A Mesh network is composed of a radio transmitted text messaging system that can be accessed via bluetooth and a meshnode.

The acronym TRILL stands for Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links, which is a way we hold dear. This isn’t your capitalist form of “networking.”

The idea of “Mesh network and TRILL” is to build a public communications infrastructure for Omaha, via solar powered mesh networks integrated into locally-owned businesses, little free pantries, and up in trees.

• Currently, communication is commonly gatekept behind increasingly expensive sources. Mesh radios provide an inexpensive alternative. Just one upfront cost for the device, and that’s it - no monthly subscription fee’s!

• Mesh uses an encrypted peer-to-peer communication, meaning it is secure. Not under the watchful eye of Big Brother.

• Mesh radios are an energy efficient text messaging method. Our Meadowlark systems use such a tiny bit of electricity, that the whole network could be charged off of just 5-volt solar panels!

• In cellular dead zones, radios can still send/receive traffic.

• If/when we see rolling blackouts from oil/gas supply issues, or from a natural disaster, or blockages to the telecom system from an authoritarian government, remain in contact with your people.
If shit goes down, the Mesh network will stay up!

• If you keep the battery charged, you’ll always have access to free, modular, secure failsafe for text messaging technology.

Our goal is to get these devices into the hands of as many people as possible.

We recognize the potential of mesh networks to create a redundancy that could become a lifeline in hard times. This includes our unhoused neighbors, and all other marginalized people who may not be able to keep up with a phone bill.

We envision this becoming a public communications infrastructure for Omaha and beyond.

We are seeing Meshcore entering the cultural zeitgeist and becoming a popular alternative for digital communications.

With a client-end node, which is akin to the cell phone in this network framework.

The client-end node can be a standalone device, with built-in screen and keyboard, or it can be connected to via a cell phone with bluetooth and a Meshcore app.

There are also relays aka repeaters. These are the radio transmitters that boost the signals across longer distances to send messages across the city.

Omaha has a robust Meshcore network already up and running. We currently have the ability to communicate with people out in Lincoln, Nebraska!

We seek to fill in the dead-zones of the coverage maps with repeater installations. Check out the NebraskaMesh Analyzer to see the logged node activity around the city. Omamesh.net is another great resource, along with their discord server for getting direct guidance with the setup.

FULL DISCLOSURE: We are not affiliated with NebraskaMesh.Net or OmaMesh.Net
We are simply building off the shoulders of these giants! We’re the noobs. They are the OG’s. Much of what we have learned has been through them.

The range of a repeater greatly changes according to many variables; geography, architecture density, antennae setup, elevation etc.

So for example:
The downtown area is tough to get radio signals to travel around the buildings and therefore require a greater relay density.
Whereas, out in the suburbs where there is hardly any canopy cover or tall buildings, the repeaters have far greater range.

Also antennae can be modulated to direct its power into a more linear path, giving it far greater distance.

We decided on using the WisBlock’s because they are the most energy efficient, which work great for holding a charge a very longtime.

Our experiment is still ongoing to see how long the battery holds without a charge. So far it has been months, with weekly usage on a 6,000mah battery, and it’s still at 77%!

Right now, we are trading the ones we build out at cost. This doesn’t include the labor, or the 3d printed housing from volunteers.

The portable client end nodes, which we have dubbed the “Swifts” average about $75 each. To make them solar-powered and weather proof for repeater installations, about $100. These solar-powered repeaters that we have engineered are named “Meadowlarks.”

We bulk purchase components and build them together during our Mutual Aid Community Exchange meetings. Check the community calendar to join us at one of our next MACE meetups.

We are installing repeaters at various host locations at cost. If there is a treepeater install that requires some technical climbing, we ask the homeowner cover a small toolkit maintenance fee for the wear and tear on the climbing gear.

You could also parlay a Meadowlark install in with a tree trim from Earth Sculptors at a discounted rate during the Winter. Check them out @ EarthSculptors.com

“If it is not accessible to the poor, it is neither radical nor revolutionary”
-Jonathan Herrera Soto

We hope to eventually build enough momentum for this campaign that we accrue enough donations to start giving these away to our most marginalized neighbors, who stand to benefit the most from this public communications system.

We are currently pooling money for our next bulk purchase of MESH components. If you’d like a Swift or Meadowlark, please join us at a MACE meeting to discuss the logistics with us.

You can also send an email undeterred@mutualaidomaha.org to inquire about getting a Swift and/or Meadowlark.

ALSO! You don’t have to get one through us. There are many different mesh nodes available online.

****It is important to note that we are on the Meshcore network and not Meshtastic - two different softwares. ****

This whole project was conceived at the Mutual Aid Community Exchange meetings, aka MACE meetups. This is where all the magic happens. We meet regularly to discuss this, and all our other irons in the fire, so as to forge the socialist infrastructure for a better world.

Community Fridge buildouts, Mesh Network and TRILL, as well as the Skillshare/Neighborhood Resource Map is just a few of the things we got going on.

Everyone is welcome. Regular attendance is not required. Pop in whenever you can!

We're laidback with snacks, finding the cracks in the capitalist racetrack.

The anti-capitalist architecture we build today will be the seeds for liberation tomorrow!

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You can find out when and where our next MACE meetup is on our community calendar.

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We are seeing a phenomenal response to the publishing of this Mesh Network and TRILL page, therefore anticipating a lot of growth in the coming months.

We plan to eventually host more MeshCore workshops for collectivized assembly of components, instruction on use of the devices, and teach about the science behind it.

As we outgrow our normal meeting spots, we will need to start scheduling with larger free venues.
So, if you happen to own commercial space, and are willing to host at least 20+ person meetings for free, we will become the greatest promoters of your business! We would also thank you by installing an Osprey for free in your venue, if it is a public-facing area with WiFi.

There are so many facets to this vision, and therefore roles to it being realized.

• We need volunteers to 3d print our internal housing for the Meadowlarks, and the external housing for the Swifts. (The models are published up on Thingaverse, and the link will be posted on this page soon.)

• We will need a lot of help assembling the components together after the next bulk order comes in. When that time comes, we will host a workshop to do this all together. Many tiny tools will need to be mobilized as well.

• We need knowledgeable persons who understand how this all works to help table local events and answer questions and hand out zines about the project. Each one teach one model.

• We will need many hosts of the meadowlarks to fill out the coverage density in the network. That is the primary goal here at this point; Buildout the network so that there is no remaining pockets of dead-zones within the Omaha city limits. Of course, anyone in the metro area is welcome to host a Meadowlark as well!

• We will use any surplus donations to give away Swifts to marginalized people in Omaha area who stand to benefit the most from being able to communicate without cost. Not just our unhoused neighbors, but people who need to coordinate rideshares due to disability and/or poverty.

• We need more trained and experienced climbers willing to volunteer their skillset in getting the Meadowlarks installed into trees. We would ask for you to sign a waiver to avoid any liability too.

• We need more mesh aficionado’s to visit with us as a group and teach us the finer technical aspects of MeshCore.

• We need more instructional designers to help us digest all this information and present it in the most palatable forms.

• We need to find larger meeting spaces soon for the MACE meetups, so we can scale up with low overhead. Looking for some local business owners willing to host 25+ people at a time for our Mutual Aid Community Exchanges, in 10/11 day intervals. We will become your greatest promoters in return, and install an Osprey node for free as a thank you!