The Mesh Potato – Mesh Routed VoIP Networking for Developing Communities
The Mesh Potato project hopes to build an 802.11bg mesh router with a single FXS port. It is designed to provide telephony via VOIP while simultaneously facilitating a mesh cloud. It is an open hardware and open software design. It will run off a nominal 12VDC, from either a mains supply or solar PV system, and be priced in the range of currently available Wifi routers (sub US$100).
The target application is mesh routed VOIP networks, in particular (but not limited to) developing communities. An analog phone connects to the potato via the FXS port. When you make a call you potato talks to the potato down the street which talks to the next potato, and eventually to the destination. The mesh network can be augmented via backbone links and connected to the rest of the world via VOIP gateways.
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