Democratic Wifi and Meraki


Scientific American reports online a Wifi hardware startup that aims to bring global universal access:

There are two ways to look at the explosive growth of the Internet: One is to celebrate the fact that in the 15 years since it became commercially available, what began as an obscure military technology morphed into a global phenomenon that is regularly accessed by over a billion people. The other is to ask why the world’s other five billion folks aren’t online yet.

Meraki Networks, Inc. is run by Sanjit Biswe who comes out of MIT. He and his company have created an intelligent access point, called Mini, that is both rugged and self-organizes its own mesh network. The WAP acts as a router if plugged into a network and a repeater if not and within 700ft outdoor of another Mini. The device has a current cost of less than $5 in parts (he’s currently selling them for $50). The devices are configurable to allow limited connections and even block connections if needed.

This isn’t a new idea. Other companies have been working towards universal access through mesh networks. But Meraki has something coming soon that I really like: Meraki Solar. There are few details about it on their website, but this has the potential to create access in rural areas globally. The hardware is a simple solution, but the idea is big, especially if it is robust.

Global access is key to my idea of democratic education. The rest of the hardware is another topic altogether. Kudos to the One Laptop per Child Project. I think the $100 laptop could be an excellent companion to the Minis, and unlike the $100 laptop, the Mini network would stay up regardless on the status of the laptops.

I’d encourage communities to create mesh networks whenever possible. Information should be shared and yes, I’d prefer my taxes going to universal access (I know, this is revealing my socialist side).

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