Imagine this: no internet, no cell service, but a dozen nodes across your county providing IP networking, VoIP phones, video surveillance, and file sharing — all running on amateur radio spectrum.
That's AREDN (Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network). It's ham radio's answer to "what if we need high-speed data and the infrastructure is gone?"
And it works today. Right now. With $30 hardware from eBay.
What AREDN Actually Is
Repurposed WiFi hardware (Ubiquiti, Mikrotik, TP-Link) flashed with AREDN firmware. These devices operate on amateur radio frequencies in the 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 3.4 GHz, and 5.8 GHz bands.
The key difference from regular WiFi: Part 97 amateur radio rules allow higher power, better antennas, and longer ranges than consumer WiFi under Part 15. A link that covers 200 meters on consumer WiFi can reach 30+ miles on amateur power with a directional antenna.
Nodes mesh automatically. Connect to one node, you can reach any device on any connected node in the network. TCP/IP works normally. Browsers, email, VoIP — anything that runs on a network.
Why This Matters for Emergency Communications
Traditional ham radio emcomm: voice relay. One person talks, another person writes it down, passes it along. Slow. Error-prone. Limited throughput.
AREDN: actual data networking. Email servers. Shared documents. Live video from incident sites. VoIP phone calls that feel normal. Web-based situational awareness tools.
Several county emergency management agencies have deployed AREDN as backup data networks. When the primary network fails, amateur operators activate the mesh and emergency services get functional (if slower) IP connectivity.
Hardware: What You Need
The Classic: Ubiquiti NanoStation M5 (~$30-50 used)
A 5.8 GHz directional node with 14 dBi integrated antenna. Flash AREDN firmware, mount it on a pole or rooftop, point it at another node.
Range: 5-15 miles line-of-sight between two NanoStations. Bandwidth: 5-40 Mbps depending on distance and signal quality.
These are being replaced by newer Ubiquiti models in the commercial market, so used units flood eBay. $30-50 each. At that price you can build a multi-node network for under $200.
Other Supported Hardware
- Ubiquiti Rocket M5 + dish antenna: Long-range backbone links (30+ miles)
- Mikrotik hAP ac lite: Indoor mesh node, omnidirectional
- TP-Link CPE510/CPE210: Budget option, decent performance
- GL.iNet AR150/AR300: Tiny nodes, good for portable deployment
Check aredn.org for the current supported device list before buying — firmware support varies by hardware revision.
Setting Up Your First Node
- Buy a supported device (Ubiquiti NanoStation M5 is the safe first choice)
- Download AREDN firmware from aredn.org for your specific hardware
- Flash the firmware (TFTP flash method — there's a walkthrough on the AREDN docs)
- Configure: Connect via Ethernet, open 192.168.1.1, set callsign, choose channel, name your node
- Mount it with clear line-of-sight to at least one other AREDN node
The firmware handles meshing automatically. If your node can see another node, they connect. Add more nodes, the network grows.
What You Can Run on the Mesh
- Web server — host situational awareness pages, documentation
- VoIP (Asterisk/FreePBX) — phone system that works without telco
- IP cameras — live video feeds from deployment locations
- Chat (MeshChat) — text messaging between all network users
- File sharing — distribute documents, maps, forms across the network
- Email — local SMTP/POP server for asynchronous messaging
- Winlink gateway — bridge between mesh network and Winlink HF email
During exercises, our local AREDN group runs a PBX with 12 SIP phones, three IP cameras, a Grafana dashboard showing network stats, and MeshChat for text traffic. All on a mesh network with zero commercial internet dependency.
Network Design Basics
Backbone Links
Point-to-point links between nodes using directional antennas. High bandwidth, long range. The highway system of your mesh.
Distribution Nodes
Sector or omnidirectional antennas that provide access to multiple nearby nodes. The neighborhood WiFi of the mesh.
Client Devices
Computers, phones, IP cameras that connect to a nearby mesh node via Ethernet or WiFi client mode.
Topology
Mesh means redundancy. If one link fails, traffic routes around it (assuming alternate paths exist). Design your network with at least two paths between critical nodes.
Legal Considerations
You need a ham license. Technician class is sufficient.
Encryption is not allowed under Part 97 (with ongoing debate — some argue that link-layer encryption is necessary for AREDN and should be permitted). Currently, all traffic on the mesh is unencrypted. Don't run anything sensitive.
Station identification required. AREDN nodes embed your callsign in the node name. Transmitted automatically.
No commercial traffic. The mesh is for amateur experimentation, emergency preparation, and training. Don't route your Netflix through it.
Getting Connected
Chances are someone in your area already runs AREDN nodes. Check:
If nobody near you has nodes: you need at least two devices to create a link. Buy two NanoStations, flash them, mount them on different buildings, and you've got a mesh. Expand from there.
The Bigger Picture
AREDN represents what ham radio looks like when you stop thinking about it as "talking on a radio" and start thinking about it as "building communications infrastructure."
The hardware is cheap. The software is free. The knowledge is transferable to professional networking. And when — not if — your area experiences an extended outage, a functioning data network is worth more than any single voice repeater.
Start with two nodes. See what happens.
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