NYC Mesh: A Community-Based Internet Network

NYC mesh is a community-based internet network that has been growing steadily due to its core group of dedicated volunteers who perform household and building installations and repairs, administer the network, maintain the website, and do community outreach. The network's website and Slack messaging space are full of open-source technical content, allowing anyone to learn DIY installation, troubleshoot, or research equipment. It's meant to provide a blueprint for other community-based networks across the country.

The idea is simple: if you're on the internet, you're part of the internet, and no one should be denied access to an essential service. This philosophy is especially true for residents in low-income housing complexes, where NYC mesh has set up several super nodes. One such node is located in a three-building complex in the Lower East Side, where NYC mesh provides fast gigabit-speed fiber internet connections to anyone who wants it.

Fiber Internet: Faster and More Reliable

Fiber internet is faster and more reliable than wireless or cable broadband. It works by transmitting data through thin glass fibers, each smaller than a human hair. The data is transmitted using pulses of light, which is much faster than electricity. Many NYC mesh volunteers are trained in fiber infrastructure, which allows them to install and maintain the network.

At one of the three-building complex where NYC mesh has set up a super node, fiber cables go up the trash chutes to different floors. NYC mesh members use splicing equipment to connect tenants to the network. One member showed us how he removes layers of the fiber optic cable to expose a thin piece of glass and connects two ends of the optical cables through the splicer, fusing them together through heat, and adds a cover to protect it from breakage.

A Community-Based Approach

NYC mesh is serving almost a third of the 600 units in the affordable housing complex. The cluster of buildings is connected through underground fiber to a data center in Manhattan, which gives NYC mesh direct access to the internet through a process called peering. This allows them to exchange traffic with other networks without having to pay a commercial ISP.

The network's success is due to its community-based approach. Volunteers don't need any technical expertise to start; they learn as they go along or take part in group training. Many network users are also volunteers, which adds to the grassroots support and education within the group. The Internet looks more like a community than a mysterious bunch of cables.

A Successful Installation

One day, seven people wanted to get connected, and one person was able to do it. With the router installed on a rooftop, NYC mesh brings a cable down to connect it to the tenant's home router. The volunteer plugged it into his laptop and tested the speed, which came in at 60 megabits per second.

The Average Speed

The average speed at many NYC mesh nodes depends on distance and interference. The biggest threat is heavy rain and wind, which can block data traffic between antennas. Other than that, it's very stable, and the network team is very good at supporting it. If there are problems, users can message someone, and they will fix it that day if they can.

Supporting the Network

NYC mesh asks for a $200 donation for the equipment, which the tenant keeps. There's also a $50 fee for the installation. However, no one will be turned away or cut off if they can't afford it. The idea is to make internet access available to everyone, regardless of income.

The Future of NYC Mesh

NYC mesh is serving almost a third of the 600 units in the affordable housing complex providing fast gigabit speed fiber internet connections to anyone who wants it. The network's growth and success are dependent on funding and support. As a digital equity project, NYC mesh makes sense, as high-speed internet is critical to the health and survival of communities. We rely on it for education, employment, entertainment, and communication.

