About the network
Westcroft covers about 40 blocks of Cincinnati’s south side, mostly public housing towers and the walk-ups around them. The network was built by a group of retired telephone line workers after a subsidized broadband offer expired and prices doubled overnight.
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
99.97% uptime over the last 90 days, with 1 day of degraded service or maintenance.
Governance
- Owned by
- Westcroft Community Network Cooperative
- Legal home
- Cooperative corporation, owned by member households
- Members
- 1,276 households, one vote each
- Monthly assembly
- Second Tuesday of each month, 7:30 pm, at the housing cooperative’s lobby
- Annual assembly
- Every November
- 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.
- Leticia K.Network steward · since 2021
- Leon I.Treasurer · since 2025
- Joyce T.Membership steward · since 2023
- Ariel D.Training steward · since 2026
Backhaul
Links that carry the network’s traffic to the wider internet.
| Link | Medium | Capacity | Far end | Peak use yesterday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LT-51-BH1 | Fiber | 10 Gbps | Cincinnati internet exchange | 19% |
| LT-51-BH2 | Fiber, donated by the library system | 1 Gbps | Public library network | 53% |
Maintenance log
Firmware 4.6.2 rollout. Staged firmware rollout to every node, one hub’s area at a time. Each node restarted once.
Radio on N-2342 replaced after water got into the enclosure.
Storm damage. High winds knocked several dishes out of alignment. Stewards realigned them once it was safe to go up.
Expansion: five new nodes in 2026, mostly in grids A4, A5 and C4.
Hardware refresh: 21 nodes upgraded to Stoop R6 over the year.
Annual assembly: 59 members attended and elected three stewards.
Battery modules replaced at 5 hubs ahead of winter.
Steward training on monitoring and fault-finding: 14 attended.
Expansion: four new nodes in 2025, mostly in grids A2, A3 and B2.
Dish on N-2331 re-aimed after a neighbor’s new extension blocked the path.
Installer workshop: 21 residents trained and climbed their first roof.
Expansion: six new nodes in 2024, mostly in grids A2, B3 and C3.
Heavy rain: water ingress found and fixed in 3 enclosures.
Expansion: five new nodes in 2023, mostly in grids A1, B1 and B4.
Spare parts inventory counted and restocked.
New hub on the branch library roof: N-2366.
Network switched on: 29 nodes installed by 52 volunteers over a weekend.
Founding assembly: the Westcroft Community Network Cooperative adopts its charter and elects four stewards.