About the network
Riverbluff covers about 44 blocks of Memphis’s west side, mostly shotgun houses and doubles. The network was built by the tenants’ association after a school district survey found students doing homework in fast-food parking lots for the signal.
Schematic
Uptime
99.98% uptime over the last 90 days, with no days of degraded service or maintenance.
Governance
- Owned by
- Riverbluff Community Network Cooperative
- Legal home
- Cooperative corporation, owned by member households
- Members
- 1,651 households, one vote each
- Monthly assembly
- Second Wednesday of each month, 7:00 pm, at the tenants’ association 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.
- Priya I.Network steward · since 2020
- Tyrone A.Treasurer · since 2018
- Yusuf F.Membership steward · since 2017
- Hyun O.Training steward · since 2017
- Jerome B.Rooftops steward · since 2021
Backhaul
Links that carry the network’s traffic to the wider internet.
| Link | Medium | Capacity | Far end | Peak use yesterday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LT-27-BH1 | Fiber | 10 Gbps | Memphis internet exchange | 24% |
| LT-27-BH2 | Licensed microwave, 11 GHz | 2 Gbps | Tower site, Memphis | 34% |
Maintenance log
Firmware 4.6.2 rollout. Staged firmware rollout to every node, one hub’s area at a time. Each node restarted once.
N-1191 replaced under warranty after its radio stopped associating.
Radio on N-1128 replaced after water got into the enclosure.
Expansion: four new nodes in 2026, mostly in grids A4, A5 and B1.
Dish on N-1127 re-aimed after a neighbor’s new extension blocked the path.
Annual assembly: 155 members attended and elected three stewards.
Tree trimming along two backbone paths, with the city’s parks crew.
Hardware refresh: 27 nodes upgraded to Stoop R6 over the year.
High winds: 2 rooftop mounts checked and re-secured.
Steward training on monitoring and fault-finding: 9 attended.
N-1257 moved to the other side of the roof to clear a new air-conditioning unit.
Storm damage: 3 dishes realigned and one mast replaced.
Expansion: three new nodes in 2024, mostly in grids F1, G2 and H2.
Power injector for N-1111 replaced after a surge.
Hardware refresh: 30 nodes upgraded to Stoop R5 over the year.
New hub on the apartment tower roof, twelve storeys: N-2390.
Firmware 4.0 rolled out to every node.
New hub on the community health center roof: N-1811.
Hardware refresh: 18 nodes upgraded to Stoop R4 over the year.
Expansion: four new nodes in 2017, mostly in grids B3, C3 and D1.
Network switched on: 37 nodes installed by 100 volunteers over a weekend.
Founding assembly: the Riverbluff Community Network Cooperative adopts its charter and elects five stewards.