Guifi.net is a free, open and neutral, mostly

wireless community network Wireless community networks (WCNs) or wireless community projects or simply community networks, are non-centralized, self-managed and collaborative networks organized in a grassroots fashion by communities, NGO's and cooperatives in order to provi ...

, with over 37,000 active nodes and about 71,000 km of wireless links (as of December 2021). The majority of these nodes are located in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

and the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with ...

, in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, but the network is growing in other parts of the world. The network is self-organized and operated by the users using unlicensed wireless links and open optical fiber links. The nodes of the

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

are contributed by individuals, companies and administrations that freely connect to an open

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

network and extend the network wherever the

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

and content might not otherwise be accessible. Nodes join the network following the self-provision model since the whole structure is explicitly open to facilitate understanding how it is structured, so that everyone can create new sections as required. That results in a network infrastructure commons that provides abundant connectivity. Guifinet crecimiento 15marzo2011

Guifi.net is supported by the Guifi.net Foundation, which has been registered as an operator with the Spanish Telecommunications Market Commission (CMT) since April 2009. In August 2009, the first deployment of

optical fiber An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means to ...

was started, known as the Fiber From The Farms (FFTF) Broadband Initiative, covering about 2 km and linking dozens of farms and farmhouses in the town of

Gurb Gurb () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Osona in Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Aut ...

. Since early 2011, guifi.net has been connected to the Catalonia Neutral Internet Exchange Point (CATNIX), which exchanges data with other international telecommunications operators such as

Cogent Communications Cogent Communications is a multinational internet service provider based in the United States. Cogent's primary services consist of Internet access and data transport, offered on a fiber optic, IP data-only network, along with colocation in data ...

and

Hurricane Electric Hurricane Electric is a global Internet service provider offering internet transit, tools, and network applications, as well as data center colocation and hosting services at 2 locations in Fremont, California, where the company is based. Accord ...

. This Internet connection is used by several associations that offer their members high-speed Internet access at low cost, which other

Internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

s currently do not offer. The model is oriented to

cost sharing In health care, cost sharing occurs when patients pay for a portion of health care costs not covered by health insurance. The "out-of-pocket" payment varies among healthcare plans and depends on whether or not the patient chooses to use a healthcare ...

, the compensation mechanism. The basic principle of operation is based on the

Wireless Commons License The Wireless Commons License describes the principles, terms and conditions for many libre and open wireless community networks. In summary it gives the right to use the network for any purpose unless you affect the operation of the network or th ...

References

External links

What is guifi.net?

Services on guifi.net

guifi.net + EXO
*
guifi.net documentation wiki

Guifi.net presentation
{{in lang, ca Community networks Internet service providers of Spain Mesh networking Telecommunications companies of Spain Wireless network organizations

See also

References

External links