Volunteer Projects
While we're not formally divided into teams, we've started to diverge into a couple distinct sets of activities for now. It's our goal to remain non-hierarchical as we grow and pursue more specialized tasks, and it's also important to us that all of our members feel empowered to grow through their involvement in the project. Mass Mesh convergences are our weekly touch-base, and a place for strategizing, hacking, being creative, trying new things, and learning.
You can get involved in any/all of the following teams by joining us at our weekly convergences in Boston/Cambridge or joining us remotely on our Matrix chat channels.
You can help!
If you care about the Internet, we need you to organize with us. You can help us most by doing any of the following:
- Contacting institutions about becoming neighborhood Internet beacons, or becoming one yourself.
- Organizing and/or hosting events.
- Creating materials to help spread the word.
Propagation Team
Matrix channel: MassMesh Outreach
We're focused on getting adoption out in the real world. Based on the technology available, we form strategies for near-term expansion -- then we get the word out in any way we can. In the past, we've put up flyers in Allston, hosted a design workshop in Roxbury, and done installations in Holyoke and the Boston University area.
We maintain a support desk, and respond to tickets from that platform. At this point, all tickets are requests for installations.
We are exploring becoming a cooperatively owned business entity of some kind, but there is a long way from here to there. Right now, we are primarily focused on organizing our meetings better.
Development Team
Matrix channel: MassMesh Tech
We're focused on building upon Yggdrasil, OpenWrt, and other mesh networking technologies to create a usable product. Our goals are to be end-to-end encrypted and zero-configuration. We've deployed BMX6 networks, created bridges between Yggdrasil and Tor, and done extensive tinkering with Wireguard in the context of the Yggdrasil network.
We build configurations for all of Mass Mesh's supported hardware, and host it on Github.
We are always on the lookout for inexpensive hardware to run our software. Specifically, we are looking for devices around or under $100 that can run OpenWrt or other open distros such as Debian, and contain multiple networking interfaces to reduce the extra cost of adding adapters. Examples include multi-radio devices and small SBCs with multiple network interfaces such as the EspressoBin.
We are also keeping our eye on custom hardware like the LibreRouter. If you have experience with small embedded devices or custom hardware, we encourage you to get in touch or attend one of our meetings.
For more information about our supported devices, see our devices page.
Outreach
Our outreach strategy is informed by the practice of design justice in order to intentionally build neighborhood power. Apart from connecting with people during our Meetups, we want to cultivate practical knowledge about mesh networking in the working class neighborhoods of Boston.
Our current programs include Performing Mesh, which we have piloted with Ujima Boston. Our education project is meant to spread the word about our project, galvanize installs, and cultivate political knowledge/discourse.
Growing our install base is another key goal of our outreach program. In order to differentiate our project, we have to approach this process differently than traditional ISPs. Our installation project should be embroiled in the education project, and vice versa.
