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Comment by noman-land | Hacker News Reader

I think it would be extremely neat to have a fully citizen run global p2p infrastructure that is nearly free, resilient to electrical and internet outages, and able to reach remote and distant places.

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So, something like AX.25 [0][1] on the amateur radio VHF and UHF bands, which is free (once you have an appropriate license) and there is widespread citizen maintained and managed infrastructure, such as repeaters. [2]

0. http://www.ax25.net/

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AX.25

2. https://ukrepeater.net/

That would be neat! But before anyone thinks they can build a citizen p2p version of internet this way: LoRa can do bits per minute. Think old time telegraph throghput.

Winlink basically does this. I'm unsure if there's software for other OS, but winlink is email-ish that is p2p on the backend, and can also be used point to point. And don't tell anyone I said this, but if you have a real hardware modem for winlink you can get 3KB/second. It works on any frequency you can tune to.

Also APRS, even though it seems like Google has a huge interest in it, is also a p2p communication network, running on 144mhz and 10mhz.

I'd crowdfund the maintenance of LoRa repeaters on nearby mountaintops. I'd also do the hiking to maintain them, sounds like as good a premise for adventure as any.

Check out https://helium.com - it's a blockchain-based LoRA network, where the blockchain is used to reward uptime and certainty of location of the base stations. Transmissions can be received from 10 miles or more away, if the receiver is located high enough.

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