One of the common early questions about AREDN is: once you have a working mesh link, then what? The answer is that any IP-based service that fits within the bandwidth constraints of the link can run on AREDN — which is a much wider category than most people initially expect.
Services that actually get deployed
These are the ones that show up regularly in real AREDN EmComm deployments, including what JFMDNA is working toward for the five-county area:
- MeshChat — a simple browser-based text chat that runs directly on the node itself, no external server needed. Good for short message coordination between sites when you don’t need full Winlink-style message handling.
- VoIP (Asterisk/FreePBX) — a small Asterisk server on a Raspberry Pi connected to the mesh gives you private phone extensions between all mesh-connected sites. During an activation, EOC staff can call a shelter or staging area the same way they’d use an office phone system — over the mesh, no commercial phone infrastructure needed.
- IP cameras — standard PoE IP cameras work over AREDN links. Relevant for shelter situation awareness, repeater site monitoring, or incident command positions where video from a scene matters.
- Winlink RMS Gateway — a Winlink RMS can be connected to the mesh, allowing stations on the mesh to pass formal traffic to/from the Winlink system over IP rather than RF. This is especially useful when the station needs to move a high volume of ICS traffic quickly.
- ICS/EOC software — tools like RMS Express over IP, WebEOC, or simple shared file servers can run on the mesh so multiple sites are all working from the same operational picture.
Bandwidth reality check
AREDN runs on the 2.4, 3.4, and 5.8 GHz amateur bands using 5, 10, or 20 MHz channels. Throughput on a well-engineered link can reach 50–150 Mbps in ideal conditions, but real-world EmComm links with marginal paths, non-ideal antenna placement, and RF-noisy environments will see significantly less. The practical rule: VoIP and text chat are nearly always fine; standard-definition video is usually manageable; high-definition video and large file transfer need good links with clear line-of-sight.
The Raspberry Pi as a mesh service host
A Raspberry Pi 4 with a small SSD connected to the mesh via Ethernet covers almost all the service use cases above — MeshChat, Asterisk/VoIP, a simple file share — in a package that runs on a USB power bank for field deployments. It’s become the standard “services node” approach in most deployments because it’s cheap enough to have several, runs cool enough for a sealed enclosure, and is well-documented in the AREDN community.