The reason why internet is so important today,
is, really because of access to knowledge.
When people say that there needs to be equitable knowledge distribution
and transfer between people, and especially in youth, who need to learn,
you know, different skills and different traits,
as a seed in the world,
there needs to be a way for everyone
to be on even playing field, to get that knowledge.
Back in July of 2020,
a bus came by and snagged that cable and ripped it out
from the side of my house.
So, for two weeks, I didn’t have internet
because my cable provider claimed it was not an emergency,
and because of COVID, no one could come out,
so, I’m sitting here with no internet,
and I’ve been taking online classes since the start of the pandemic.
Right now, we have a request.
Looks like we have someone asking to be on the Mesh.
I started looking into my own options,
figuring out whether there’s 5G I could turn to,
or there’s other technologies I could do.
Then, I found NYC Mesh.
After a member completes the join form,
we ask them to send a panorama of their roof.
It’s the simplest way for us to determine
whether they have line of sight, to one of our nearby hubs.
Following the instructions on the website,
I was actually able to do the installation, myself.
I’m going to go ahead and mark this as a potential link.
I just decided, you know, I want to make sure that
anyone who wants this, needs to be able to have it.
So, that’s why I volunteer today.
You know what, that is a good view of our triangle.
So, your building can connect to the Mesh.
Fantastic.
NYC Mesh is a volunteer-run, community-owned network.
We prioritize getting access to the internet,
to anyone who wants and needs it,
and we serve as an alternative to the typical day corporate ISPs
that monopolize the city.
Every time I do an install for somebody, I ask why the Mesh,
and everyone has a story very similar, ‘Oh, they’re terrible,’
‘Oh, it’s slow,’ ‘Oh, it cuts out when it rains,’
Oh, they raised my bill by 50 bucks, and I can’t afford it.’
That’s super common.
To counteract that, the people who founded the Mesh,
came up with this idea, to own their own network.
They don’t have to go to a bigger corporate entity,
just to get help when something is not working.
The existing providers can’t make the internet work
in New York City, for some reason, which is almost unimaginable in 2021.
So, when I discovered that there was a group of volunteers
that were acting autonomously, and in a grassroots way,
to really like, solve this problem,
I got super excited and wanted to help.
So, this area, there’s a reason why it’s locked,
and this is because this is where all of our fibers come in,
and this is where all of the other interconnects happen.
So, when the people ask us like, where does internet come from,
how is internet built, it’s actually one big mesh, just of wires.
All of the service providers in the city, terminate at this location.
David asked us to look into getting a new hub
- that connects down to this area. - Yea.
So you know, check that out, that’s a pretty nice building, right?
Mesh network uses regular, old Wi-Fi signals,
to connect to multiple nodes at a time.
It has to be at least three, in order to create a solid mesh,
that means three or more nodes can all connect to each other,
using the radio waves, and that’s how they figure out
how to get the internet to the destination,
finding the most efficient route through the mesh.
Where we are here, at the data center, is Supernode 3,
that has a high capacity link that goes to the Prospect Heights hub,
that has another link that goes up north, to the Vernon hub,
as interconnections with Manhattan
and other parts of Bed-Stuy in Bushwick.
Now, if we come back down to Vernon, a little bit further south,
you see the Saratoga hub,
where it then connects to a closer hub near my house, 5107.
Now, we’re up to the 10,000th
since I joined, 2515 clients have connected in the past month.
Mesh has really taken off within literally the past year,
and it’s great to see that progress.
The idea of having internet in public spaces like New York City parks,
- is creating a more humane environment, - So, that's on a public, right?
whether that’s public restrooms, or whether that’s internet access
or facilities for children to play in,
those things are essential to create a real community,
so people can really thrive.
- There we go. - There we go.
Really weak signal, though, only one bar.
Interesting, okay.
In the 21st century, broadband connectivity is a public good.
We’re trying to recreate that notion of something
that everybody in the community can access to and benefit from,
and thrive from, without being behind a lock and a chain,
without being behind a password.
You should be able to connect to the internet,
because that’s what we need for our 21st century lives.
It’s an essential service, and volunteers are stepping up,
to fill that gap.
All right, so, probably what we should do,
is, just go up to the roof,
and then on the roof, we can actually see which AP is which,
and label everything appropriately,
so then we know whether, which one is actually pointing to the north side
and the south side of the park.
- Hello. - Hey, Ean, how’s it going?
- Good, and you? - Good.
We’re trying to troubleshoot the signal in the park across the street,
and we’re hoping to take a look at the antennas up in your roof.
- Okay, sounds good. Come on up. - Awesome. Thank you.
I didn’t know you were in the compost thing.
- That’s awesome. - Yeah.
I just brought them upstairs, it was too hot at the apartment.
Oh, yeah, yeah, they get – cook for them.
[Laughs]
Yeah, I could.
So this is the equipment that’s shooting signal across into the park,
and also connecting back to our hub to make the link to the internet.
Ladder.
Excuse us.
All right, we’re on the receiving end of the ladder.
Like, all members on the network, Ean joined,
I believe his story is that, he saw a flyer that was on a street pole
or something, for Mesh, and joined, like any others,
which means we can then make an investment in this particular location,
to not just your regular install, but like what we’re doing here,
putting direction antennas to cover the most of the playground.
But every time we install a Mesh node and we add a new member,
we add a public access point.
And so, every member that’s getting their own private internet,
is also supporting a public and accessible internet.
You know, it’s what the Mesh is all about,
Wi-Fi being a fundamental human right,
particular to people who come from less privilege backgrounds.
To me, it’s a great thing to be able to share it.
Yeah, thereabout.
I think they’re good.
Cool.
So now, when I go to Wi-Fi, drumroll, please.
- Yeah. - Yeah, there we go.
Connection, all right.
Sweet!
- What are we getting for bandwidth? - What are we getting for bandwidth?
Oh, that’s looking good.
- Pile it. - I maybe...
Right now, we’re working to expand in Harlem and South Bronx now,
which is going to be huge for the Mesh,
which has typically been concentrated down in lower Manhattan,
and the more affluent neighborhoods of Brooklyn.
Oh, that’s a beautiful view, baby.
Yeah, it is.
To be completely honest,
we need to do more work if we’re going to live up to being NYC Mesh,
we need to be all over NYC.
I just think internet access should be recognized as a human resource.
That would change how we talk about internet, a lot.
It would no longer be a commodity.
That’s my vision.
I’m still feeling –
More right?
Just a hair.
We need to be able to say, if you want to look up these resources,
and if you want to study, if you want to collaborate on different things
and use this different platforms –
Let’s check the signal.
Actually looks like something improved.
– this is the only way to do it now.
Excellent link.
Nice.
There we go.
Beautiful.
So we like double the capacity?
We literally doubled it.
I’m not even exaggerating, yeah.
Amazing!