---
title: "Guifi.net: The World's Largest Community Network"
description: "How neighbors in Catalonia built a network of 37,000 nodes—and created a commons that anyone can join"
summary: What began with a few neighbors connecting their homes grew into the world's largest community-owned network—over 37,000 nodes proving that communities can build telecommunications infrastructure that belongs to everyone who helps create it.
date: 2026-01-04
tags: ["case-study", "community networks", "mesh", "commons", "Catalonia"]
categories: ["Community Networks"]
weight: 12
featureImageCaption: "Photo by [John Schnobrich](https://unsplash.com/@johnschno) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/photos/2FPjlAyMQTA) (Unsplash License)"
---

## What They Needed

In the early 2000s, rural Catalonia had a problem familiar to rural communities everywhere: telecom companies weren't interested in providing service. The towns were too small, too spread out, too unprofitable.

Ramon Roca, a farmer and technologist in Gurb, decided to stop waiting. If the telecoms wouldn't connect his community, the community would connect itself.

## What They Built

What started as a few neighbors connecting their homes grew into **[Guifi.net](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guifi.net)**—the largest community-owned telecommunications network in the world.

**The numbers today:**
- [Over 37,000 active nodes](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1389128615003436)
- Spanning Catalonia and beyond
- Over 70,000 kilometers of wireless links
- Serving homes, businesses, and institutions

But the numbers don't capture what makes Guifi.net remarkable: its governance model.

Guifi.net isn't owned by a company or a government. It's a **commons**—shared infrastructure that anyone can use and extend, governed by a community license that ensures it stays open.

The network operates on a simple principle: you can connect to Guifi.net for free if you follow the rules. The main rule? Don't close it off. Whatever you add to the network must remain part of the commons.

## What Happened

From a handful of nodes in 2004, Guifi.net grew through neighbor-to-neighbor expansion. Someone would connect their house, then help their neighbor connect, then the neighbor down the road.

Professional operators emerged—small businesses that provide services over the network. But they operate *on* the commons, not instead of it. The infrastructure remains community-owned.

**What participants say:**

> "We didn't wait for the market to solve our problem. We solved it ourselves."

> "The network belongs to everyone who helped build it. That's not a slogan—it's legally how it works."

> "I've met more neighbors through Guifi than in decades of living here. Installing antennas together does that."

The model has inspired community networks worldwide. Guifi.net's governance documents, technical approaches, and lessons learned are shared openly for others to adapt.

## What They Learned

**Commons governance works at scale.** Guifi.net isn't a small experiment—it's critical infrastructure serving tens of thousands of people. The commons model scales when the rules are clear and the community enforces them.

**Professional and community can coexist.** Small ISPs operate on Guifi.net, providing services and support. But they don't own the infrastructure—they're tenants on the commons. This prevents enclosure while enabling sustainable business models.

**Start local, grow organically.** Guifi.net didn't start with a master plan. It started with neighbors helping neighbors. The network grew because each new connection made sense for the people making it.

**Legal structure matters.** Guifi.net developed a "commons license" that legally protects the network from privatization. Anyone can use it, but no one can close it off. The legal innovation was as important as the technical innovation.

**Infrastructure is community.** The network is valuable, but the community that built it is more valuable. The relationships, the knowledge, the culture of mutual aid—these are what make Guifi.net resilient.

## What This Means for You

You don't need to build a 37,000-node network. But you might build a neighborhood network, or connect a few community spaces, or link up with others already building in your area.

Guifi.net offers:
- **Documentation** on how they built and govern the network
- **Legal templates** for commons-based infrastructure
- **Technical resources** for community networking
- **Inspiration** that it's possible at any scale

The model—commons-based, community-governed, open to all—applies beyond networking. Any shared infrastructure could work this way.

**Learn more:** [guifi.net](https://guifi.net)

---

*Guifi.net started because telecoms said rural Catalonia wasn't worth connecting. Twenty years later, it's the largest community network on Earth. Turns out the community knew better.*
