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@ Ram
2024-04-10 03:22:14I originally published this article in my gopherhole on February 4, 2022 [0]. Aside from a handful of formatting fixes to make it look nice in Nostr, I have made no attempt to modify its content and it is exactly the same as when I first published it.
I have been thinking for quite some time now about creating an alternative way to communicate with these lightweight protocols. Now, it doesn't mean that I've thought of it that it is viable or that it would work. I've just thought of the possibility of it being possible, if that makes sense.
Either way, I've been thinking about the idea of creating a local mesh network based on packet radio. I was driving on my way home today when I remembered this one video published in the computerphile channel [1]. The presenter discussed the technology behind packet radio and showed that it is possible to send TCP/IP packets via VHF and UHF bands. I was already thinking of a way to create a "free" internet in our area, mostly because I wanted to see it work and partly because I wanted my friends to have a way to communicate with the each other even without internet.
However, there are a few issues that I have realized before I thought this thing could be a reality.
For starters, this method of transferring data is very slow. The protocol that manages this type of communication can only transmit around 1.2 kilobit per second which is absurd in today's ultra-high speed internet. That means that it would 133 minutes to load a 1 megabyte image from the internet, provided that you are only loading the image itself. This makes this method extremely impractical for the modern web.
But we are not in the modern web. It is definitely possible to use this method to browse gopherholes since you are only loading text. For example, with that kind of speed you can load my phlog about fixing my webserver in only 25 seconds [2]. Now, that is a considerable change from the milliseconds that we are used to when browsing gopher but 25 seconds is something bearable for a long phlog post. Shorter phlogs can even load quicker.
The protocol that manages this type of communication can only transmit around 1.2 kilobit per second which is absurd in today's ultra-high speed internet.
But this brings us to the second issue that I have with this idea. It is unreliable. I assume there is a way to make it reliable but from what I've read about it and what the presenter talked about in the video. This method of data transfer is very unreliable. He was demonstrating it where the two computers were in the same room and their radios are not that far from each other and even then there are issues with getting the radios to recognize each other.
Also, another issue that I have with this idea is the cost and equipment. Ideally, you only need three things to make this whole setup work: (1) A computer, (2) a radio and (3) a Terminal Node Controller. The first two are easy to acquire, but the last one is rare as balls in this country. I can't seem to find anyone producing these blackboxes nowadays. I was able to find some in ebay but most of them are in "unknown condition and sold as-is." That is not comforting knowing that I will be spending $45 on something that may or may not work. If there are any other means to acquire this hardware for cheap or maybe any pointers how to build one please hit me up with an e-mail. I've heard that you can use a standard modem for this? But I don't know how that would work.
Lastly, I'm not a HAM radio operator. So I don't know whether what I'm doing is allowed to do in citizen bands. I don't think there are that much people using radios in my part of the city but it would certainly be nice to have an idea about it.
When I was thinking about this idea, I thought that I would be able to create a setup where I can coax my friends and girlfriend to get a radio and a terminal node controller that they can hook up into their computers and turn on when they want access to a cheap but slow local internet. But the issue with reliability and cost really dampened that hopes for me.
Until then, I will still be looking for a cheap way to get a local mesh network going.
Footnotes:
[0] gopher://kalayaan.xyz/0/~rtr/guper/an-idea-of-mesh-networking.txt [1] https://piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=lx6cm1rNDLM [2] gopher://kalayaan.xyz/0/~rtr/phlog/01-fixing-my-webserver.txt