Yo, real talk—what the fuck are we gonna do when the internet gets shut off?

We've seen it in #Gaza, in #Iran, and when Elon “I-play-God” Musk blacked out Starlink in Ukraine. Every time shit gets heavy, the state or some oligarch clown just pulls the plug. It ain’t just a glitch—it’s strategic, it’s repression, and it’s a fucking reminder that most of our comms infrastructure is in the hands of fascists, corporations, or both.

I’ve been working with indigenous comrades who rely on #Starlink to stay connected in remote areas. And yeah, it’s wild that you can be deep in the bush and still shitpost from a mountaintop—but that signal still runs through a pipeline owned by a Nazi tech bro.

We need to be talking more about mesh networks, autonomous infrastructure, all that good shit that anarchist tech nerds have been yelling about for years. Decentralized, resilient, community-controlled comms aren’t just cool—they’re necessary for survival.

Let’s keep this convo alive and start building the lifelines before the next blackout. Shit’s coming fast.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/activists-are-designing-mesh-networks-to-deploy-during-civil-unrest/

Activists are Designing Mesh Networks to Deploy During Civil Unrest

The Mycelium Mesh Project is testing DIY networks that can be quickly deployed on trees or lamp posts during a political uprising.

VICE
@franklinlopez @jrdepriest That's why we're developing a #meshtastic network in rural #Polesia in #EasternPoland. Should Russia invade, supported by the USA's inaction, we'll have basic connectdeness. CC @m0bi

@Szescstopni @franklinlopez @jrdepriest @m0bi

... I wouldn't rely on #Meshtastic for emergency communication ... it can be knocked out with a finger snip ...

That is why it is a mesh, to provide redundancy.

@manankanchu @Szescstopni @franklinlopez @jrdepriest @m0bi

@andytiedye @Szescstopni @franklinlopez @jrdepriest @m0bi

You can knock out a whole regional mesh easily ..

Here's just one example

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JqGWE6P0Cqs

... if too successful #Meshtastic will even knock out itself, see #Hamvention 2024 ...

Hackers Take Down #meshtastic with the Bee Movie Script at #LayerOne

YouTube

@manankanchu @andytiedye @Szescstopni @franklinlopez @jrdepriest @m0bi

Meh. You can easily put an entire walmart out of business for a day with a phone call. Just because an attack exists doesn't mean anyone is going to use it, and if you're waiting for a comms method that's immune to all attacks.....well, good luck. Maybe take up a hobby, because you're going to be waiting a LOOOOOOOONG time.

@AlexanderKingsbury @andytiedye @Szescstopni @franklinlopez @jrdepriest @m0bi

You didn't get the point ... it's funny to play around with #Meshtastic ( I'm operating some nodes myself since long, though the communication - I see ~100 nodes - is more than boring), but one should understand, that it's completely unreliable and easy to jam ...

@manankanchu @AlexanderKingsbury @andytiedye @franklinlopez @jrdepriest @m0bi Any jam-proof methods? Fiber routers that Cisco built for Ukraine than don't get affected by GPS jamming? I get the point. The things we work with are not perfectly reliable. But we use them. If you have any good suggestions for emergency communication please share.

@Szescstopni @manankanchu @andytiedye @franklinlopez @jrdepriest @m0bi

Yes, please do. I'm eager to hear your jam-proof, 100% reliable emcomm method that's even vaguely accessible and affordable.

@Szescstopni

I see a fair chance for #Reticulum ... you mentioned escaping GPS jamming by using paper maps - Reticulum can even communicate via encrypted QR codes printed on paper 😋 (besides using LoRa, WiFi, Internet, I2P, Ham Radio TNCs, etc. all meshed in parallel)

It's not as easy to set up like #Meshtastic (yet) ... we'll see ...

For me Meshtastic is sort of Whatsapp for Off Grid Communication .. it's cheap and easy so everybody jumps on it, completely ignoring it's risks

@manankanchu I am aware of some of the risks. Ham radio is a good option. We have limited resources here, so we're using what is available. It won't always work. But sometimes it might help. I'd appreciate if you could point me to resources on how to try to make this work.

@Szescstopni

#Reticulum rnode is running on lots of hardware from PC to typical #Meshtastic devices ... it's basically a Python environment

https://reticulum.network/manual/hardware.html#rnode-supported

Haven't tried it myself so far, but it's next on my list 😉 ... planning to play with interfaces to LoRa, Wired Internet, WiFi and 5G

Communications Hardware - Reticulum Network Stack 1.1.3 documentation

@manankanchu Thanks! I'll look into Reticulum

@manankanchu @AlexanderKingsbury @andytiedye @Szescstopni @franklinlopez @jrdepriest @m0bi

Something.....better than nothing .

Don't let perfect get in the way of good.

Also, what do you recommend that is better.

@AlexanderKingsbury @manankanchu @andytiedye @franklinlopez @jrdepriest @m0bi I had real chemistry classes in school. Of course I know how to make explosive materials. But I don't have to make them. One phone call is enough to paralyse a town :)

@Szescstopni @AlexanderKingsbury @andytiedye @franklinlopez @jrdepriest @m0bi

well, we live in times you'll always find this one idiot to do this phone call - or just send the bee movie script down #Meshtastic lane ...

@manankanchu @andytiedye @franklinlopez @jrdepriest @m0bi I'm sure you can. So what do we do about this? Give up? Some meshes will survive, some won't. Emergency preparation can not be perfect – you never know what will happen. The more options you have, them better chances of someone surviving.