New Node Installation Guide
Last updated September 2, 2019 by Meitar M
In order to connect to NYC Mesh, members typically need to install physical equipment (a router, antenna, cabling, etc.) within radio range of an existing member’s installation. We refer to each of these installations as nodes. To expand the mesh, new nodes must be installed across the city.
You can install your node by yourself in what we call a “do-it-yourself (DIY) install” for free (minus the cost of hardware). Alternatively, you can request that NYC Mesh volunteers install your new node for you, for which we usually request that you pay a nominal labor fee to compensate our install teams for their time in addition to the cost of hardware. Optionally, you (or the NYC Mesh Install Team) may choose to document the installation process and/or the current running configuration of your new node in our Node Reference.
This section documents the process of installing a new node from start to finish in as much detail as possible. It is intended to be a complete reference for both DIY installers as well as NYC Mesh Install Teams and so it is quite verbose! Unless you are an Install Team leader, volunteer, or are performing a do-it-yourself installation, you may find our much shorter typical installation overview more appropriate.
In addition to these pages, we sometimes hold in-person classes to help new NYC Mesh community members learn about how NYC Mesh works. Over the years, we have also published numerous presentations that include installation guidance. Our Install Training Presentation is a slideshow often displayed at these installation trainings; you can refer to it for another up-to-date overview of the entire install process.