About the network
Westhaven covers about 25 blocks of Chicago’s lower east side, mostly mid-rise apartment blocks. The network was built by a group of high school robotics students and their teacher after the only provider in the area was fined for advertising speeds it never delivered.
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
- Westhaven Mesh Cooperative
- Legal home
- Nonprofit corporation with a member-elected board
- Members
- 1,333 households, one vote each
- Monthly assembly
- Third Monday of each month, 7:00 pm, at the branch library’s community room
- Annual assembly
- Every May
- 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.
- Marlon D.Network steward · since 2016
- Jae H.Treasurer · since 2021
- Omar P.Membership steward · since 2022
- Xiomara C.Training steward · since 2018
Backhaul
Links that carry the network’s traffic to the wider internet.
| Link | Medium | Capacity | Far end | Peak use yesterday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LT-24-BH1 | Fiber | 10 Gbps | Chicago internet exchange | 18% |
| LT-24-BH2 | Licensed microwave, 11 GHz | 2 Gbps | Calumet Row | 25% |
| LT-24-BH3 | Fiber, donated by the library system | 1 Gbps | Public library network | 25% |
Maintenance log
N-0934 replaced under warranty after its radio stopped associating.
Firmware 4.6.2 rollout. Staged firmware rollout to every node, one hub’s area at a time. Each node restarted once.
Annual assembly: 140 members attended and elected four stewards.
Hardware build night: 18 Stoop nodes assembled from parts.
Rooftop agreements reviewed; 4 renewed with new building owners.
Hardware refresh: 18 nodes upgraded to Stoop R6 over the year.
Expansion: four new nodes in 2025, mostly in grids D2, G4 and G5.
New hub on the branch library roof: N-3227.
Annual assembly: 59 members attended and elected two stewards.
Expansion: four new nodes in 2024, mostly in grids B5, C2 and G3.
Mount on N-1196 re-secured after the host reported a loose mast.
N-0954 replaced under warranty after its radio stopped associating.
Heavy rain: water ingress found and fixed in 5 enclosures.
Tree trimming along two backbone paths, with the city’s parks crew.
Storm damage: 8 dishes realigned and one mast replaced.
Dish on N-2604 re-aimed after a neighbor’s new extension blocked the path.
Hardware refresh: 25 nodes upgraded to Stoop R5 over the year.
New hub on the senior center roof: N-2130.
Firmware 4.0 rolled out to every node.
Hardware refresh: 14 nodes upgraded to Stoop R4 over the year.
Expansion: four new nodes in 2016, mostly in grids B2, G3 and H3.
Network switched on: 28 nodes installed by 90 volunteers over a weekend.
Founding assembly: the Westhaven Mesh Cooperative adopts its charter and elects four stewards.