About the network
Las Mareas was built in early 2018, months after the hurricane, by neighbors who had gone without power or service for most of the autumn. Every hub runs on solar power with battery storage, and the network was designed from the start to keep working when the grid does not.
Schematic
Hover over or tap a node for its details, and click or tap again to open it. With a keyboard, move to the schematic and use the arrow keys.
Uptime
99.91% uptime over the last 90 days, with 2 days of degraded service or maintenance.
Governance
- Owned by
- Red Comunitaria Las Mareas
- Legal home
- Nonprofit corporation with a member-elected board
- Members
- 1,690 households, one vote each
- Monthly assembly
- Second Wednesday of each month, 7:00 pm, at the senior center
- Annual assembly
- Every September
- Maintenance fund
- $7 a month per household, suggested. No household is disconnected for not paying.
Stewards
Elected by the members. Listed by first name and initial.
- Rafael B.Network steward · since 2018
- Dalia V.Treasurer · since 2022
- Sofia H.Membership steward · since 2026
- Ana M.Training steward · since 2024
- Nasser L.Rooftops steward · since 2022
Backhaul
Links that carry the network’s traffic to the wider internet.
| Link | Medium | Capacity | Far end | Peak use yesterday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LT-31-BH1 | Fiber | 10 Gbps | San Juan internet exchange | 30% |
| LT-31-BH2 | Licensed microwave, 11 GHz | 2 Gbps | Tower site, San Juan | 43% |
Maintenance log
Grid outage. A grid outage since yesterday evening has left nine rooftop nodes without power. Hubs are running on solar and battery as designed, and the backbone is up.
Backhaul fiber cut. A construction crew dug through the fiber. Traffic moved to the backup link at reduced speed until the provider spliced the cable.
Firmware 4.6.2 rollout. Staged firmware rollout to every node, one hub’s area at a time. Each node restarted once.
Annual assembly: 176 members attended and elected three stewards.
Mount on N-1327 re-secured after the host reported a loose mast.
Expansion: six new nodes in 2026, mostly in grids B4, B5 and E4.
Tree trimming along two backbone paths, with the city’s parks crew.
Hardware refresh: 34 nodes upgraded to Stoop R6 over the year.
Climbing safety refresher: 8 installers recertified.
Annual assembly: 167 members attended and elected two stewards.
Storm damage: 8 dishes realigned and one mast replaced.
Heat wave: 8 rooftop nodes throttled; all recovered overnight.
Steward training on monitoring and fault-finding: 21 attended.
Rooftop agreements reviewed; 2 renewed with new building owners.
New hub on the mill building roof: N-2930.
Radio on N-1303 replaced after water got into the enclosure.
Expansion: four new nodes in 2023, mostly in grids A4, F3 and F5.
Hardware refresh: 3 nodes upgraded to Lamppost S2 over the year.
New hub on the public housing tower roof, under a housing authority agreement: N-2502.
Hardware refresh: 28 nodes upgraded to Stoop R5 over the year.
Firmware 4.0 rolled out to every node.
Expansion: five new nodes in 2018, mostly in grids A4, C4 and F2.
Network switched on: 50 nodes installed by 142 volunteers over a weekend.
Founding assembly: the Red Comunitaria Las Mareas adopts its charter and elects five stewards.