Definition
Broadband-Hamnet, originally called HSMM-Mesh (High-Speed Multimedia Mesh), is a system that lets licensed amateur-radio operators run high-speed TCP/IP data networks over amateur frequency allocations using commercial off-the-shelf 802.11 WiFi hardware. Consumer routers are flashed with custom firmware to become mesh nodes, producing a self-discovering, self-configuring, fault-tolerant network that can run for days off a charged car battery — the kind of resilient, grid-optional link that appeals to sovereign operators.
How it works
Operating mainly on the 2.4 GHz band reserved for amateur use, HSMM nodes find each other and build routes with no central controller. Using high-gain directional antennas and amplifiers, operators can establish reliable point-to-point links over many miles, bounded mostly by propagation and the radio horizon. The original insight — that cheap ISM-band WiFi routers could be repurposed as licensed microwave radios — made wide-area amateur data networks practical without expensive purpose-built gear.
Lineage and use
HSMM-Mesh matured into Broadband-Hamnet and later forked to produce AREDN. Both descend from the same idea but have diverged in firmware and routing. Like all amateur-band systems, content encryption is not permitted, so the value is in resilient, infrastructure-free reach for emergency and off-grid data rather than privacy. For sovereign builders, it is a proven template for keeping data moving when commercial networks are down.
For the actively maintained descendant, see AREDN; for longer-range narrowband links, see packet radio.
In Simple Terms
Broadband-Hamnet, originally called HSMM-Mesh (High-Speed Multimedia Mesh), is a system that lets licensed amateur-radio operators run high-speed TCP/IP data networks over amateur frequency allocations using…