The volunteers at NYC mesh are "a bunch of nerds who want to share information and knowledge." They're bringing back the internet to what it used to be – a community-driven network that's available to everyone.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enif no one owns the internet what's stopping us from running it ourselves most of us think of high-speed internet as a product we buy from just a few providers but there's an alternative community supported networks that rely on common infrastructure that are committed to providing affordable Broadband to everyone one of the largest community supported networks in the world is here in New York a divided city of over 8 million the digital divide leaves underserved households and marginalized communities without reliable internet access see I bet you guys have never had internet installation people having this much fun NYC mesh wants to close the gap it's a volunteer-led non-profit that connects its members to the internet for a small donation and it doesn't block content limit bandwidth or collect personal data NYC mesh does this by legally bypassing the big internet service providers which Studies have shown deliver unequal speed to customers charge high prices and have poor customer service unlike them we're not throttling anybody we're trying to provide the best possible internet connection to the most amount of people uh all across New York the network relies on an expansive wireless mesh infrastructure where hundreds of access points or nodes talk to each other through long-range wireless routers and antennas mounted on rooftops there are also super nodes with a fast connection gateway to the internet and neighborhood hubs connecting to smaller nodes the more devices transmitting data the further the network can spread forming a web of connectivity that could potentially service Millions NYC mesh also has public Wi-Fi hotspots across the network this map shows the coverage of where our Network infrastructure is network coverage is typically the spaces that you can see in in the blue area that shaded but realistically it's anywhere where you have line of sight going from your location to Neon of these blue dots if a node is blocked or loses signal the network automatically finds the most direct available path to send data that way you'll find it Connection in an emergency situation and members can communicate with one another unlike with a typical ISP if your cable was cut to your house and you lost your internet in the case of this if if your antenna gets misaligned that could be okay if if that happens on your rooftop you could hop through your neighbor's rooftop automatically through that routing Network and that's really what the mesh is about is providing a redundant way of being able to access the internet NYC mesh is a small group with a big mission it's been growing steadily due to its core group of dedicated volunteers who perform household and building installations and repairs administer the network maintain the website and do community outreach their website and slack messaging space is full of Open Source technical content allowing anyone to learn DIY installation troubleshoot or research equipment it's meant to provide a blueprint for other community-based networks across the country we try and publish everything that we can possibly put on our website so that other locations can kind of use us as a model or a workflow all you really need to do is fill out a join form and see how close you are to a neighbor who might already have the service and that'll get you connected volunteers will check if you have a clear line of sight to another node the network can only function if there are no objects or buildings blocking rooftop routers for this particular install we are looking at an install on President Street which is smack dab in between these two buildings right here if you zoom in far enough you might be able to see there's two little white pieces of equipment way off in the distance a typical rooftop installation has an omnidirectional antenna which broadcasts everywhere and a light beam a point-to-point satellite antenna for longer distances once we get this up if we had somebody over there who wanted internet across the street we could just put one of these on the roof and they would automatically connect to each other and provide internet for someone across the street just mounting this antenna pointing roughly towards where our little little Hub is over there NYC mesh volunteers don't need any technical expertise to start they learn as they go along or take part in a group training many Network users are also volunteers with so much Grassroots support and education within the group The Internet looks more like a community than a mysterious bunch of cables we had seven people who wanted to get connected and one day to do it and that so we I think we and and it was probably 34 degrees outside once the router is working on a rooftop NYC mesh brings a cable down to connect it to your home router we're going to plug it into my laptop and we're going to test Will's speed that he's getting here hopefully that's registered yep there we go it's getting 60 50 60 megabits that's pretty good yeah with the um with the antenna setup that we have that's this is wonderful yeah there you go we are we are connected nice the average speed at a lot of NYC mesh nodes depends on distance and interference the biggest threat is heavy rain and wind which can block data traffic between antennas other than that it's very stable and we're very good at supporting it so if you have problems you can message somebody and somebody will fix it that day if they can that's something that we really pride ourselves in and something that I think we do very much offer over a lot of these traditional isps NYC mesh asks for a 200 donation for the equipment which you keep and fifty dollars for the installation you can pay a small monthly donation to keep up the network but no one will be turned away or cut off if they can't afford it the idea is simple if you're on the internet you're part of the internet and no one should be denied access to an essential service that's especially true for residents in a three-building low-income housing complex in the Lower East Side where NYC mesh has one of its super nodes the cluster of buildings is connected through underground fiber to a data center in Manhattan that's where NYC mesh gets direct access to the internet by exchanging traffic with other networks through a process called peering they can do that without having to pay a commercial ISP NYC mesh is serving almost a third of the 600 units in the affordable housing complex providing fast gigabit speed fiber internet connections to anyone who wants it fiber internet is faster and more reliable than Wireless or cable Broadband if you have a fiber connection that means internet is flowing through thin glass Fiber Optic Cables each smaller than a human hair the data is transmitted using pulses of Light which is much faster than electricity many NYC mesh volunteers are trained in fiber infrastructure at the three building complex fiber cables go up the trash chutes to different floors and NYC mesh members use splicing equipment to connect tenants to the network one member showed us how he removes layers of the fiber optic cable to expose a thin piece of glass he connects two ends of the optical cables through the splicer fusing them together through heat and adds a cover to protect it from breakage Broadband access shouldn't be a privilege high-speed internet is critical to the health and survival of communities we rely on it for education employment entertainment and communication that's why a digital Equity project like NYC mesh makes so much sense but it'll need funding and support to keep it