About the network
Millrace covers about 30 blocks of Providence’s lower east side, mostly two- and three-family frame houses. The network was built by the tenants’ association after a provider’s fiber build stopped six blocks short of the neighborhood.
Schematic
Uptime
99.93% uptime over the last 90 days, with 1 day of degraded service or maintenance.
Governance
- Owned by
- Millrace Community Net
- Legal home
- Community land trust program
- Members
- 1,369 households, one vote each
- Monthly assembly
- Second Saturday of each month, 10:00 am, at the YMCA multipurpose room
- Annual assembly
- Every August
- Maintenance fund
- $3 a month per household, suggested. No household is disconnected for not paying.
Stewards
Elected by the members. Listed by first name and initial.
- Joaquín S.Network steward · since 2023
- Duc D.Treasurer · since 2016
- Abdul L.Membership steward · since 2019
- Ivan D.Training steward · since 2017
Backhaul
Links that carry the network’s traffic to the wider internet.
| Link | Medium | Capacity | Far end | Peak use yesterday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LT-16-BH1 | Fiber | 10 Gbps | Providence internet exchange | 20% |
| LT-16-BH2 | Licensed microwave, 11 GHz | 2 Gbps | Tower site, Providence | 29% |
| LT-16-BH3 | Fiber, donated by the library system | 1 Gbps | Public library network | 29% |
Maintenance log
Firmware 4.6.2 rollout. Staged firmware rollout to every node, one hub’s area at a time. Each node restarted once.
Storm damage. High winds knocked several dishes out of alignment. Stewards realigned them once it was safe to go up.
Heat wave: 3 rooftop nodes throttled; all recovered overnight.
Annual assembly: 138 members attended and elected four stewards.
Mount on N-0458 re-secured after the host reported a loose mast.
Cable to N-2688 replaced; squirrels again.
Cable to N-0454 replaced; squirrels again.
Annual assembly: 127 members attended and elected four stewards.
Hardware refresh: 25 nodes upgraded to Stoop R6 over the year.
Battery modules replaced at 6 hubs ahead of winter.
Expansion: five new nodes in 2024, mostly in grids A2, B1 and D1.
Installer workshop: 14 residents trained and climbed their first roof.
High winds: 4 rooftop mounts checked and re-secured.
New hub on the public school roof, under a district agreement: N-2936.
N-0470 replaced under warranty after its radio stopped associating.
Expansion: three new nodes in 2023, mostly in grids B5, D3 and F4.
Spare parts inventory counted and restocked.
Hardware refresh: 27 nodes upgraded to Stoop R5 over the year.
Firmware 4.0 rolled out to every node.
Hardware refresh: 16 nodes upgraded to Stoop R4 over the year.
Backhaul upgraded from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps fiber.
Firmware 3.0 rolled out to every node.
Network switched on: 30 nodes installed by 153 volunteers over a weekend.
Founding assembly: the Millrace Community Net adopts its charter and elects four stewards.