2y ago

Blanking on a term. I remember a protocol/firmware for wireless routers where the idea was to connect as many as possible to create a quasi internet without any ISPs. Help?

Basically title. I remember reading about it back in like 2018, I even remember a company that would provide crypto based on the amount of traffic you let through. Just curious if that ever saw any growth.

Everything I google keeps bringing up things on the darkweb. The goal of this was explicitly to go "ISP-less". Like they envisioned mesh net covering giant swathes of space.

19 comments

I think what you're talking about is mesh networking?
- Basically, but I swear I remember a push that amounted to "What if we made a HUGE mesh". Based on other comments though it looks like I may be misremembering a developing IoT protocol.
  
  i don't think you're misremembering it, it's just that there was a huge commercial push to quash the idea of a "communist internet" that would cut them out of the business by sharing cheap/free internet service. plus, the tech evolved.
  but the idea of mesh wifi didn't die. in several major cities, mesh wifi/internet solutions exist. NYC Mesh, for example, is the local mesh network here in NYC:
  We are a diverse group of volunteers dedicated to ending the digital divide and extending high-speed, reliable internet to all New Yorkers. You can help by joining our community network to get online, volunteering to connect neighbors or grow the network, and donating to improve our community infrastructure and ensure access for all.
Source: https://github.com/redecentralize/alternative-internet#networking
Freifunk is a non-commercial initiative for free decentralised wireless mesh networks. Technically Freifunk firmwares are based on OpenWRT and OLSR or B.A.T.M.A.N. Funkfeuer is, just like Freifunk, a non commercial initiative for free wireless mesh networks.
Funkfeuer is based in Austria and uses OpenWRT as the firmware for the Routers. IPOP (IP-over-P2P) is an open-source user-centric software virtual network allowing end users to define and create their own virtual private networks.
LibreMesh includes the development of several tools used for deploying libre/free mesh networks. The firmware (the main piece) allows simple deployment of auto-configurable, yet versatile, multi-radio mesh networks. LibreVPN is a virtual mesh network using tinc plus configuration scripts that even let you build your own mesh VPN. It's also IPv6 enabled.
Loki net is a privacy network which will allow users to transact and communicate privately over the internet, providing a suite of tools to help maintain the maximum amount of anonymity possible while browsing, transacting and communicating online. Netsukuku is an ad-hoc network system designed to handle massive numbers of nodes with minimal consumption of CPU and memory resources. It can be used to build a world-wide distributed, fault-tolerant, anonymous, and censorship-immune network, fully independent from the Internet.
NYC Mesh aims to create a free, resilient, stand-alone communication system that serves both for daily use and also for emergencies—be it power outages or internet disruption—running software that helps our community with hyperlocal maps and events.
OpenNIC Project is an alternative DNS provider that is open and democratic.
PJON is an open-source network protocol able to connect devices using most physical layers and media, such as wires (PJDL, Ethernet, Serial and RS485), radio (ASK, FSK, OOK, LoRa or WiFi) and light pulses (PJDLS). It is released in a single portable implementation that can be easily cross-compiled on many systems like ATtiny, ATmega, ESP8266, Teensy, Raspberry Pi, Windows X86, Apple and Android. It is a valid tool to quickly build a network of devices. People's Open Network is a community mesh network in Oakland, California.
Project Meshnet aims to build a sustainable decentralized alternative internet. Used by Hyperboria and built on CJDNS.
Skywire is the Skycoin Project's communication primitive (analogous to MPLS, open-flow, TOX, mesh networking, darknet, i2p) that facilitates mesh networking both on traditional internet service provider infrastructure, and on individually owned wifi and radio equipment, allowing for a phased, incentivized approach to decentralization. Skywire Overview | skycoin.net
Yggdrasil is an early-stage implementation of a fully end-to-end encrypted IPv6 network. It is lightweight, self-arranging, supported on multiple platforms and allows pretty much any IPv6-capable application to communicate securely with other Yggdrasil nodes. Yggdrasil does not require you to have IPv6 Internet connectivity - it also works over IPv4.
ZeroNet enabled decentralized websites using Bitcoin crypto and the BitTorrent network
- THANK YOU. You have made/ruined my day with all the searching and reading I can do now!
Batman? I believe it was a mesh protocol
- ok, I 100% thought you were screwing with me based on my user name...
  
  Also related to Batman is bmx, such as bmx6. I forget if it's separate or something that works together with batman it's been a while since I touched it
You may be thinking of BGP: Border Gateway Protocol. it’s a gateway protocol that routes internet data between asynchronous systems.
https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/bgp-border-gateway-protocol
We use this a lot for company to company networks
You are thinking of MeshNet.
I remember there being a YouTube video of some people that did it in a small town (or neighborhood) and made, essentially, a DIY neighborhood mesh network. I keep looking up stuff, and I'm only finding terms like "relay mesh." If I find the YouTube video after a reasonable search, I'll edit.
EDIT: Was the term WISP (Wireless ISP) network? It's a setting you can do on your router and what the videos I was watching were talking about. The YouTube channel is Freethink, and they cover it being done in Detroit, NYC, and Dylan's Beach.
- Thank you!!
Mesh networking?
Helium is a crypto based on LoRaWAN, which is essentially a wireless long-range low-bandwidth network designed for IoT devices. The idea is that helium coins/tokens are awarded to users based on how much traffic their node carries.
- I think helium is the company I'm thinking of, but I swear there was a focus on everyday, not just IoT
The biggest push I recall was part of One Laptop Per Child which was much longer ago. https://www.networkworld.com/article/2284035/coming-to-a-watering-hole-near-you--olpc-s-mesh-networking.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread_(network_protocol) ?
Reticulum network maybe? There was also Mycelium, but never got out of pre-alpha

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