2019 - A Year in Review
2019 has been a key year for Althea. We implemented our billing software and grew our network in Oregon. From there, we launched a training and onboarding program which brought in new network
November Community Update
We are excited to share the latest Althea news! Over the last few months, many of our prospective deployments are getting close to launch, and networks in Tacoma, Washington, and Abuja, Nigeria have
Althea and MakerDAO partner for Abuja Network powered by Dai
Althea, a system that lets routers pay each other for bandwidth, is launching its first network in Africa in early November 2019. An initial pilot network will start with about 15 participants. A
Introduction to Researching Market Potential
Researching market potential is an important part of starting an Althea network. While adding more links to an existing Althea network is relatively easy, setting up that network is similar to starting a
Getting Started with Community Outreach
Networks are made out of more than antennas and ethernet cables. They are homes and business - neighbors - connected to one another. These neighbors can also become relays, forwarding bandwidth to nearby
June Community Update
Over the last month, Althea organizers have been working to develop local partnerships and gain traction in their communities. Several organizers have chosen the “Altheahoods” approach to starting their networks, and have begun
A Sustainable Network
The novelty of the Althea system is how it incentivizes a diverse group of partners within the network and automates their collaboration. Local organizers work together with home and business owners to host
Digital Divide Narrowing Substantially?
It's June 2019 and today I'm going to install a new subscriber of our cooperative ISP in rural Oregon. This family had previously only access to 1Mbps wireless or an expensive 4Mbps DSL
Althea in Los Mochis
On a sunny day in the city of Los Mochis, Mexico, Althea organizer Raul, runs a speed test on an expensive 20Mbps connection. 20Mbps, which is not even considered broadband in the US,
May Community Update
We launched six new Altheahoods communities in early May. An Altheahood community is selected by an organizer as a potential deployment. Local organizers then work together with the Althea team to get people
Faster, Cheaper Internet in Medellin Colombia
Before the Red Medellin team brought in Althea's innovative technology, options for internet access were limited in Comuna 13, one of the sprawling urban communities on the hills surrounding Medellin Colombia. A few
April Update
Taking a note from Google's rollout of their fiber networks, we are introducing the new Altheahoods program! This program supplies organizers with the marketing tools and internet presence to get end users signed
Althea in Medellin
My trip to Colombia Entonces(enˈtonses/, [ẽn̪ˈt̪õnses]) — One of my favorite Spanish words. It means then or so. I like the cadence, how it fills the awkward space in a sentence
March Update
We were so busy building and growing I think we missed an update in February! We now have 23 users in Clatskanie, and several relays (a relay is a node that has a
Tales from the Field
It was raining. It always seems to rain just as we pack up the rig with all of the antennas, cables, and tools. My fellow subnet organizer, Shaun, and I were heading to
Blockchain and Broadband
It’s difficult for big telecom to make money selling bandwidth to small rural towns or low income urban areas, otherwise they would already be there. Internet poverty exists because there is little
Althea in rural Oregon
This article is about a network started by Deborah Simpier, who has been working on incentivized mesh for years, but joined the Althea team a couple months ago. She started this network before joining our team, and was actually Althea’s first user.