Timeline
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Toronto Community Network @ CTTO
Toronto Mesh returns to Civic Tech Toronto to present our new community network!
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First Toronto Community Network Supernode
Wooler Supernode was installed. It consists of two LAP-120 sector antennas pointing West and an EdgeRouter backed by a 1 Gbps fiber.
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Prototype Release v0.5 RC1
Prototype v0.5-rc.1 released. This includes support for x86 and x64, more documentation, central configuration files, plus many new modules, features, and bug fixes. Full list can be found here.
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Return to Civic Tech
Civic Tech Toronto hosted a presentation by Toronto Mesh on how to build a better web. Community networks, peer-to-peer protocols, and ongoing efforts by Toronto Mesh were discussed. The recorded livestream is available via YouTube.
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Prototype Release v0.4
Prototype v0.4 released. This includes Profiles and Yggdrasil, plus many new modules, features, and bug fixes. Full list can be found here.
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Mesh Picnic
Free Geek Toronto hosted a technology picnic open to the public. Toronto Mesh demonstrated IPFS-based file sharing, a long-distance wireless mesh link, and using Secure Scuttlebutt in an offline mesh.
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Prototype Release v0.3
Released Prototype v0.3 with new modules, features, and bug fixes. Full list can be found here.
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Decentralized Web Summit 2018
Members presented mutliple Toronto Mesh projects at the Decentralized Web Summit in San Francisco. At the opening night Science Fair, we demonstrated Meshstream with LibreRouter. On the first conference day, we presented during the IPFS Lightning Talk, faciliated a workshop with 40 participants, and collaborated in the Distributed Gardens throughout the conference. Our week concluded with IPFS Lab Day, Meshthepla.net by People’s Open, and the 3-year Anniversary Party of Secure Scuttlebutt.
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The Circle Of Hope
Members went to the HOPE conference in New York. We demonstrated some of our work in the vendor’s area and participated in a mesh round table with other mesh locals that were in attendance.
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State of Our Networks 2018
Members helped organize the second State of Our Networks in Toronto, with the theme of Beyond DIY: Do It With Others. Toronto Mesh members streamed the conference over IPFS. Recorded videos of the talks are archived on IPFS, Internet Archive, and YouTube.
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LibreRouter Radio and Antenna Test
Tested a set of LibreRouter radios and antennas outdoors to evaluate performance and collect data throughput measurements. See our results here.
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Mesh Node Software Releases
Released Prototype v0.2 with new features and support for more single-board computers. Mesh Orange, a Debian-based system image, matured to become the operating system for our Peer-to-Peer Internet workshops and pre-compiled images are available.
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Peer-to-Peer Internet Workshops
First day of a six-module workshop series at the Toronto Public Library, where participants experimented with peer-to-peer applications over a physical mesh network. The workshops used our open-source syllabus created by Toronto Mesh volunteers.
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34th Chaos Communication Congress
Members went to 34C3 in Leipzig and a few of us presented DIY Networks in Toronto at the Freifunk Open Infrastructure Stage, where community network enthusiasts gathered.
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Winter Antenna Test
Ran a month-long field test of Ubiquiti LiteBeam ac directional antennas in order to determine how a long distance link will behave over a prolonged time in the Canadian climate. See our results here.
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First Multi-Hop Wireless Test
Deployed a multi-hop wireless network using our prototype nodes. We documented our findings on how well a wireless mesh works over a connection spread across a larger area.
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Prototype Release v0.1
Released mesh node install script v0.1, which supports Raspbian “Stretch” and some Armbian boards.
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2017 Maker Festival
We presented tomesh.mini at Maker Festival Extravaganza 2017! Check out the board materials and code.
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State of Our Networks 2017
We hosted over 40 attendees for a full-day of workshops, presentations, and conversations at State of Our Networks, you can read our recap of how the day went!
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Radical Networks, NY
Toronto Mesh attended Radical Networks and presented a talk titled Toronto’s DIY Networks Ecology, exploring the rich history of DIY networks in Toronto.
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Field Test Antennas
We field tested Ubiquiti LiteBeam ac directional antennas at Tommy Thompson park, in order to determine the feasibility of using them for multi-kilometre mesh links, and recorded our findings.
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First Virtual Mesh
We hosted the first of our bi-weekly Virtual Mesh Hack Nights, where we mesh over existing internet infrastructure to form a virtual mesh network, a transitionary step towards a physical mesh.
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Built our First Mesh Nodes
Toronto Mesh hosted a free, public Build a Mesh Node workshop to get members up and running with a our first working nodes.
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Connected with NYCmesh at HOPE
A contingent of Toronto Mesh people went down to New York for Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) XI and connected with NYCmesh and other US and international mesh projects!
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2016 Maker Festival
We built and demonstrated tomesh.mini, a game to explain mesh networking, at the Maker Festival Extravaganza! You can check out the board materials and code.
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Hardware Prototype Validation
We tested meshing indoors with our first Raspberry Pi-based prototype, covering multiple floors of the Bahen Centre at the University of Toronto!
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First Community Meeting
Toronto Mesh held our first community meeting, established the first roadmap, and planned for the first six months of the project, all of which we captured in our meeting notes.
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Sowing Seeds at Civic Tech
Preliminary conversations about mesh networking happened at Civic Tech Toronto, a community for people “interested in better understanding and finding solutions to civic challenges through technology, design or other means.”
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Radical Networks, NY
Toronto-based people presented at the Radical Networks conference in New York and discussed mesh networking opportunities in Toronto.
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Hyperboria
Toronto involvement as part of the global community formed around the cjdns mesh network–Hyperboria.