NYC’s nonprofit DIY internet is taking on Verizon & more | Just Might Work by Freethink

What do you think of this approach to internet access?

Not just NYC. You might mention Chattanooga TN which took on cable companies to get one of the fastest in the world fiber optic multiple GB speeds with a municipal utility and was sued by them and won.

spectrum lol sly foxes

how do we learn to do this?

I want to create something like this in my local communities, but I was going to charge a flat rate of $5.99 a month for unlimited use. To to create profit as much as bring users to being connected in areas were service is bad inside and outside of buildings, service connection in general, and over all bring internet to all those who need it

This won't work because if multiple organizations do this sort of thing the wifi airwaves will be so cluttered that it will crawl.

Sue these fuckers

I wanna know how many people are paying per month per the entire group. This seems like a losing proposition to maintain hubs and fiber service if 90% of people cant or just dont pay, even with volunteer techs handling it.

Get free wifi anywhere you go! (Holdup)

but where do they get the internet from

To this looks like a dream team

In the future it might expand so much that you won't need 5g on city streets, a node style street network could end up replacing that

Hi contact me ,this idea is a business opportunity in Kenya am a free lancer technician working for small business who distribute internet

This kind of thing needs to happen everywhere. We shouldn't have to rely on providers who charge us for access to something that is owned by the entire population and was meant for everyone. I live on an island in Washington State where this would be extremely helpful to everyone here. It would lower the cost of everything for everyone, and thus the economy would boom.

awesome job

T-Mobile home internet 🤓

Do not use Chinese technology they will spy and steal all data

F* yeah. And it si about democracy and freedom. This system can be use on dictatorship countries for the people to communicate. This is the time for the development of society because society is loosing against tyrant country like China an and Russia who oppress freedom. It is time to stop the greed of big corporations because we are loosing against tyrant countries

I totally sympathize, There is so many low income people, we shouldn't say low income people of color. Low income is a HUGE problem in modern American society. It's effecting everyone. It's so hard to afford to live even on the lowest level & we get punished for being poor, we don't get help, like the UK does. I hope the quality of life improves so much in America. It's so unaffordable to exist these days. I really hope we improve this. We could live such better life's.

So...I am a bit unclear about how do they actually connect to the "internet", cause from what I can see this is more like a massive wireless LAN. Where do they actually connect to the global network? At the center of the antenna? and where do they connect to the large cable that go across the ocean? DO they rent the bandwidth from the large provider? Like where do they actually connect to the global network and global cable?

Is it secure? Is there security?

This is amazing. However I do wonder if this would be highly insecure as members may have easy access to intercepting traffic of other members, even the fact that it is all done through wireless connections makes me wonder what protocols they are using, as wireless connection protocols are notoriously unsecure, would software updates be mandated to the hardware that people own? Because otherwise within a couple years known vulnerabilities WILL be found and those who do not update promptly could compromise entire blocks if they are transmitting others data through their hardware components. Lots to worry about and I wouldn't trust it with anything. But it looks super cool and I hope that they somehow have the answers to these problems.

It is called a WISP, not a mesh. I own and run a WISP business.
It is called AP's not nodes. Then each client has a CPE to get the internet. They are installing Ubiquiti equipment. Same as what we use in our systems.

Believe it or not, this is laissez-faire capitalism. Even with a lack of government interference there are plenty of people in a free market economy who choose to do things without a profit motive. Part of the reason that so many internet companies have monopolies in the first place is due to lobbying that is only possible in our current 'crony capitalist' society which is propped up by our aforementioned government.

These people should be called the internet angles

Verizon now has an acp program that allows for a free FiOS internet plan through FiOS forward.

I would like to know more about the infostructure and laws about this can I start one in Australia for a small town of 600 people please contact me.

the internet in the internet

Why only volunteers?? Why not big internet providers? They can reduce their profit margin also.

I'll be going to NY on July. It'd be awesome if I could see this up close. I work for a WISP and this concept looks great. Ham radio operators also use a similar setup with modified equipment of the same brand. But their network is on the private side because of licensing issues. Although you can tunnel in from anywhere in the world to one of the meshes if they're setup for it.

Very interesting idea indeed though I would be a little concerned about hacks and attacks on the system.

show me how to do it at my place i need my own wifi

This is a great idea to keep internet as decentralised

How to make one.. willing to pay.

How to make one.. willing to pay.

Even if this take a minimal fees for this service. He can still give better services then big giants and can also become a millionaire

My children and I never went online until 2018 me on my phone I shared with my partner.and the kids really missed out on the benefits you have with every book at your fingertips with a crowd of others to collaborate .I am still spellbound .I use it to learn.I spoke with my family for the first time in ten or more years .I now feel like everyone knows more than me .But watch out !I will get there.

Omg. I have Spectrum and it sucks ass. I wish we had Mesh in Connecticut.

Dude, capitalism is awesome. Can you imagine how awful it would be it that was a governmentmental monopoly instead (aka public service)? People wouldn't even be allowed to compete and have their startups! Plus, you wouldn't even be able to boycott the state owned internet, they got the police to enforce taxation.

great way too beat big companies. keep up the good work.

That "free" wifi is 4x faster than mine :(

what happen to the people of the book???

That’s where state intervention could come in handy: to force internet providers to offer quality services.

The Profit Motive ruins everything, if money is allowed to equal power.

I have the slowest internet in my country and it's very expensive. Pretty much the same as my food bill for the month. Of course, being a nerd I will rather cut my living expenses than have no internet. To be honest we live in an era where big corp put 200-500%+ profit on items, just because they can. There should really be a limit to how much profit you can put on your items 100-150% which is more than enough.

Let's get something clear here, in Houston in the suburbs (we're internet is more expensive to deploy) 1GB fiber is $40 a month, in NYC you keep wanting to tax corporations you don't understand they just roll all those taxes right to the consumer and that's the only reason internet is expensive.

I got goosebumps! The spirit, the mobilization, the community - amazing!