About the network
Old Mill Commons covers about 38 blocks of Lowell’s east side, mostly public housing towers and the walk-ups around them. The network was built by a parish youth group after a school district survey found students doing homework in fast-food parking lots for the signal.
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
99.98% uptime over the last 90 days, with no days of degraded service or maintenance.
Governance
- Owned by
- Old Mill Commons Community Net
- Legal home
- Tenants’ association, incorporated as a nonprofit
- Members
- 1,242 households, one vote each
- Monthly assembly
- Third Saturday of each month, 2:00 pm, at the senior center
- Annual assembly
- Every April
- Maintenance fund
- $6 a month per household, suggested. No household is disconnected for not paying.
Stewards
Elected by the members. Listed by first name and initial.
- Zainab B.Network steward · since 2023
- Bilal J.Treasurer · since 2024
- Adriana T.Membership steward · since 2025
- Ivan D.Training steward · since 2024
- Curtis H.Rooftops steward · since 2024
- Zainab S.Secretary · since 2026
Backhaul
Links that carry the network’s traffic to the wider internet.
| Link | Medium | Capacity | Far end | Peak use yesterday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LT-56-BH1 | Fiber | 10 Gbps | Lowell internet exchange | 26% |
Maintenance log
Firmware 4.6.2 rollout. Staged firmware rollout to every node, one hub’s area at a time. Each node restarted once.
Rooftop agreements reviewed; 4 renewed with new building owners.
Expansion: five new nodes in 2026, mostly in grids A1, A3 and C5.
Annual assembly: 90 members attended and elected three stewards.
New hub on the senior center roof: N-3355.
Hardware refresh: 15 nodes upgraded to Stoop R6 over the year.
Steward training on monitoring and fault-finding: 22 attended.
Climbing safety refresher: 8 installers recertified.
Expansion: eight new nodes in 2025, mostly in grids A1, A3 and B3.
Annual assembly: 61 members attended and elected four stewards.
New hub on the union hall roof: N-3188.
High winds: 5 rooftop mounts checked and re-secured.
Expansion: six new nodes in 2024, mostly in grids B1, C1 and D4.
Grounding on N-2717 redone after an inspection found a corroded lug.
Tree trimming along two backbone paths, with the city’s parks crew.
Expansion: seven new nodes in 2023, mostly in grids A5, B1 and B2.
Power injector for N-2715 replaced after a surge.
Network switched on: 24 nodes installed by 84 volunteers over a weekend.
Founding assembly: the Old Mill Commons Community Net adopts its charter and elects five stewards.