LFFC has had a Futel phone since day one. We’re proud to be the first Futel node in Seattle, and we’ve been overjoyed to see so many people using it to contact friends, relatives, and support systems (shelters, food, medical providers, etc.).
In May 2025, a written suggestion came in, asking if we could provide WiFi. We immediately wanted to; we’re tech people, after all. That said, providing free wifi at a residence is a challenge; most ISPs prohibit sharing your WiFi (so they can sell to more people, obviously), but of more concern is the (arguably human rights-violating, but let’s not get into that) six strikes policy in common usage in the US (and, despite what Wikipedia suggests, still very much in force in 2025). The upshot of this is that if anyone were to use our WiFi to download something that has any allegation of copyright against it, whether or not fair use applies, and indeed whether or not it was even correctly identified as infringing, our (home) Internet would be disconnected, with no functional right of appeal (certainly not one involving an actual courtroom or evidence, as Wikipedia makes clear).
Obviously this isn’t going to work. Thankfully, another group in Seattle had a better option. Seattle Community Network (SCN) provides free cellular data and/or WiFi to areas all over Seattle and Tacoma, including several Tiny Home Villages. They were willing to work with us to provide WiFi at LFFC, with their status as an Internet Service Provider getting them out of the kangaroo court six strikes system. As of August 5, 2025, we’ve now set up their free WiFi at LFFC, and we couldn’t be more delighted!
Of course, Futel and SCN are a perfect pair of connectivity options for lots of sites around Seattle, not just LFFC. Watch this space….