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Broadband-capable community networks

NYC Mesh

Volunteer-run, community-owned rooftop Wi-Fi mesh in New York City that provides internet access to members

Carries internet traffic active

Updated 29 Oct 2026

Internet trafficYes. It is a community-owned network that provides internet access to members, using upstream transit and exchange connections. (Wikipedia states that NYC Mesh is not an internet service provider (ISP), although it offers internet access as a service to members.) NYC Mesh states it does not monitor, collect, store or block user data.
Node count1,222 nodes listed active (hand-maintained status; 1,416 records in total) (as of 29 Oct 2026, source)
GeographyThe five boroughs of New York City, concentrated in Manhattan and Brooklyn. A node is a building or location, not a single radio.
RegionsNew York City, USA
Tech
  • Rooftop Wi-Fi radios (directional for hub uplinks, omnidirectional for local)
  • Fibre to whole buildings
  • OSPF internally, BGP to the wider internet
Typical cost$290 install cost, due on completion; a subsidised $160 option and a $40/month instalment option are listed, as read on NYC Mesh's payment page on 29 October 2026. Check the payment page for current amounts.
BandwidthRooftop link speeds are not published in our sources. The project advertises 10+ gigabit for fibre-to-building installs.
LegalLicence-free Wi-Fi bands with standard Wi-Fi hardware; no amateur licence is involved. The organisation was granted 501(c)(3) status on 21 August 2020.
GovernanceNonprofit (incorporated 15 July 2019), volunteer-led, under the Network Commons License: freedom to use, transparency, service autonomy and an obligation to extend the network.
UK notesOperates in New York City only. Our research found no UK Wi-Fi community mesh groups.
Links

How it works

NYC Mesh is a volunteer-run, community-owned network in New York City. It began in 2012 as an experiment with the Cjdns routing software and has since grown to provide internet access to its members (Wikipedia states it is not an ISP, although it offers internet access as a service to members). Members get a rooftop radio that links to a nearby hub, and hubs link to larger "supernodes" that connect to the wider internet.

The current wiki describes the routing in two layers. OSPF carries internal traffic: supernodes to hubs, hubs to rooftops, rooftop to rooftop, VPNs and most hosted services. BGP connects the internal network to the internet. Directional antennas handle hub uplinks and omnidirectional antennas serve local links. One rooftop node can serve up to four apartments. NYC Mesh also installs fibre to whole buildings.

How to join

  1. Look at the map to see which nodes are near your building.
  2. Submit the join form at forms.nycmesh.net/join.
  3. A volunteer install leader handles the install. The pay page refers to install-leader expenses.
  4. Pay the install cost. The payment page, as read on 29 October 2026, lists $290 due on completion, a subsidised $160 option and a $40/month instalment option.
  5. Ask questions on the project's Slack, which is its main chat. We found no Discord.

What it realistically gives you

It carries ordinary internet traffic. NYC Mesh states that it is a neutral network and does not monitor, collect, store or block user data or content. Rooftop link speeds are not published on the pages we read. The project advertises 10+ gigabit for fibre-to-building installs.

The node count needs care. The public node API returned 1,416 records on 29 October 2026, of which 1,222 had the status "active" and 194 "inactive". That status is maintained by hand, so it means "listed as active", not "sending a heartbeat now". A node here is a building or location, not a radio. Wikipedia gives "over 2,000 active member nodes" without a date, and a search snippet quoted 1,819 active installations from the stats page, which returned HTTP 503 when we tried it. These three numbers use different definitions and do not agree.

Caveats

  • It covers New York City only, concentrated in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Whether you can join depends on your building and the surrounding roofs.
  • Installs are carried out by volunteers.
  • The project blog was stale when we checked: the newest post we found was dated 16 September 2024. The node API was live.
  • Our research found no UK Wi-Fi community mesh groups. For UK readers this page is a reference for how a large Wi-Fi mesh runs, not a service you can join.

Sources