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You're looking for an alternate Internet? Better get a ham radio license AND get into a very niche area of ham radio. That's your only hope though.

Once you understand what the Internet is, you quickly understand that when it goes down, it goes down. Installing a piece of software is NOT going to give you some access to a "magical internet" that exists in the ether or something.

There is nothing magical about the Internet. I fully understand how computers are networked together, how traffic is routed, the DNS system, domain name resolution, etc.

The Internet is a conglomeration of 10's of thousands of routers, switches, hubs, and server hardware. And hundreds of thousands of miles of fiber optic and other cable -- mostly unguarded in the middle of nowhere.

Once you learn how fragile the Internet is, you become a Ham Radio operator :)

We have to be honest here though... Encrypted, unlicensed ham is where the interesting chatter happens, and you will need to understand encryption soon as well :) That is the true "dark web" and more of the underbelly of society than most people think runs on encrypted radio rather than the traditional web.

We have to be honest here though... Encrypted, unlicensed ham is where the interesting chatter happens, and you will need to understand encryption soon as well :) That is the true "dark web" and more of the underbelly of society than most people think runs on encrypted radio rather than the traditional web.

"Encyrpted, unlicensed ham" is a good way to end up in big trouble with the federales.  They can find your transmitter via triangulation, assuming they want to devote the resources.  You can't just go on the ham bands and start operating.  Licensing exists for a reason.

There is a pirate FM radio station near me operating on 87.7 mHz (that funky lower end of the FM band on which you used to be able to pick up audio on TV channel 6 before TV went all-digital), but I dare not speak of it on secular forums where my location is known, because you never know what boards the FCC monitors to find where the pirates are.   I don't want to rat them out.  And besides, there are no licensed FM radio stations on 87.7 mHz in the United States, it's not as though they're interfering with anything (though there could always be the claim that it interferes with air traffic control or public safety, a spurious charge at best).  The FCC is probably already aware, but chooses not to enforce at this time.  But it's always their prerogative.  I don't want to be the reason the station gets shut down.  It's an interesting alternative-media source.

I gave some thought to setting up a low-power FM station, but to remain legal I'd have only a 2 block radius of effective coverage, That wasn't worth the cost and I wasn't about to risk a bust for operating illegally. Not worth the risk…now.

At typical transmit power the FCC can find you almost instantly.

Historically, guns and radios are the first things seized. If you plan to even listen, you need to be on the move and without a predictable trajectory. Kind of like a ham radio version of the sniper's "shoot and scoot."

All I can say is that you are an interesting dude.

If you are ever unfortunate enough to come to Minnesota, I hope you will let me know in advance.

I could show you some things you might also find interesting.