About This Project
Resilient Comms is an independent, open-source reference maintained by volunteers. This page covers the philosophy, how to contribute, and the legal disclaimer. New to the site? Start with the introduction →
Philosophy
Every section is written to help you make real decisions and take real actions. Theory is covered where it illuminates practice, but not for its own sake.
No technology is universally best. Every choice involves tradeoffs between cost, complexity, capability, and resilience. We describe these tradeoffs honestly rather than advocating for any particular approach.
The most resilient communication systems are built and maintained by communities, not individuals or outside organizations. The playbooks and case studies consistently emphasize community ownership, training, and governance — not just hardware.
This guide is published under a Creative Commons license. The content is free to read, share, and adapt. The underlying code is open-source. Knowledge about communication resilience should be freely available.
The case studies, technology assessments, and playbooks are based on documented real-world deployments, not speculation. Where we describe what works, we cite the evidence.
Technical stack
This site is built with Next.js (static export), TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and MDX. It is hosted as a static site on AWS S3 + CloudFront with no server-side processing.
The full source is available on GitHub (opens in new tab). Design tokens, typography, and component patterns are documented on the Brand & Design page →
How to contribute
This guide is maintained as open-source content. Contributions are welcome in several forms:
- Case studies: Honest assessments of real deployments — what worked and what didn't, not success stories only.
- Technology updates: Current, documented experience with technologies covered here.
- Playbook improvements: If you've followed a playbook and found ways to improve it, share what you learned.
- Translations: This guide is currently English-only. Translations would significantly expand its reach.
To contribute, open an issue or pull request on GitHub (opens in new tab). New content should follow the frontmatter schema in docs/content-model.md (opens in new tab). All content must be substantive, accurate, and cite verifiable sources.
License
The content of this guide is published under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (opens in new tab) (CC BY-SA 4.0). You are free to share and adapt the material for any purpose, including commercially, provided you give attribution and distribute any adaptations under the same license.
The site code (Next.js application, components, configuration) is published under the MIT License.
Acknowledgments
This guide draws on the work of many practitioners, researchers, and communities who have built and documented resilient communication systems.
- The amateur radio emergency communication community (ARES, RACES, and independent operators) who have developed and refined emergency communication practice over decades
- The community network builders at NYC Mesh, Guifi.net, Freifunk, and AlterMundi who have demonstrated that community-owned infrastructure is both possible and sustainable
- The Meshtastic and AREDN development communities who have built open-source tools that dramatically lower the barrier to resilient communication
- The researchers and journalists who have documented communication infrastructure failures and resilience in disasters, conflicts, and political crises
- The Red Hook Initiative and Open Technology Institute for their pioneering work on community mesh networks as disaster resilience infrastructure
Disclaimer
This guide is provided for informational purposes only. It does not constitute professional emergency management, legal, or engineering advice. Do not rely solely on this guide when making decisions that affect public safety.
Regulatory compliance is your responsibility. Radio frequency regulations, licensing requirements, equipment certification rules, and permitted operating procedures vary by country, jurisdiction, and frequency band. Always verify current requirements with your national radio authority before purchasing, configuring, or operating any radio equipment.
Equipment recommendations reflect documented community experience, not testing or certification by this project. Confirm certification by your national authority before operating on licensed bands.
The maintainers of this guide accept no liability for damages arising from reliance on this content, misconfigured equipment, regulatory violations, or communication failures during emergencies.
Resilient Comms is an independent project. It is not affiliated with ARRL, FEMA, any government agency, or any commercial vendor.
All product names, trademarks, and registered trademarks mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners.