Althea Frequently Asked Questions:
How does it work?
Althea is a system that lets routers pay each other for bandwidth.
Any high performance network will be made up of fast, high capacity, long range links that carry traffic most of the way to its destination, along with lower performance hops that take it the rest of the way there. Althea networks will be no exception to this rule. Inside of an Althea network, there will be house-to-house links, along with higher capacity networks owned and operated by professionals. Althea takes traffic from your house, over the “last mile” to the nearest internet exchange. Then goes onto the internet backbone to be taken across the world.
We are working on firmware that we will ship on branded routers. The physical connections will be made according to whatever works best for the site. That could mean an inexpensive directional wifi antenna aimed across the street, an outdoor ethernet cable across the yard, or more professional equipment mounted on a radio tower.
Where can I get backhaul or resellable internet?
Often backhaul, or resellable internet can be obtained from your current last mile internet provider. A county or municipal government might also be a good place to find out which companies own fiber in your area, orcheck this map. These sites can be useful to locate tower space to lease - www.antennasearch.com or http://verticalbridge.com/.
Which routers and hardware are supported?
A list of supported routers can be found here. Hardware - We support any thing that can be configured as a layer two bridge. So Ethernet cables, Ethernet over powerline adaptors, and any commercial antenna. Follow this guide for AirMax hardware, on Cambium hardware select “pipe” mode.
Is it difficult to set up?
Expanding an existing Althea network is no more difficult than a minor home improvement project. Mounting and aiming antennas, or wiring an apartment, is the bulk of the difficulty. The Althea software handles all the software except antenna configuration that’s described in #3.
Can I resell directly to my neighbor’s phone or laptop?
Not at this time, devices that aren’t mesh aware are unable to properly secure traffic and are vulnerable to eavesdropping or fraud. We’ve decided to reduce the risk to users by not offering this double-edged functionality.
Can I do peer to peer communications within the mesh?
Yes, but this functionality is still under development.
How can I figure out how much money I will make?
You can use our earnings estimator to get a general idea of Return on Investment.
Which cryptocurrencies are supported?
The billing part of the software has not yet been implemented, however, we plan on implementing multiple currency support, with ethereum most likely being supported first.
How can I get started?
Please visit www.altheamesh.com and put a pin on the map or send us a message at [email protected]. Join us in our Riot chat here - https://riot.im/app/#/room/#althea:matrix.org