Similar networks

Other area meshes

Here are some of our partner meshes across the US

• Birmingham, Alabama: Birmingham Mesh
• Calgary, Alberta: YYC Mesh
• Charlotte, North Carolina: Charlotte Mesh
• Chicago, Illinois: Chicagoland Mesh
• Denver, Colorado: Denver Mesh
• Hawaii: Hawaii Mesh
• Nashville, Tennessee: Meshville
• Northwest Arkansas: Northwest Arkansas Mesh
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Iffy Books is leading the effort
• Southern California: SoCal Mesh
• Wisconsin: Meshconsin

How to start a similar mesh network for your area

For anyone trying to start a similar mesh network, here's what we've found to work:

1. The hardest part of setting up a mesh network is organizing people. For a mesh to work well you need a lot of people working to set up nodes around town. Finding these people is harder than putting together hardware.
2. Have regular meetings - we try to have meetings once per quarter. Sometimes we 30+ people and sometimes it's just 2 or 3 of us meeting up at the pub. But having regular meetings means people can feel confident that if they miss a meeting there will be another one soon.
3. Create an email list and make sure to add anyone who is interested in the club - this is the easiest way to organize meetings.
4. Use some type of chat room like Discord, Slack, or Telegram.
5. Set up social media accounts and advertise your meetings and talk about your achievements. When you get a solar power node set up be sure to talk about it!
6. Connect with your local ham radio club - they're very knowledgable about radio and they often have access to towers and rooftops.
7. Connect with your local disaster relief agency, red cross, or mutual aid group - they are also often willing to put up repeaters on their buildings.