# I want to start my own makeshift intranet!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-my-own-makeshift-intranet/667258>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [August 26, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-my-own-makeshift-intranet/667258 "2013-08-26T23:35:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-my-own-makeshift-intranet/667258/1 "2013-08-26T23:35:05Z")

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I came up with the idea a few years back of starting my own ISP from scratch, so I could connect to the web without suckling on the teet of the big providers. I can’t find my original post, but basically that idea was a non-starter, as explained by the helpful posters here.

Then I read this:

> **[How to Keep the NSA Out of Your Computer](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/08/mesh-internet-privacy-nsa-isp/)**
>
> Sick of government spying, corporate monitoring, and overpriced ISPs? There's a cure for that.

Ignore the NSA nonsense, as I’m not trying to hide from the man. But the idea of starting a local, city-wide intranet is just about the neatest thing I’ve ever heard. This article has got me giddy.

I tried google translating the Athenian net’s homepage, but I’m still not clear on what sort of equipment such a project would entail.

Has anyone tried doing this? It seems like the logical culmination of all the things I spent my free time with in high school–short wave, ham radio, dial up internet, USENET–and I would love to see what I could put together!

Mostly looking for anecdotes or personal experiences in this thread, but if any of you had a how-to-do-it expertise, it would be most welcomed! 🙂

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**Author:** ![drbhoneydew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d78d45/32.png) [@drbhoneydew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drbhoneydew)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-my-own-makeshift-intranet/667258/2 "2013-08-28T22:14:37Z")

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I don’t know how up-to-date it is these days as much of their stuff was last updated a couple of years back, but Locustworld’s MeshAP system is probably along the lines of what you’re thinking of. They’ve done quite a few projects in rural England and elsewhere where users effectively share a leased line to the intertubes via wifi. ISTR they were doing some interesting stuff with SMS and VOIP routing within the mesh as well.

[http://www.locustworld.com](http://www.locustworld.com)

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**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-my-own-makeshift-intranet/667258/3 "2013-08-31T14:04:00Z")

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That’s great! Thanks so much.