Australia has a long history of community-built wireless networks. The groups below range from active Meshtastic communities to legacy 802.11 mesh networks that were ahead of their time. Active groups are currently operating. Legacy groups may be dormant — links are preserved for historical record.
Know of a group not listed here? Contact us via the about page to get it added.
National & Online Communities
- Active Meshtastic Australia Online · Discord Main hub for AU Meshtastic users across all states
- Active The Things Network Australia Online · National Community LoRaWAN gateway operators
- Active Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) National Amateur radio body — licensing, WICEN EmComm
Australian Capital Territory
- Legacy AirNET (air.net.au) Canberra Original ACT community wireless network, est. early 2000s
- Growing Meshtastic Canberra Canberra Active nodes across Belconnen, Gungahlin, and CBD
New South Wales
- Legacy Sydney Wireless Sydney Pioneer community mesh network, 802.11b era, early 2000s
- Legacy Bathurst Wireless Bathurst Regional community network
- Active Meshtastic Sydney Sydney Large and active — good node density across the basin
- Active TTN Sydney Sydney LoRaWAN community, 50+ registered gateways
Northern Territory
- Legacy Alice Springs Wireless Alice Springs One of the most remote community wireless deployments in the world
Queensland
- Legacy BrisMesh Brisbane Community mesh project, pioneer era
- Legacy TSN Wireless Townsville Regional wireless group
- Active Meshtastic Brisbane Brisbane / SEQ Growing network across SEQ corridor
- Active TTN Brisbane Brisbane LoRaWAN community gateway operators
South Australia
- Legacy Air-Stream Adelaide Adelaide community wireless network, active in early 2000s
- Active Meshtastic Adelaide Adelaide Node coverage across the metro area
Tasmania
- Legacy TasWireless Tasmania State-wide community wireless network
- Growing Meshtastic Tasmania Hobart / Launceston Small but active — good hilltop relay potential
Victoria
- Legacy Melbourne Wireless Melbourne One of Australia's largest early community wireless groups
- Legacy Geelong Wireless Geelong Regional Victorian wireless community
- Legacy Ballarat Wireless Ballarat Central Victorian community network
- Active Meshtastic Melbourne Melbourne Very active — dense node coverage across metropolitan area
- Active TTN Melbourne Melbourne 40+ gateways, active community
- Active WICEN Victoria Victoria Amateur radio EmComm including AREDN mesh deployments
Western Australia
- Legacy WAFreeNet Perth Western Australia community wireless network
- Growing Meshtastic Perth Perth Growing metropolitan network — strategic relay nodes needed
New Zealand
- Legacy NZ Wireless New Zealand New Zealand community wireless, originally linked to wireless.org.au
- Legacy NZWireless New Zealand National NZ wireless community
History
The 2000s: before the NBN
Australia's community wireless movement peaked around 2002–2008, fuelled by cheap 802.11b hardware, a genuinely awful ADSL duopoly, and engineers with time on their hands.
Groups like Melbourne Wireless had hundreds of active nodes — access points bolted to rooftops, Pringle can antennas pointing across suburbs, and OLSR mesh routing software tying it all together. This was decentralised internet before anyone called it that.
The NBN, affordable 4G, and the collapse of 802.11b equipment availability gradually wound down most legacy groups by 2010–2015. But the ethos never died — it just migrated to new radio hardware.
Today
The tools have changed. The spirit hasn't.
LoRa radios cost $30 and fit in your pocket. Meshtastic firmware is polished enough for anyone. Battery technology means nodes can run for months on a small solar panel.
The community is smaller than the early 2000s peak, but the applications are more interesting: bushfire resilience, off-grid hiking, agricultural IoT, and emergency communications all benefit from community-owned radio infrastructure.
If you were involved in Melbourne Wireless, Sydney Wireless, Air-Stream, or any other legacy group — those links survive in our directory, and the principles you helped establish are very much alive.
Read the full history