Why should we care? What makes meshnets important?
- Peer to peer, user controlled links, not centrally controlled like our current Internet. Resistant to censorship.
- Not reliant on corporations for access. Transfers power to users to collaborate and propogate data on the network. Resistant to control of content through throttling and blocking of competition.
- Some of them are secure by nature. Resistant to spying and hacking by governments or other malicious operators.
Recent events around the world have demonstrated the importance of the free flow of information in regards to human rights and the free exercise thereof. Unfortunately, existing infrastructure is susceptible to a number of critical flaws that render it vulnerable to disruption. Meshnet projects supplement the current infrastructure to create a secure, independent network that can operate under any condition including natural disaster or general failure of existing infrastructure.
Meshnet Projects
- hyperboria.net: This is the technology I use. A networking protocol, a system of digital rules for message exchange between computers. “Instead of letting other computers connect to you through a shared IP address which anyone can use, cjdns only lets computers talk to one other after they have verified each other cryptographically.
- Project Byzantium: Ad-hoc wireless mesh networking for the zombie apocalypse. It is a Linux live distribution designed to run on any x86 computer (including later generation Macbooks) with a good wireless interface. I have not tried this yet, but plan to soon.
- guifi.net: Another custom Linux distribution is used to create "...a free, open and neutral telecommunications network based on a commons model." Guifi is more than just a tech project, it is also a social and economic project which "...generates a model for collaborative economic activity based on proximity and sustainability."