Demo of Downtown Ridgefield, WA. The streets are real; the people and posts are made up. Only you can see what you post here, and it gets wiped.
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Ridgefield Net: the playbook

How to bring up a neighborhood network when there is power but no internet. Keep this page with the router.
Wi-Fi name
Wi-Fi password
Router admin login
Operator PIN

A · Before anything happens (once)

  1. Plug in the spare router. Leave its Internet / WAN port empty. Cable the hub laptop into a numbered port.
  2. Open the router's admin page (address and login are on its sticker) and set:
    Router address10.77.0.1
    DHCP range10.77.0.50 to 10.77.0.250
    DHCP DNS server10.77.0.2 (this makes the page pop up)
    Reserved address10.77.0.2 for the hub laptop
    Wi-FiA plain name, 2.4 GHz on, a short password or none
    No "reserve" setting? Set the laptop by hand: address 10.77.0.2, mask 255.255.255.0, gateway 10.77.0.1.
  3. Load the map while the internet still works, with TownNet closed. In a terminal, run the TownNet program for this computer once with -fetch-area "Your town, ST" -miles 1 after its name. It saves the streets and addresses and stops.
  4. Start TownNet normally. Open http://10.77.0.2/setup and work down until every check is green. Set the hub's address on the Operator page.
  5. Put the router, a network cable, the laptop charger, a USB stick holding the kit, and this page in one box.

B · Day 0

  1. Power the router and laptop. Cable them together. Start TownNet. On Windows, allow it through the firewall when asked. Set the laptop to never sleep.
  2. Join the Wi-Fi with a phone. The town page should pop up by itself. If not, see D.
  3. Put the router high in the window that faces the most houses.
  4. Knock on the doors in range: "Join the Wi-Fi called ______. A page will open. Check in." Tape the Wi-Fi name to your mailbox.
  5. For houses out of range, use C. Branch out in several directions; keep any one chain to four houses.
  6. Unlock the Operator page and post the first notice. Draw a map of who feeds whom on the back of this page.

Keep home networks private

  • Never share a home Wi-Fi password. A router that passes the network on shares its guest network, with guest access to the local network (or intranet) switched off.
  • Check it first: on a phone joined to the guest network, the town page opens, and the router's admin page and the home's printer or TV do not show up. If that fails, or there is no guest network, the next house uses the relay's own signal.
  • On a router fed by the town network, switch off port forwarding, DMZ, UPnP and remote access.

C · Connect the next house

  1. Check first: can a phone in their house see the Wi-Fi? Then they just join. Done.
  2. If not, put one relay in their window facing the signal, on power. Use the first they own:
    • Wi-Fi extender: reset it and join it to the town Wi-Fi.
    • Windows laptop: join the Wi-Fi, then Settings → Network → Mobile hotspot → On. Never sleep.
    • Android phone: join the Wi-Fi, turn on Hotspot. Works only if Wi-Fi stays connected. Keep on a charger.
    • Old router with a "repeater" or "bridge" mode.
  3. To cover their whole house and reach the house after them: short cable from the relay's network port into their own router's Internet / WAN port. Their normal Wi-Fi now carries the town network. Pass it on by the guest network only: see “Keep home networks private”. A laptop relay must share its Wi-Fi to that port: Windows, Wi-Fi adapter properties → Sharing; Mac, Sharing → Internet Sharing, Wi-Fi to Ethernet.
  4. Test with a phone in their house. Then they do the same for the next house.

D · When it doesn't work

No popupType http://10.77.0.2 in the browser. Works even when names don't.
iPhone drops Wi-FiTap the network, choose "Use Without Internet".
Android drops Wi-FiTap "Stay connected" when it warns of no internet. Turn off Private DNS and any VPN.
Works at the relay, not behind their routerNumber clash. In their router's admin page change its own address to something unusual, like 192.168.57.1.
Their router wants a login for "internet"Set its Internet type to Automatic / DHCP.
No WAN port (modem-router combo)Skip that router. Use the relay's own signal.
Everyone lost it at onceHub laptop asleep or closed, or a relay upstream lost power. Check the map.
Slow far awayToo many hops. Move a relay, or start a second hub.

E · A second net

  1. Where no signal can reach, hand someone the USB stick. They do A and B with their own router and laptop.
  2. Phones carry check-ins, notices, needs and offers between the two: open the town page on one net, then on the other. Each operator accepts the other net once, on Other nets.
  3. If the hub laptop dies, copy its townnet-data folder to another laptop, give that one address 10.77.0.2, and start TownNet there.