NYC Mesh, a neutral, nonprofit meshing ISP, dramatically expands access in Brooklyn

NYC Mesh -- the meshing, neutral, community based wireless ISP in New York City -- has undergone a drastic expansion beyond its initial supernode.

That first supernode, at 375 Pearl Street in Manhattan, was serviced by gigabit fiber, and offered downlinks to 300 buildings whose own antennas offered service to further buildings, and so on.

A new Industry City supernode has now been unveiled in Brooklyn's Sunset Park, boasting 50 times the capacity of the first node, which will extend coverage to Sunset Park, South Slope, Park Slope, Gowanus and Red Hook.

NYC Mesh is a nonprofit organized under New York City's chapter of the Internet Society (which administers the.org Top-Level Domain); users optional monthly donations of $20-50 (residences) and $100 (businesses). Hardware and setup costs $160. NYC Mesh does not retain or monetize user traffic, though it does sometimes analyze it to resolve service issues.

New York City has legendarily poor internet service, with the Verizon/Charter duopoly performing so badly that they have faced legal jepoardy from customers, regulators, state officials and city governments. 25-33% of NYC residents don't have access to broadband at all.

NYC Mesh is a non-profit project of the New York chapter of the Internet Society (ISOC-NY), an organization tasked with building a better, more secure internet. And it’s part of a steadily growing trend of locals taking the problem of terrible US broadband (thanks to the apathetic government officials who enable it) into their own hands.

“NYC Mesh is more than happy to support anyone interested in building a community network,” Rasmusen said. “Our website includes information about every facet of our network and how-to guides for building your own. We also offer technical training to give all people the opportunity to become community network leaders and experts.”

A DIY Internet Network Has Drastically Expanded Its Coverage in NYC [Karl Bode/Motherboard]

(via /.)