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Start your own Internet Resiliency Club

(bowshock.nl)
579 points todsacerdoti | 1 comments | 16 Jun 25 07:38 UTC | HN request time: 0.288s | source
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swiftcoder ◴[16 Jun 25 08:39 UTC] No.44287650[source]▶
On a local level, I feel like we can probably do better than just text messaging capabilities. Mesh network covering the village, with someone running mirrors of essential services in their basement (local email routing, wikipedia, etc)
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nunobrito ◴[16 Jun 25 09:07 UTC] No.44287787[source]▶
just remember that even that won't last long. Electricity is an expensive resource and you won't get spare parts to keep the Wi-Fi running for long.

At most you will only be able to start a few Android-phone hotpspots and share files. That is the reality of it.

replies(1): >>44288883 #
Ginden ◴[16 Jun 25 12:22 UTC] No.44288883[source]▶
Electricity is not really an expensive resource for communications. You need like a single rooftop to provide WiFi for the entire village.
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nunobrito ◴[16 Jun 25 12:31 UTC] No.44288934[source]▶
Maybe for professional communications. For cases where the grid is gone, you will quickly see how quickly you stop using electricity for luxuries such as that one.

At most you will be able to charge smartphones and small devices with solar panels. Keeping a larger Wi-Fi router running only on solar? Very seldom.

replies(2): >>44289196 #>>44289544 #
stevenhuang ◴[16 Jun 25 13:57 UTC] No.44289544[source]▶
A mid range router uses about 10W or about a dollar a month.

It will not be a problem at all to power it completely on a small 100W panel.

replies(1): >>44298500 #
1. immibis ◴[17 Jun 25 12:49 UTC] No.44298500[source]▶
And if it has a 12-volt input, there's a good chance that can work directly from a panel between about 9 and 15, possibly even up to 20 volts. Don't quote me on that - this isn't sound engineering advice, just an idea of something that might work. If it's a 5-volt input then it probably needs a pretty accurate 5 volts. Same for NUCs and so on (again don't quote me).

You can even use a (right-sized) lead-acid battery without a charge controller, as they're pretty resilient, unlike lithium-based batteries. This will both store power for night and stabilize the voltage. The lifetime would be a bit shorter. You can literally just parallel your solar panel, battery, and whatever you want to power, and it has a pretty good chance of working.