I grew up in a telecom household, learning how the internet works, how cell networks operate, and their surrounding technology.
Over time, I experimented with a variety of routers, switches, custom firmware, and communication gadgets. Flashing DD-WRT on WRT54G as a rite of passage, followed by Merlin with YazFi on a Jailbroken T-Mobile Femtocell. Currently a Ubiquiti fanboy with a full rack of gear that powers my Brooklyn loft.
Moving beyond traditional Wi-Fi, into long range vendor proprietary protocols over 5, 6, 10, 24, & 60GHz. While delving into a variety of use cases with LoRa, be it LoRaWAN sensors for home automation, or Meshtastic for off grid communication. Then leveraging SDR for ADS-B, or bridging in 433mhz devices floating in the airwaves to be discovered. Finally, trusty Baofengs for voice over GMRS & FRS.
Locally, deep into home automation with Zigbee, Thread, Bluetooth, and other sleepy communication standards, that get data out of devices, into processing, and turned into actionable output.
I put these skills to work at NYC Mesh, where I volunteer and continue to learn new vendors, capabilities, and use cases. Initially DIY installed as a backup ISP for remote work, Mesh became my primary connection, and then a passion, where I am affectionately known as the “Mayor of North Brooklyn”. We are building an open source blueprint for internet distribution, in use across the world, specific examples with partnerships in Tucson, Toronto, Seattle, & Chicago.