Potentials and Limits in the Provision of Wireless Networks

* Article: Examining the Potentials and the Limits in the Provision of Wireless Networks: The Case of Réseau Libre. By Christina Haralanova and Evan Light. Journal of Peer Production, Issue 9: Alternative Internets. 2016

URL = http://peerproduction.net/issues/issue-9-alternative-internets/peer-reviewed-papers/enmeshed-lives/

Abstract

"Mesh networks in urban spaces are on the rise and are increasingly widespread and innovative. Often built by people with an interest in community networks and the distribution of power and control within the Internet, mesh networks make for a fascinating phenomena to research in the ways they bridge the social and the political. This article presents a study of Réseau Libre, an emerging mesh network community in Montréal. Started in 2012 by a group of tech activists, its original goal was to connect peers through an independent, self-funded and decentralized wireless network. By creating an autonomous long-range wireless network outside the scope of government regulation. Réseau Libre's project is inherently political and within the creeping reaches of the surveillance state, seen as increasingly necessary. In this article, we examine the history and organization of Réseau Libre, its organizational limits and physical realities. We analyze the project within its particular political context and provide a number of recommendations oriented around the future success of Réseau Libre and other similar projects around the world."

Contents

"This article is organised into five sections plus the introduction.

Section 1 delves into the existing literature on mesh networks. Our work here seeks to fill a significant gap in the existing literature, which tends to either be highly technical (Ali et al., 2014; Sattari-Naeini, 2014; Yu, 2014) or to focus on mature mesh networks, such as Guifi or Freifunk. Little recent work focuses on emerging mesh networks.

Section 2 presents the social, political and economic contexts from which Réseau Libre has emerged and within which it operates. In particular, we discuss recent social uprisings in Quebec, the state of Canada’s telecommunications system, and domestic state surveillance practices and laws.

Section 3 presents our research methodology and research questions, and briefly examines our roles as technically-minded activist-oriented social science researchers and our particular interest in the subject matter.

Section 4 presents the local aspect of the mesh in Montreal and the historical background of its beginning and its evolution.

Section 5 examines the limits of the mesh and conflicting perspectives of Réseau Libre members and its potential end-game.

We examine organisational obstacles in the development of Réseau Libre and the extent to which it may be scaled to a critical mass of users. We, then, examine the politics of Réseau Libre members with respect the state of network security and the prerogatives and actions of members with respect to monopolised telecommunications infrastructure. The concluding discussion aims to contribute to the global debate on whether a mesh network can or should be considered as an alternative to the Internet, or as an alternative Internet provider."

Excerpt

"In this article, we examine a developing Montreal-based mesh network, Réseau Libre, which emerged in 2012 during Quebec’s “Maple Spring” protests [ix] and the Montreal offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement, Occupy Montreal, [x] and began serious development during the initial Snowden revelations. Given its historical context, we were eager to discover the fundamental politics and goals of Réseau Libre. We also wanted to learn about the uses of Réseau Libre by the individuals involved and to analyse the extent to which their project-centred politics correspond to their personal uses of technology and vice-versa. A mesh network is often a technological extension of a social community of individuals. [xi] Studying Réseau Libre presents us with an interesting opportunity to evaluate a mesh network in a fundamental phase of development. It also allows us to examine personal and organisational limitations related to access, primary mission, connectivity and the autonomy of mesh networks and local hacker communities in the current context of monopolised telecommunications infrastructure.

Mesh networking projects have spread significantly and are active today in many densely-developed cities such as Berlin,[xii] New York (Cohen, 2014) and Barcelona. [xiii] Often built by hardware hackers who have an interest in community networks and the distribution of power and control within the internet, mesh networks can be seen as a step in the evolution of the concept of community wireless access as established by the widespread community wireless network (CWN) model. Whereas the CWN model focused on the fundamental issue of free internet access using consumer-grade hardware and mainstream internet providers (often in exchange for a coffee at the participating cafe), today’s mesh networking projects introduce significant changes in approach, perspective and—possibly—organisational and personal politics. By relying on mesh networking technology that is predicated on the concept of interconnectedness (computer to computer, small network to small network, neighbour to neighbour) and proximity, these projects call into question the nature of internet service provision."