Re: Freenet on a mesh network

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On Tuesday 21 Jun 2011 21:07:42 Sheref Younan wrote:
> Hi,
> I'm wondering about the feasibility to use Freenet over a mesh network
> independent of the internet. Where every Freenet node will be a node in t=
he
> mesh, nodes will communicate with neighbours  via WiFi or other wireless
> communication medium without the need of conventional Internet as a
> communication medium.
>=20
> This will have the advantage of offering a scalable and decentralized
> network that will not need an existing Internet infrastructure and will
> (among other things) resist block outs like the infamous one made in Egypt
> during its revolution (January 2011)
>=20
> any ideas, comments ?
>=20
> Thanks,
> Sheref Younan
>=20
It's not a bad idea in principle. But there are many problems:
1. Freenet needs long links as well as short links. Any other scalable rout=
ing protocol probably has the same issue, but Freenet in particular needs a=
 lot of short links and a few long links for routing to work.
2. Whatever you build, you'll need some way to exchange data between differ=
ent towns or cities. One obvious possibility is to move data on a USB stick=
 or a hard disk. This won't be part of end-to-end routing for freenet (at l=
east not until we have long term requests, in the distant future), but if y=
ou are using freenet you could use binary blobs to move chosen content betw=
een disconnected darknets in each city.
3. Generally wifi doesn't work all that well in pure ad hoc mode. Scaling i=
s a problem above a few thousand nodes. Especially if everyone wants to use=
 the cheapest possible antennas at ground level (in theory directional link=
s at rooftop level could scale a bit better). New technology (e.g. better M=
IMO) may help.
4. Freenet cannot take advantage of various properties of radio that other =
protocols might be able to.
5. Freenet tends to assume high uptime (nodes are switched on a large propo=
rtion of the time), and in darknet mode (the safest) only talks to your fri=
ends. If they are a long way away you'll need to route the packets there, a=
nd it won't be very efficient, as they'll have to be repeated many times be=
fore they even reach the next freenet-hop. And then multiply this by severa=
l hops on freenet...
6. In principle the frequencies can be jammed and/or the nodes can be found.

I'm not saying mesh networks and freenet don't combine for underground comm=
unications... in principle it seems like a good idea ...

Another key point: It may make sense to have automatic rendezvous when peop=
le's phones are within range of each other, rather than fixed nodes. An "op=
ennet" version of this is called Haggle, have a look at it. Being opennet, =
they will talk to any node within range, so there is some worry over the fa=
ct that your phone will be broadcasting your desire for the latest illegal =
blog post...

IMHO any underground network like that would probably have some parts be wi=
fi, some of it very directional and hidden, some of it illegal satellite in=
ternet hookups, and some parts sneakernet (either swapping disks for long r=
ange transport, or possibly between friends for reasonable bandwidth but ve=
ry high latency, or some sort of phone-rendezvous thing). Probably it would=
 have very high latency in parts, and Freenet can't do that just yet, but s=
ome people (me) think it should eventually, or something like Freenet might.

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