Local connectivity doesn’t need an external ISP

AT&T is down again, so I was unable to get into our gym to exercise. Our new office is in a building in Alameda, California that uses the Butterfly app to unlockthe front door to our building, the gym and more. The problem reminded me of my conversations with Bob Frankston about how his home doesn’t need to connected for his smart devices to work. At first I thought, I should email him to be reminded of how he did this. However, I realized that Perplexity might answer me faster than waiting for an email back from him on a Friday night. So, here is what I will present to our building management (from Perplexity).

Bob Frankston (creator of the first spreadsheet) enables smart devices in his home to continue operating over Wi-Fi even when the Internet connection to the home is not active by leveraging the concept of local, ambient connectivity that does not depend on an external Internet service provider or continuous Internet access.

How It Works

• Local Network Autonomy: Frankston emphasizes that the Internet is fundamentally about the ability to create your own solutions and communities at the edge, rather than relying on third-party providers or the traditional carrier infrastructure[1]. This means devices in a home can communicate over a local Wi-Fi network without needing to route data through the Internet.
• Separation of Services from Transmission: Frankston advocates for separating the transmission of bits (data) from the services those bits provide[6]. This approach allows smart devices to function locally by exchanging data directly on the home network, independent of Internet connectivity.
• DIY and Community-Based Connectivity: He promotes a “do it yourself” (DIY) or “do it ourselves” (DIO) model, where local connectivity is managed by the user or community rather than by centralized providers[1]. This model supports devices communicating and operating within a local network environment.
• Use of IPv6 and Device Identification: With IPv6, each device can have a globally unique identifier, which helps in managing and tracking devices locally for functions such as billing or law enforcement, but also facilitates local network operations without needing Internet access[6].
• Business Model and Policy Critique: Frankston critiques the legacy business models that treat connectivity as a scarce resource needing to be purchased per service. He argues that digital capacity is abundant and that connectivity should be ambient and assumed, enabling devices to operate freely within local networks even when the external Internet is not connected[6].

Practical Implications

• Smart home devices can communicate and perform their functions over the home’s Wi-Fi network internally without requiring Internet access.
• The local network acts as a self-contained environment where devices exchange data directly, enabling continued operation during Internet outages or deliberate disconnection.
• This model reduces dependence on Internet service providers and allows for more resilient and user-controlled smart home systems.

In summary, Bob Frankston’s approach is to treat Wi-Fi and local networking as ambient, permissionless connectivity that supports device communication locally, independent of Internet connectivity. This allows smart devices in his home to keep operating over Wi-Fi even when the Internet is not connected[1][6].

Sources

[1] The Internet as DIY connectivity | Bob Frankston | Talks at Google https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td7-5WknPG8
[2] The Internet and My 53 Years Online – LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/internet-my-53-years-online-bob-frankston
[3] Why We Need Abundance | Bob Frankston | TEDxBeaconStreet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6h4yoPLMCk
[4] Bob Frankston – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Frankston
[5] Comments from Bob Frankston, David Reed, Dan Bricklin, and others http://www.satn.org/archive/2003_03_16_archive.html
[6] Bob Frankston re-imagines the Internet – ZDNET https://www.zdnet.com/article/bob-frankston-re-imagines-the-internet/
[7] Bob Frankston on CircleID https://circleid.com/members/586
[8] VCF East 10 – History of VisiCalc – Bob Frankston – YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L2jRc6prEw
[9] The Internet: Missing the Light – CircleID https://circleid.com/posts/20130726_the_internet_missing_the_light
[10] The Future of Smart Systems | Pew Research Center https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2012/06/29/the-future-of-smart-systems/
[11] [PDF] Do This at Home In Control? – BLU.org https://blu.org/meetings/2019/02/BLU-2019-02-20-Bob_Frankston_AtHome.pdf
[12] Bob Frankston Bio https://rmf.vc/bob_frankston_bio
[13] The Internet of Things Connectivity Binge: What Are the Implications? https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2017/06/06/the-internet-of-things-connectivity-binge-what-are-the-implications/