Introduction

Welcome to the Community Network Handbook — a practical guide to building and running community networks from scratch, even with limited resources.

This chapter explains why this handbook exists and who it's written for. If you're eager to get your hands dirty, feel free to skip ahead to Chapter 2 — but we recommend spending five minutes here first.

How this book is organized

The handbook is built around two tracks that mirror each other. The story shows you what to build and why; the guide shows you how. Read across them as you go.

1. Introduction — You are here. Motivation and context.
2. The Story of a Community Network — A fictional but realistic journey that walks you through building a community network step by step, from the first router to a full deployment. Each section is a challenge you'll face.
3. Guide (the how-to) — Detailed, step-by-step technical recipes for every technology mentioned in the story. Self-contained: open the one you need.
4. Real Use Cases — Field deployments where these ideas have been applied for real, including our network at a primary school in Namibia.