About Althea
Today, internet access networks are owned by centralized, usually monopolistic ISPs. The ISP owns all the routers and networking hardware, and charges for their use with a monthly fee. In most areas, there are only one or two options. If you don't like their rates or their service, there isn't much you can do about it. Competing with them would involve starting your own ISP, large enough to be a self sustaining business — which isn't a feasible option for most.
Althea makes this possible. Our team supports the creation of new networks built by and for communities, powered by our routers which pay each other for bandwidth. This allows people to set up “decentralized ISPs” in their communities, and easily manage and grow them. We're working with communities all over the world to set up test deployments of our routers now, and are looking for partners and collaborators interested in setting up their own. If this is you, see the Get Involved section to get in touch.
Dropped out of art school, learned to code. Software consultant for the past 5 years. Volunteer for the past 3 years with peoplesopen.net, a mesh network in Oakland.
Background in devops and performance engineering, previously worked at Red Hat, ran a very large Minecraft server (Civcraft) where players could create their own versions of society.
Active in the Pacific Northwest mesh networking and net neutrality scene for several years. Before she became a co-founder, she was Althea's first user.
Previously involved in tech support, industrial manufacturing development. Currently a web3 dev. Organizer of Ethereum in Portland Oregon. Into crypto, decentralizing things and skin in the game.
Worked as a developer and IT guy for government and enterprise for 10 years before getting into open source software, yoga, permaculture, anarchy and crypto.
As a digital and social media consultant for over 10 years, Liz has worked with broadcasters and interactive media organizations. When she’s not doing digital projects, she’s writing, performing, making art, and cuddling with her kitties.
I don't know where you are. I don't know what you've broken. If you are ransomware I can tell you I don't have money, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills I have acquired over a very long IT career. Skills that make me a nightmare for bugs like you. If you let my firmware run that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you, but if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will delete you.
Nestled on an inlet of the Clatskanie River, an hour or so outside of Portland, Clatskanie is a small timber town, where the residents mostly spring from Nordic and Germanic stock. Its claim to fame, small but significant, is that Raymond Carver was born there.
When you have easy access to high-speed internet, it's easy to take it for granted. However, for many people in rural and low-income areas even accessing the internet can be a struggle. What if there was an easier way for communities to setup their own networks that are faster and cheaper than current ISP offerings?
Residents of a small town in Oregon experiment with a broadband network that rewards its investors in real time.
Our core team is growing—we're looking for people that are focus driven, have a proactive work ethic, and are passionate about our mission. We are an open source company who believes in decentralized systems, so our team is distributed as well.