Neighborhood networks built on porch rails and permission.
Mesh & Mortar is the monthly meetup for the Sable District's decentralized connectivity crew. Every first Monday, 30-odd folks gather at the decommissioned firehouse on 14th & Larkin to swap firmware, test antenna builds, and negotiate rooftop access with skeptical landlords.
No slides. No sponsors. Bring a dish, a dongle, or a problem you can't solve alone.
Hands-on session flashing OpenWrt on rescued Nanostations. Bring your old Ubiquiti gear — we'll breathe new life into it together.
Post-mortem on the June ice-storm outage: mesh held; ISP didn't. Lessons learned and preparations for next winter.
Sign-up for the block-party repeater fundraiser. Every dish helps fund our next neighborhood link.
There's a corner with Legos and a printed zine on packet radio basics. Kids can build antenna models while adults flash firmware. The future of decentralized networks starts early.
Activities include: coloring network topology sheets, constructing paper antennas, and learning about how information travels through the air.
When the ice took down three major ISP hubs last month, our mesh network stayed alive. Sixteen homes stayed connected through neighbor-to-neighbor links. The roof-mounted Nanostation on Garcia's place became the critical relay.
We learned that decentralized isn't just theoretical — it's practical emergency infrastructure. Next goal: waterproof outdoor enclosures.
The annual block party is our biggest fundraiser. Last year we raised enough for two Ubiquiti AC Mesh units and a small tower for the community garden. This year's goal: a solar-powered repeater for the park.
Sign-up sheets go around at every meeting. Everyone contributes — whether it's cooking, setting up gear, or explaining antenna theory to curious neighbors.