Red Hook Wi-Fi
{{Infobox project
| name = Red-Hook Wi-Fi
| logo =
| image =
| caption =
| mission_statement = Resilience, Opportunity, Community and Social Justice.
| type = Non Commercial
| products = Mesh Networking
| location = Red Hook, Brooklyn. United States of America.
| owner = Red Hook Initiative
| founder =
| established = November 2011
| disestablished =
| funding =
| current_status = Active
| website = {{URL|https://redhookwifi.org/}}
}}
Red Hook Wi-Fi is a free-to-use, Wi-Fi mesh network that provides internet access to the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.{{cite web |last1=Kasakove |first1=Sophie |last2=Williams |first2=Tracie |title=Is New York City's Public Housing Ready for the Next Storm? |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/new-york-climate-change-public-housing/ |accessdate=16 April 2019 |date=29 January 2019}} It is operated by the Red Hook Initiative.
Background
{{see|Mesh networking|Red Hook, Brooklyn}}
Due to the location of Red Hook, Brooklyn, between the Red Hook Channel and the Buttermilk Channel, many of its residents face various challenges in accessing broadband service.{{cite web |last1=Staff |title=Local Connections: The Red Hook WiFi Project |url=https://urbanomnibus.net/2013/09/red-hook-wifi/ |website=Urban Omnibus |accessdate=15 April 2019 |date=25 September 2013}} A survey found out that many people in the area accessed the internet primarily through mobile phones and that over 30% of the population did not have broadband access at home.{{cite web |last1=Burrington |first1=Ingrid |title=What Happens to the Internet After a Disaster? |url=http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/10/what-happens-to-the-internet-after-a-disaster.html |website=Intelligencer |accessdate=15 April 2019 |language=en |date=31 October 2017}}
File:Directional on roof of RHI 2.jpg
Beginning in Fall 2011, the Red Hook Initiative (RHI), a Brooklyn-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization,"[https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/details/ Red Hook Initiative]". Tax Exempt Organization Search. Internal Revenue Service. Retrieved April 2, 2025. approached the Open Technology Institute about collaborating on a community wireless network. RHI wanted a way to communicate with the residents immediately around its community center.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}
When the network was initially launched, it had support for up to 150 simultaneous users and ran on an open-software platform called Commotion.{{cite news |title=Do-It-Yourself Internet in Brooklyn |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/video/thefold/do-it-yourself-internet-in-brooklyn/2013/10/04/796abb5c-2ba8-11e3-b139-029811dbb57f_video.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |accessdate=15 April 2019}}
File:Point to point node back to auto body shop from coffey park.jpg
Hurricane Sandy
In 2012, after Hurricane Sandy struck the area, and many internet and communication systems were down throughout much of the city,{{cite web |title=Rising to the Challenge: Red Hook Initiative |url=https://www.nycedc.com/blog-entry/rising-challenge-red-hook-initiative |website=NYCEDC |language=en}} Red Hook remained connected through its mesh network and the headquarters of the Red Hook Initiative became a hub for volunteer coordination, donation collections food distribution as residents came to the Red Hook Initiative's office to charge their devices and connect to the internet.{{cite web |last1=Kazansky |first1=Becky |title=In Red Hook, Mesh Network Connects Sandy Survivors Still Without Power |url=http://techpresident.com/news/23127/red-hook-mesh-network-connects-sandy-survivors-still-without-power |website=TechPresident|date=6 November 2020 }}{{cite web |last1=Zandt |first1=Deanna |title=What Sandy Has Taught Us About Technology, Relief and Resilience |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/deannazandt/2012/11/10/what-sandy-has-taught-us-about-technology-relief-and-resilience/#4db1984f5947 |website=Forbes |language=en}}
Shortly afterwards, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) connected Red Hook Wi-Fi to its satellite system,{{cite web |last1=Masterson |first1=Andrew |title=Meshnets serve communities when internet fails |url=https://www.smh.com.au/technology/meshnets-serve-communities-when-internet-fails-20140515-zrdqe.html |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en |date=15 May 2014}} linking itself, the residents and the Red Cross into a communication matrix that could be used to find out about emergency relief, food banks as well as shelter locations.{{cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Noam |title=Red Hook's Cutting-Edge Wireless Network |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/nyregion/red-hooks-cutting-edge-wireless-network.html |website=The New York Times |date=22 August 2014}}{{cite web |last1=Robbins |first1=Liz |title=New Weapon in Day Laborers' Fight Against Wage Theft: A Smartphone App |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/02/nyregion/new-weapon-in-day-laborers-fight-against-wage-theft-a-smartphone-app.html |website=The New York Times |date=1 March 2016}}
After the relief efforts had finished, a team led by the Red Hook Initiative continued to make improvements to the mesh network by installing nano stations powered by solar panels on rooftops around the Red Hook neighborhood.{{cite web |last1=Dodd |first1=Justin |title=After Superstorm Sandy, This Brooklyn Neighborhood Reinvented Community Wifi |url=https://www.inverse.com/article/46269-brooklyn-community-red-hook-created-a-free-wireless-network-after-sandy |website=Inverse |date=22 July 2018 |accessdate=15 April 2019 |language=en}}
Though the Red Hook Wi-Fi project was already in the works before Hurricane Sandy struck, it gained additional media attention after the storm.{{cite web |title=United States of America Global Information Society Watch |url=https://www.giswatch.org/en/country-report/infrastructure/united-states-america |website=www.giswatch.org |accessdate=15 April 2019}}
In 2015, Red Hook Wi-Fi was selected to be part of the city's resiliency initiative — from a group of 27 finalists competing in the Resiliency Innovations for a Stronger Economy.{{cite web |title=Mayor De Blasio Announces Selection Of RISE : NYC Technologies To Be Deployed At Sandy-Impacted Small Businesses Across New York City |url=https://www.nycedc.com/press-release/mayor-de-blasio-announces-selection-rise-nyc-technologies-be-deployed-sandy-impacted |website=NYCEDC |language=en}}{{cite web |last1=Melendez |first1=Steven |title=This Mesh We're In: Why Communities Are Building An Internet That's More Local |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3044686/mesh-networks-and-the-local-internet-movement |website=Fast Company |accessdate=15 April 2019 |date=5 May 2015}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official|https://redhookwifi.org/}}