Tegola tiered mesh network testbed in rural Scotland

Abstract

Many rural and remote communities around the world see themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide. In particular, there is evidence to suggest that there is a growing digital divide between urban and rural areas in terms of broadband Internet access with people living in rural areas having fewer choices and pay higher prices for slower speeds. This is true even in developed countries. Motivated by the above observations, there has been an increasing interest in deploying and researching low cost rural wireless networks with active community participation. This paper presents an overview of our efforts in this direction in deploying a rural WiFibased long distance mesh network testbed in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. We highlight the unique aspects of our testbed that differentiate it from other existing rural wireless testbeds. We also outline some of the research issues that are currently being investigated in this project.