growing we're all a bunch of nerds who want to share the information and share knowledge bring back the internet to what it used to beif no one owns the internet what's stopping us from running it ourselves most of us think of high-speed internet as a product we buy from just a few providers but there's an alternative community supported networks that rely on common infrastructure that are committed to providing affordable Broadband to everyone one of the largest community supported networks in the world is here in New York a divided city of over 8 million the digital divide leaves underserved households and marginalized communities without reliable internet access see I bet you guys have never had internet installation people having this much fun NYC mesh wants to close the gap it's a volunteer-led non-profit that connects its members to the internet for a small donation and it doesn't block content limit bandwidth or collect personal data NYC mesh does this by legally bypassing the big internet service providers which Studies have shown deliver unequal speed to customers charge high prices and have poor customer service unlike them we're not throttling anybody we're trying to provide the best possible internet connection to the most amount of people uh all across New York the network relies on an expansive wireless mesh infrastructure where hundreds of access points or nodes talk to each other through long-range wireless routers and antennas mounted on rooftops there are also super nodes with a fast connection gateway to the internet and neighborhood hubs connecting to smaller nodes the more devices transmitting data the further the network can spread forming a web of connectivity that could potentially service Millions NYC mesh also has public Wi-Fi hotspots across the network this map shows the coverage of where our Network infrastructure is network coverage is typically the spaces that you can see in in the blue area that shaded but realistically it's anywhere where you have line of sight going from your location to Neon of these blue dots if a node is blocked or loses signal the network automatically finds the most direct available path to send data that way you'll find it Connection in an emergency situation and members can communicate with one another unlike with a typical ISP if your cable was cut to your house and you lost your internet in the case of this if if your antenna gets misaligned that could be okay if if that happens on your rooftop you could hop through your neighbor's rooftop automatically through that routing Network and that's really what the mesh is about is providing a redundant way of being able to access the internet NYC mesh is a small group with a big mission it's been growing steadily due to its core group of dedicated volunteers who perform household and building installations and repairs administer the network maintain the website and do community outreach their website and slack messaging space is full of Open Source technical content allowing anyone to learn DIY installation troubleshoot or research equipment it's meant to provide a blueprint for other community-based networks across the country we try and publish everything that we can possibly put on our website so that other locations can kind of use us as a model or a workflow all you really need to do is fill out a join form and see how close you are to a neighbor who might already have the service and that'll get you connected volunteers will check if you have a clear line of sight to another node the network can only function if there are no objects or buildings blocking rooftop routers for this particular install we are looking at an install on President Street which is smack dab in between these two buildings right here if you zoom in far enough you might be able to see there's two little white pieces of equipment way off in the distance a typical rooftop installation has an omnidirectional antenna which broadcasts everywhere and a light beam a point-to-point satellite antenna for longer distances once we get this up if we had somebody over there who wanted internet across the street we could just put one of these on the roof and they would automatically connect to each other and provide internet for someone across the street just mounting this antenna pointing roughly towards where our little little Hub is over there NYC mesh volunteers don't need any technical expertise to start they learn as they go along or take part in a group training many Network users are also volunteers with so much Grassroots support and education within the group The Internet looks more like a community than a mysterious bunch of cables we had seven people who wanted to get connected and one day to do it and that so we I think we and and it was probably 34 degrees outside once the router is working on a rooftop NYC mesh brings a cable down to connect it to your home router we're going to plug it into my laptop and we're going to test Will's speed that he's getting here hopefully that's registered yep there we go it's getting 60 50 60 megabits that's pretty good yeah with the um with the antenna setup that we have that's this is wonderful yeah there you go we are we are connected nice the average speed at a lot of NYC mesh nodes depends on distance and interference the biggest threat is heavy rain and wind which can block data traffic between antennas other than that it's very stable and we're very good at supporting it so if you have problems you can message somebody and somebody will fix it that day if they can that's something that we really pride ourselves in and something that I think we do very much offer over a lot of these traditional isps NYC mesh asks for a 200 donation for the equipment which you keep and fifty dollars for the installation you can pay a small monthly donation to keep up the network but no one will be turned away or cut off if they can't afford it the idea is simple if you're on the internet you're part of the internet and no one should be denied access to an essential service that's especially true for residents in a three-building low-income housing complex in the Lower East Side where NYC mesh has one of its super nodes the cluster of buildings is connected through underground fiber to a data center in Manhattan that's where NYC mesh gets direct access to the internet by exchanging traffic with other networks through a process called peering they can do that without having to pay a commercial ISP NYC mesh is serving almost a third of the 600 units in the affordable housing complex providing fast gigabit speed fiber internet connections to anyone who wants it fiber internet is faster and more reliable than Wireless or cable Broadband if you have a fiber connection that means internet is flowing through thin glass Fiber Optic Cables each smaller than a human hair the data is transmitted using pulses of Light which is much faster than electricity many NYC mesh volunteers are trained in fiber infrastructure at the three building complex fiber cables go up the trash chutes to different floors and NYC mesh members use splicing equipment to connect tenants to the network one member showed us how he removes layers of the fiber optic cable to expose a thin piece of glass he connects two ends of the optical cables through the splicer fusing them together through heat and adds a cover to protect it from breakage Broadband access shouldn't be a privilege high-speed internet is critical to the health and survival of communities we rely on it for education employment entertainment and communication that's why a digital Equity project like NYC mesh makes so much sense but it'll need funding and support to keep it growing we're all a bunch of nerds who want to share the information and share knowledge bring back the internet to what it used to be\n"