Internet-in-a-Box brings the power of a free Digital Library of Alexandria into the hands of any school, hospital, or community worldwide:
Internet-in-a-Box is also used in libraries and medical clinics, as can be seen in this Dominican Republic video:
Listen to the BBC podcast "How to put the internet in a box" for an excellent 23-minute summary of how this works in different countries, around the world.
In short, Internet-in-a-Box brings the very best of the World’s Free Knowledge (Wikipedia, Khan Academy, OpenStreetMap, E-Books and many others) to those who are offline — e.g. anybody nearby with an old smartphone, tablet or laptop.
Internet-in-a-Box is in use in more than 20 countries, including remote mountain villages in India (video).
You can install an Internet-in-a-Box "learning hotspot" anywhere in the world — even under solar power, using very diverse hardware. Here is just one example, using a terabyte hard drive with built-in hotspot:
Here is another example, using a $35 Raspberry Pi computer, one of our favorites among several hardware recommendations:
Medical clinics prefer Internet-in-a-Box built with the $10 Raspberry Pi Zero W computer:
You can buy one of several common versions, or better yet quickly create any digital library needed by your school, your region and/or your very own family!
Internet-in-a-Box provides you the tools to DIY (download and customize) this offline Wi-Fi "learning hotspot" or server, adding the quality content you need — whether locally sourced or downloaded.
Quality Content
Our Admin Console shows you the latest Content Packs that are installable in the languages you need, e.g. from online "libraries" like Kiwix and OER2Go, and then takes care of all the details downloading and installing for you over the coming hours.
See Mexico's live demo and these medical examples used by clinics in Asia and Africa especially, as hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia).
In addition, schools can choose among 30 powerful education apps for teachers and students, optionally with a complete LMS (learning management system) like Kolibri, Moodle, WordPress, Sugarizer or Nextcloud.
Easy Install
The free and open source software to install your own Internet-in-a-Box (IIAB) is available from github.com/iiab and download.iiab.io
Please see "What are the best places for community support?" at FAQ.IIAB.IO which has 50+ questions and answers to help you along the way, as you put together the digital learning hotspot most suitable for your own community.
Implementers should also read our tech docs and consider our YouTube channel.
Friendly Community
Internet-in-a-Box is a community product enabled by professional volunteers working side-by-side with schools, clinics and libraries around the world — and the Wikipedia community especially — thank you everyone for proudly and humbly being part of this http://OFF.NETWORK grassroots technology movement.
Please consider how you might assist this epic effort bringing about 21st century global literacy. It's already astonishing how far we've come since Internet-in-a-Box's original demo in 2013 — and how far we will go if you too can help:
Thank you everyone who is enabling offline access to the Internet and the World's Free Knowledge jewels — as well as "Sneakernet-of-Alexandria" distribution of local/indigenous content — when our hyperconnected modernity does not always serve grassroots or global voices.
If you can help in any capacity, we hope to hear from you soon !