web 🌱

Not every connection needs to be fast, loud, or endless.

Small solar-powered hubs, local mesh networks, and energy-efficient servers can support a quieter, more intentional internet. Open-source knowledge, low-bandwidth communication, and thoughtful protocols create a digital ecosystem that grows sustainably — like a garden, not a factory.

Technology can serve life instead of consuming it. We can craft spaces online that respect energy, attention, and our environment.

[innerlurch]

The web doesn’t have to be endless noise

Energy-efficient hubs, small solar-powered networks, low-bandwidth connections — a quieter, kinder digital world is possible.

Open knowledge, shared freely. Technology that supports life, not consumes it. A digital permaculture, growing only what’s needed, sustaining what matters. 🌱

[timestechnow]

Silicon Labs, the leading innovator in low-power wireless solutions, and Wirepas, a global leader in decentralized IoT connectivity, announc

[dvdmerwe]

Maintaining cabled infrastructure in many informal areas is a nightmare (costly to deploy, dangerous, and sometimes damaged/stolen) so a meshed network does really solve this type of challenge, where each core node relays off the next one, to cover a wide area. In the example given in the linked article, a third of a township that’s home to an estimated 80 000 people is served.

Combining this with a commercial model where the core node hoster is earning 15% of the monthly cost from the surrounding leaf nodes, it is a real win-win.

It’s no coincidence, either, that this type of meshed network is proving popular, as we have seen active decentralisation along identical lines with social media, and also with the Meshtastic unlicensed radio that I featured a week or two back.

This type of approach is perfect where a high-cost service can be shared in a cost-effective way across a community who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford such a service on their own.

See https://techcentral.co.za/internet-revolution-in-olievenhoutbosch/241698/

[dvdmerwe]

Wi-Fi extenders (basically just adding a remote router connected by an Ethernet cable, or even just Wi-Fi) are, on paper at least, quite appealing. And why wouldn’t they be? Who doesn’t like an inexpensive solution to a complex problem? Fifty bucks or less to finally get Wi-Fi all the way across your house or out to the corner of the patio where your hammock is set up sounds like a great deal.

And while, in some cases, a Wi-Fi extender can be a useful and economical solution to your Wi-Fi issues, it’s largely a band-aid slapped over bigger problems with your network. They introduce latency, airwave congestion, and impact your overall network bandwidth and user experience.

For the vast majority of people, but especially those in a large or sprawling home, switching to a mesh Wi-Fi system is a massive upgrade in Wi-Fi technology, overall power, and coverage. That’s because far too many people are using really old stand-alone traditional routers and/or relying on the bargain all-in-one Wi-Fi-router-modem combo unit their ISP gave them.

So yes, a mesh Wi-Fi system is often better because it is all new technology, it is the same brand working well together, and it is usually a few devices covering everywhere. It also includes smart software to help manage many devices moving around between those nodes. But they do cost a lot more!

My problem is just a weakish area in my back garden, and it did not justify me spending the money for an area I don’t use regularly. I went for just adding a Wi-Fi extender router, but I cabled it with 1 Gbps Ethernet to the main router, and kept the same SSID to make it seamless. It also does it’s DHCP from the main router, so I can still manage everything centrally. That said, my Asus RT-AC88U main router (powered by Asuswrt-Merlin software) is pretty smart, and it is not a basic ‘free’ ISP router.

So, although a Mesh Wi-Fi is best, you may want to still weigh up your options before diving in. The linked article expands on Mesh Wi-Fi a bit more, with some additional links to more information.

See https://www.howtogeek.com/818404/dont-buy-a-wi-fi-extender-buy-this-instead/