Internets without The Internet

We can create a WiFi-based internet anywhere it’s needed, providing vital communication and networking services without outside connectivity. Isolated communities can provide civic, library, educational, and medical services. Emergency managers can monitor live video from multiple positions before, during, and after an event. No phone, cell, or satellite services are required, and the hardware is low cost and readily available. 

How do you get Internet access when you’re in a “dead zone”? No cell signal and nowhere to pick up a WiFI means that your only option is satellite, if you can see one and if you’re willing to pay the price. Even then, the best you can get is a single network projected from whatever device you’re using to connect, most likely a hotspot of some sort. This gives you a single network to which you can connect phones, tablets, and computers.

The problem with a single network is the number of addresses (connection points) it can support.  You've probably run a hotspot on your phone, giving you about 10 addresses.  That means that 10 other devices can connect to your phone and share the Internet access it provides.  

The next step up from a hotspot is a local WiFI network.  These networks can theoretically handle up to 254 separate devices, routing everything through the router "upstream" link (i.e., The wire coming out of the wall).  This is your home network, and the router is the device attached to your physical phone or cable line.  This is good for an individual but fails for larger groups.  It also requires an "upstream" connection to a service provider.

There are two other problems with a local network.  First, the devices on the local network or the hotspot can't find each other by name.  They can find each other by IP address, but not by name., because there is no Domain Name Service (DNS) provider without a connection to your ISP, which is the second problem -- they all require an upstream network to keep working.  These two issues mean that you cannot use your network at all if you've lost the Internet.

The upstream networks provide DNS and routing information for your local network.  DNS is how you find the address of another computer and involves your machine asking its upstream computer if it knows the address of a computer named foo.com.  If the upstream computer can answer the query directly, it does so.  If not, it asks its upstream provider, which continues the trip until it reaches the Top-Level Domain server (or a proxy).  If DNS can find the IP address (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx), it is returned.  If not, a special error called NXDOMAIN is returned.

Once you have the address, you need to find a way to reach the other computer and connect to it.  This is done with Routing, which is a separate, problem.  Your computer, and all computers, have special software to do this, using something called a Routing Cache.  When a remote computer is reached, the IP address and how we reached it are cached, to be used again later if you need to reconnect.  Unlike DNS, there are no route providers.  In a standard connected network, your router asks another router if they can reach address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, and it replies Yes or No.  If the answer is No, you're stuck.

DNS and routing, then, require an upstream provider, which is where the telecommunications companies come in.  They provide the upstream transport and, more importantly, the DNS and routing infrastructure your local network requires.

A FrogNet is very different in implementation but provides the same services as the telecommunications companies without requiring any upstream connection.  Instead, I have software on the FrogNet Host that provides these services.

Instead of a direct connection to an upstream provider, FrogNets are composed of LillyPads.  Each LillyPad is a complete stand-alone FrogNet network node created by connecting a WiFi router to a small computer that also has at least one, but preferably two, external antennas.  The WiFi router provides connectivity for phones and computers attached, while the computer provides the necessary DNS and routing.  The antennas on the other side are the router's upstream connection(s).  If one or both are connected to another FrogNet, they become aware of each other and establish DNS and routing protocols.  If one or both antennas are connected to the Internet, then that upstream route is marked as both external and default, enabling the entire FrogNet network to route through it.  In other words, if one LillyPad connects to both the Internet and another LillyPad, all FrogNet nodes have such access. 

There are additional issues concerning downstream connectivity.  

Devices and networks attach to the WiFi network the WiFi router is projecting.  informationThere may be up to 254 devices connected to the router, and any or all may be LillyPad nodes themselves and their DNS and routing information must be propagated throughout the upstream networks.  This was a rather tricky bit, but I was able to get it figured out.  When that happened, the entire FrogNet lit up and became fully discoverable and routable.

In other words, I replaced the entire telecommunications industry with a bit of software 🙂.  I can create a fully functional stand-alone internet anywhere I wish, and it will operate without requiring connectivity to anything that charges a fee for access.  If you don't need access to the Internet from your FrogNet, your FrogNet is free.

A FrogNet can be created in areas with damaged, missing, or limited infrastructure.  Within a FrogNet, network services at known locations can be established and made available to everything attached, just like the World Wide Web is made available to devices attached to the Internet.  You can host media servers, provide chat and VOIP services, set up email, and offer private network-wide storage for the hardware cost.  We will have a Marketplace where developers can offer services and sites that they've created.   

As a bonus, while there are some hardware configuration requirements, they are very easy to meet, and it's possible to build a FrogNet from low-cost, readily available components.  The routing and DNS replacements are Bash and a tiny bit of PHP.

I'm at the point where I'm ready for wider testing, but I need funding of some sort. Because I see this as a fundamental technology and don't want a profit-centered gatekeeper,  I'd prefer to avoid venture capital and corporate investment.  My inclination is to open-source the thing and set up a foundation to oversee it, but I'll need more money than I have to do that, so I'm asking for donations .