Text On Fire: New "FireChat" Service Connects Phones Under The Radar

While not stirring up a lot of coverage in the Western world, the current pro-Democracy protests in China are benefiting humanity with more than just a shot at free speech. Namely, in conjunction with a new texting service, now they're showing how many people can use their free speech, internet-free.

According to the independent.co.uk, FireChat is an iOS-based text messaging service that is able to operate without cellphone or internet service, making it ideal for revolutionaries in communications-restricted countries. FireChat uses Bluetooth to create "mesh networking" with other phones in the area, strengthening the connection and allowing for discussion.

FireChat does not aim to be the exclusive domain of the repressed, saying it could be useful "on the beach or in the subway, at a big game or a trade show, camping in the wild or at a concert, or even travelling abroad, simply fire up the app with a friend or two and find out who else is there."

Current numbers suggest that already tens of thousands of people are using the FireChat app at any given time, so fire it up and see what's up.

Hear hear.  (Students on the streets of Hong Kong, protesting and pro-texting.  Image courtesy lesechos.fr.)

Toward the Meshnet

From Wired:

Compared to the “normal” internet — which is based on a few centralized access points or internet service providers (ISPs) — mesh networks have many benefits, from architectural to political. Yet they haven’t really taken off, even though they have been around for some time. I believe it’s time to reconsider their potential, and make mesh networking a reality. Not just because of its obvious benefits, but also because it provides an internet-native model for building community and governance.

But first, the basics: An ad hoc network infrastructure that can be set up by anyone, mesh networks wirelessly connect computers and devices directly to each other without passing through any central authority or centralized organization (like a phone company or an ISP). They can automatically reconfigure themselves according to the availability and proximity of bandwidth, storage, and so on; this is what makes them resistant to disaster and other interference. Dynamic connections between nodes enable packets to use multiple routes to travel through the network, which makes these networks more robust.

Compared to more centralized network architectures, the only way to shut down a mesh network is to shut down every single node in the network.
That’s the vital feature, and what makes it stronger in some ways than the regular internet.

What is Project Meshnet? A Short Introductory Guide to Setting up a Cjdns Node

Project Meshnet aims to build a global decentralized computer network based "on secure protocols for routing traffic over private mesh or public internetworks independent of a central supporting infrastructure."  The basis of the project is a piece of software called cjdns, an open source protocol that implements an encrypted IPv6 network.  By installing and running cjdns on a home computer, for example, that computer becomes a cjdns node that can be networked with any other machine that is also running the protocol.  You can find the cjdns white paper here.


Individuals and groups involved in Project Meshnet are currently in the process of developing Mesh Locals, groups of cjdns nodes connected directly to one another (usually wirelessly) to create a geographically distinct peer-to-peer network.  The Seattle Meshnet is, at present, the most well-developed of these local networks in the United States.

Individual nodes and Mesh Locals can connect to one another over standard internet connections, though the ultimate plan of Project Meshnet is to build enough intermediary mesh locals and nodes so that it is no longer necessary to route traffic over existing ISP-based internet infrastructure.  There is already at least one cjdns-based global mesh network known as Hyperboria.

Earlier this month, after a bit of research and with the help of some folks from my Mesh Local in NYC, I set up my first cjdns node and successfully connected to Hyperboria.  So, you may be wondering, what's on Hyperboria?  Good question.  The best way to answer this question for yourself is to set up your own cjdns node, and connect up with your nearest Mesh Local! 

Step 1: Install cjdns by following the Getting Started guide at Project Meshnet.  

Step 2: Make sure your node is configured correctly, which can be determined from the Trouble Shooting guide. 

Step 3: Locate your nearest Mesh Local, find a peer, and connect your node up with the network. 

Currently, cjdns can be installed on Linux and Mac operating systems.  I initially attempted to install on a Macbook, but ran into some configuration difficulties, and, it turns out, there is currently less functionality in the Mac implementation than in the standard Linux install.  So I decided instead to create a couple Linux virtual machines on the Macbook and a desktop pc and installed cjdns on them.

After installing cjdns on those two hosts, I followed the trouble shooting guide to make sure that each host could ping itself.  Then I updated their config files to create a peer-to-peer connection between those two hosts, and (eventually) got them to successfully ping one another over cjdns.  I had set up my own home cjdns mesh network!

Finally, someone from my Mesh Local offered to peer with my node, and after I updated the config files with the peer info I was connected to Hyperboria.  The whole process took about three days, from my first serious look into cjdns to my first connection to Hyperboria.  Folks hanging out in my mesh local's IRC were a great help along the way.  Unfortunately, since then, I have not had much time to play around with the meshnet technology, but I will certainly be returning to the project in the near future.   

Mother Jones Profiles a Few Meshnets

From Mother Jones:

JOSEPH BONICIOLI mostly uses the same internet you and I do. He pays a service provider a monthly fee to get him online. But to talk to his friends and neighbors in Athens, Greece, he's also got something much weirder and more interesting: a private, parallel internet.

He and his fellow Athenians built it. They did so by linking up a set of rooftop wifi antennas to create a "mesh," a sort of bucket brigade that can pass along data and signals. It's actually faster than the Net we pay for: Data travels through the mesh at no less than 14 megabits a second, and up to 150 Mbs a second, about 30 times faster than the commercial pipeline I get at home. Bonicioli and the others can send messages, video chat, and trade huge files without ever appearing on the regular internet. And it's a pretty big group of people: Their Athens Wireless Metropolitan Network has more than 1,000 members, from Athens proper to nearby islands. Anyone can join for free by installing some equipment. "It's like a whole other web," Bonicioli told me recently. "It's our network, but it's also a playground."

Indeed, the mesh has become a major social hub . . .