About the network
Harborview covers about 31 blocks of New Bedford’s northeast side, mostly public housing towers and the walk-ups around them. The network was built by a parish youth group after the branch library cut its opening hours and its computer lab with them.
Schematic
Uptime
99.97% uptime over the last 90 days, with no days of degraded service or maintenance.
Governance
- Owned by
- Harborview Community Network Cooperative
- Legal home
- Community land trust program
- Members
- 865 households, one vote each
- Monthly assembly
- Third Thursday of each month, 7:30 pm, at the union hall
- Annual assembly
- Every November
- Maintenance fund
- $4 a month per household, suggested. No household is disconnected for not paying.
Stewards
Elected by the members. Listed by first name and initial.
- Víctor M.Network steward · since 2025
- Joaquín R.Treasurer · since 2026
- Tamika T.Membership steward · since 2024
- Carmen G.Training steward · since 2025
- Duc M.Rooftops steward · since 2024
Backhaul
Links that carry the network’s traffic to the wider internet.
| Link | Medium | Capacity | Far end | Peak use yesterday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LT-57-BH1 | Fiber | 10 Gbps | New Bedford internet exchange | 13% |
| LT-57-BH2 | Licensed microwave, 11 GHz | 2 Gbps | Tower site, New Bedford | 19% |
Maintenance log
Power injector for N-3161 replaced after a surge.
Firmware 4.6.2 rollout. Staged firmware rollout to every node, one hub’s area at a time. Each node restarted once.
Expansion: five new nodes in 2026, mostly in grids A1, B1 and B3.
Rooftop agreements reviewed; 6 renewed with new building owners.
Annual assembly: 71 members attended and elected two stewards.
Hardware refresh: 9 nodes upgraded to Stoop R6 over the year.
Heavy rain: water ingress found and fixed in 5 enclosures.
Installer workshop: 7 residents trained and climbed their first roof.
Expansion: four new nodes in 2025, mostly in grids B1, G4 and G5.
New hub on the former bank building roof: N-3156.
Tree trimming along two backbone paths, with the city’s parks crew.
Grounding on N-2817 redone after an inspection found a corroded lug.
Expansion: eleven new nodes in 2024, mostly in grids A1, A2 and A3.
Radio on N-2778 replaced after water got into the enclosure.
Grounding on N-2783 redone after an inspection found a corroded lug.
Expansion: three new nodes in 2023, mostly in grids C2, G4 and H5.
Network switched on: 20 nodes installed by 131 volunteers over a weekend.
Founding assembly: the Harborview Community Network Cooperative adopts its charter and elects five stewards.