- For computers, nowadays' system are less and less likely to support adhoc wifi properly, especially for affordable hardware.
The recommended path to lay the meshing wifi layer over a neighbourhood is certainly now to use well-know, supported for ages modem-routers running OpenWRT operating instead of adhoc mode, the more modern and supported 802.11s meshnode mode.
Please note that most of the tutorials below have to be updated to current hard/software support ecosystem !
What do you need to join the Janmesh network ? OUTDATED
- A GNU/Linux PC with one wifi interface
- Basic knowledge of Linux, especially, command line usage, network concepts, and firewall
What are the benefits? STILL VALID!
- You can share files & data directly with your neighbours at range, possibly faster than the fastest fiber link
What are the steps to join the network? OUTDATED
- You need to setup ad-hoc wifi
- You need to install Cjdns
- You need to secure/lock down access available through the connection using the system's firewall STILL MANDATORY! Don't skip this point
You will find here all the tutorials needed to get started. but they are outdated.
Janmesh...
The
Janmesh network (SSID: http://janmesh.net ) uses a
cjdns over open,ad-hoc WiFi stack .
What it does:
It's a network layer deployed over both the internet, and both wifi mesh local networks, which grows and extends range as new station are joigning the mesh. It then provide a virtual network, and all the participants are just like if their where all on the same local lan. Accessing a machine at the other side of the town, or of the world, is as easy as access your home printer on your home lan.
What are the benefits?
Such a network is highly resistant to censorship and to severely disruptive situations like disasters, allowing to maintain citizen-operated networking service even if internet is down, and to still provide untakedownable, acentered/distributed system of internet-based communication tools and various services.
What do we need ?
- Linux/Unix-based computers with ad-hoc wifi able to run cjdns: It's a technology available for more than a decade.
- It includes unexpensive Linux SoC (system on chip) boards allowing to build a Janmesh box for less than USD 100.
- Modem-routers able to run cjdns (read OpenWRT-operating routers): Useful to build a cheap connectivity point to Janmesh distributing cjdns in your whole home lan and acting as a wifi node with neighbours at range.
Janmesh box
A
Janmesh box is a device that operates the mesh wifi network and that is plugged into your home lan internet box. It can instantly start peering with a neighbour at wifi range, immediately connect any cjdns-enabled home lan machine to the join acces mesh network, and is likely to provide, or can be easily set to provide, an internet-tunneled peering with a public peering server, unifiying then networks at the whole world level.
It is typically built from an old wifi modem-router, or an unexpensive SystemOnChip (SoC) computer, or even an old laptop or simply any computer with at least one available extra wifi interface.
Besides distributing cjdns connectivity toward your home LAN, It can be also be used to host useful server services.
How is the Janmesh Project doing?
A full documentation to get a working CooW (cjdns over open wifi) stack with basic Ubuntu GNU/Linux computers is available. The network is up and runing at a local scale
Documentation and tutorials
Janmesh box (using an Ubuntu Linux device or computer)
Read how to, using wifi links and a CooW stack, from scratch, setup the mesh network. Then, learn more about firefalls to secure (network) access to your devices.
Read the tutorial now.
Janmesh Box (using an old modem/router)
Learn how to flash an old modem/router with OpenWRT and turn it into
a mesh wifi CooW station, wifi network node and range extender, and local-lan ethernet autopeerer for Janmesh/CooW networks
Internet sharing (between two Linux/UNIX devices or other OSes with adaptations)
Lear how to use one machine that operate Janmesh over Wifi and that is connected to Internet through Ethernet to act as a gateway and NAT box in order to allow other devices with (meshing) wifi only to share its Internet access.
-Read more -
And now learn more about citizen-to-citizen networking future...
The base:
The connectivity to the mesh network can ben tunneled through a long-range directionnal radio link to connect distant communities
Or tunneled over Internet -or any other network medium- to rely distant places of the world
Frequently asked questions
No carrier operators for phone. Seriously.
Android -and (probably also) Apple- phones does not support Ad-Hoc wifi with link-local addresses as-is (corporations of OS makers, phone sellers, carrier operators just don't want so).
But in the meanwhile, Linux phones support Ad-Hoc/link-local as is. And, Cjdns compiles for Android, for Linux, it compiles, runs, almost for anything.
If cell phones operates mesh wifi, ad-hoc, open. If Linphone is used to call IPv6 cjdns-provided addresses, securely by design. Each phone can reach each phone at range of a chain of meshing phones. If at range there's also one single land station linking wifi to the world network though an internel tunel, Linphone can call any phone, anywhere. That is then "cell phones without carrier operators". Precisely, that's people operating, each, their own small section of carrier.
Linphone
With Linphone (available for Android, Windows, Linux, and more) you can pass audio and video calls over Cjdns, just knowing the IPv6 (Cjdns Address) of the people you want to call.
What can I do with a Janmesh in my neighbourhood already? Do I have to wait for further developments to make something useful?
In short, you don't have to wait. If you have physical or remote access to your Janmesh node station, you can just use out-of-the-box any network services such as SCP, HTTP or SFTP/FTP file transfer or just any other common protocol, with the requirement that you'll have to know the IPv6 adress of the machine you'll want to talk to, and that the protocol supports IPv6 adressing (some protocols require hostnames and are then not suitable).
Is Janmesh using only radio link? Can I use some other kind of networking medium?
You can use any networking medium to setup and operate your CooW stack. You can use an ethernet cable to connect with a close neighbour, as well as associated BPL interfaces to connect with other homes using the same electrical power transformator than you (typically, your block and nearest ones).
Why Janmesh? Why spend your sweat and energy to propel the whole project?
I (
Shangri-l) am not sure. I'm having fun with experimenting neighbourhood networking since the early 2000's. I just cannot prevent myself to stop. I was hoping my close neighbours would read all this and mesh with me, to aae share files or text messages or build whatever useful. This hasn't happened yet. That's the bad side of network effect. But if a few people start to join Janmesh, it will become more attractive, and the more people will use it, the more people will use it. That's the good side of network effect.
Need support? To help people setting up mesh stations, Janmesh community provides sort of email support, covering all the steps of a neighbour-to-neighbour network creation, from OS installation to configuration and update, including CooW stack deployment. Send support inquiries to
janmesh@janmesh.netYou can also join the IRC live chat ; #janmesh channel on the Libera Chat IRC Network (libera.chat).
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