Community Owned Wireless Mesh Network (CoW-NET)

The CoW NET project was designed by Centre for Development Initiatives(CDI), which with the funding support of the Kerala Startup Mission(KSUM),Government of Kerala and the MIT-FAB LABs Kerala, ran a pilot to test the feasibility of the project.

Location : Aruvikkara Panchayat

District : Thiruvananthapuram

State : Kerala

What is CoW NET?

1. CoW NET is a community owned wireless network, based on Wi-fi.
2. CoW Mesh will enable the local community to collaborate on matters of local/regional/national visibility.
3. CoW NET will also form the backend for communication in the event of a natural disasters/ failure of the local communication network.
4. CoW NET can host an array of utilities and applications ranging from Voting, Social Audits, Public Utilities’ issue redressal to local classifieds and learning resources for school students, adults etc.

NOTE : CoW NET does not require INTERNET, but only Wireless Devices, to connect to the Intranet.

Working of the CoW NET

1. The CoW-Mesh works on a backhaul approach, where networked Ubiquity Rocket M5 based on 5GHz forms the backhaul while UniFi AP's form the user layer, which will be extended further by nodes/repeaters. COW Mesh does not work on a classical mesh approach , but on a pseudo mesh approach.
2. A central server, connected to Rocket serves as the backend for user applications. The nodes are independent and offer offline (intra-node) connectivity, even in the event of failure of Master.

Sources of Technology

1. The CoW Mesh project assimilates best practices and models from around the world and designs a a mesh network 
2. Mesh Design and technology have borrowed generously from various sources like the The Commotion Wireless Project, which is an open-source communication tool that uses wireless devices to create decentralized mesh networks.
3. The Mesh is designed from scratch, with every step documented, including errors and roadblocks incurred in the process of setting up the technology, as a Field Guide and FAQs

Feasibility of the Technology

1. The CoW NET is quite feasible for difficult terrains. An initial study for the pilot was done at the hill station called Ponmudi, on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram. The location was changed only because of sparse population and lack of an active community to run the applications
2. In hilly and undulating terrains, the CoW NET can be an effective means of communication during times of natural calamities like floods, landslides etc.

Scaled up model for a populated area

Pilot Project

A pilot of the CoW Mesh project was setup at Aruvikkara Panchayat, on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram District.

Why Aruvikkara?

Aruvikkara also had the following added advantages which made it ideal, as it was both exciting and challenging to run the pilot there :

1. Location of several public utilities & Panchayat office in a single location(of 2 square km)
2. Proactive & Supportive Panchayat Office
3. Agrarian Economy & Estates
4. Undulating terrain & Vegetation
5. Nearby Tribal areas
6. Agglomeration of market areas near pilot site
7. Ideal location of central server at an elevated position

CoW NET & the Community

A few activities were done to appraise & educate the local community about CoW NET :

1. Session at the local Govt. School
2. Training Programme for local youth regarding networking
3. Training the librarian for updating content
4. Training youth to update news & classifieds(paid revenue model)

The CDI team did surveys on the ground to understand :

1. consumer preferences and behaviours, 
2. Surveys were undertaken to understand how many people would be willing to pay a minor charge to maintain the CoW NET.
3. The willingness of various Panchayats to implement the project.
4. Number of students with internet access
5. Accessibility of the Panchayat Granthshala

Fixing Air Grid and Router on top of GHS School, Aruviikara