All, many of you know thanks to other threads here on Mesh Community that @Jmalave has been working hard to pilot a goTenna Mesh roll-out in Puerto Rico, which lost 93% of its telecommunications infrastructure when it was pummeled by Hurricane Maria.
While we at goTenna have donated goTenna Mesh units already, and @Jmalave was able to get others in his network to donate some at a reduced cost, given the success of the pilot roll-out in San Juan they now want hundreds more units to set up goTenna Mesh clusters with satellite backhaul (provided by an integration with our SDK) in all municipalities in Puerto Rico, which faces no connectivity for many months to come.
We’re seeking donations of any size — if you’re inclined to give, thank you! goTenna will match all donations, so every dollar you donate is doubled. We are looking to fund this campaign by Thanksgiving, and will ship funded units on a rolling basis from here on out since the need is so timely.
Whether you’re in a position to donate or not, please share, share, share on social, via email, etc.
The domain names were purchased weeks ago in anticipation that without reliable electricity + internet, someone else would swoop the domain names and ask a ransom for them (I let Javier know what I did… desperate times, desperate measures). There is reliable electricity in certain parts of the island, but internet access, esp for businesses, has been a challenge. Obviously, that didn’t stop Javier and his team!
BTW… very rarely do we see a company supporting a client the way goTenna is doing with this initiative. This speaks volumes about the company’s vision and direction.
@gua742 Certain parts of the island have (more or less) reliable electricity. My parents are from a city in the Southwest part of the island and electricity has been mostly restored. Water is mostly working (in some areas, it never really stopped).
Cell signal goes from half-reliable to iffy in certain parts of the island. But the center of the island essentially is incommunicated. Sometimes, there is a stray wi-fi signal in those areas, so the goTenna’s will certainly help.
It would be VERY possible to get the whole island mostly saturated with MOAN/DASS-RS nodes. After studying a topo map of the island I came up with a map of where they would be best placed. I know for a fact that in ideal conditions the units have a range of 18.4 miles unit to unit without any fancy mods so I figured 20 miles is reasonable with an antenna that doubles or quadruples the power output/receive. As far as the FCC goes: Anything goes in an emergency, not having coms = an emergency. Keep in mind the map MOAN/DASS-RS placement is geared for more rural areas.
Plus I have ZERO issues climbing com towers/mountains/trees whatever to get these up and going. I’d just love the chance to get to help a shit ton of people getting coms up with gotenna mesh over a very wide area. Not to sound overconfident but I think it’s possible and hell I’ve done more with a heck of a lot less!
Getting the USVI’s coms up with GoTenna Mesh would be a piece of cake with MOAN/DASS-RS’s. The islands are tiny and it would only take one MOAN/DASS-RS per island to get coverage dialed the heck in.
All, I’ve donated but we really have to harness the community here and keep this going. Timeliness is so essential to the needs in Puerto Rico. Plus, your donation is twice whatever you give because goTenna is matching each dollar. Please, please share - this is so important and everyone can help!
All, the first 84 goTenna Mesh units raised through this fundraising campaign got to San Juan today (photo below)! Please, please help us keep going. We’re still $10K short of the goal @Jmalave set to get goTenna Mesh in all 15 Puerto Rican municipalities.
Donate now — anything helps… truly!! And again: goTenna matches every donation (no matter the size) 1:1 so your dollar is twice as powerful! (Plus, all donations are tax-deductible!)
I’m in Aguadilla, PR and have set up a node near airport. I have also sent various shutouts witj no response. I wonder if anyone on the North western side of Island is aware or using GoTenna.
@ROCKAWAY Thanks for putting up a relay node. @Jmalave is putting units up across all 15 PR municipalities but besides San Juan (where he started) I am not sure where else he has gotten to yet, just FYI!
Read this article in TechCrunch where the reporter really dove in about the project — and how far goTenna Mesh has already grown in the first months since launch:
We are nearly at $10K with $5K to go to fund PR Reconnects’ need for Mesh devices to set up across Puerto Rico’s 15 municipalities. Hoping our Mesh Community can help us close this out!!!
Everyone, we are just $2,424 from reaching our fundraising goal to support the Puerto Rico Reconnects project with the goTenna Mesh devices they need to provide essential connectivity in 15 municipalities across the island!! Help us get through to the final stretch! Make your tax-deductible donation now! https://www.razoo.com/story/Gotenna-Mesh-Reconnects-Puerto-Rico
@bkchi yes! Did you read TechCrunch article linked above which includes an interview with @Jmalave who runs the PR Reconnects project?
Also — very exciting! The fundraising campaign for Puerto Rico was funded over the weekend. Thank you to everyone who contributed! Tomorrow, for Giving Tuesday, we will be back with more ways to help Puerto Rico !
to get coverage dialed the heck in.
