Trying to drum up interest for ham radio in general as well as AREDN in the area. The question I am stumbling over is how to properly do so.
I was thinking and wondering if a non ham would be allowed to access aredn from part 15 configured devices that are flashed with AREDN firmware? The idea being I have about 8 or so devices, configuring them for non ham channels/power levels and lending one/some out to tunnel to my node. My concern is would this be some form of violation of FCC rules or against AREDN rules? I have access to the global tunnel and don't want to jeopardize loosing access or breaking some regulation, just trying to stir up interest in the area.
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Now, the gray area are tunnels that are using any combination of unlicensed, licensed services other than pt 97, and things that don't involve radio at all). Most of which you have no control over.
In my opinion, your specific proposal may or may not be legal, but certainly is outside the spirit and intent of amateur radio.
I could see a valid argument for sharing resources between hams and non-hams.
A mail server can be accessed both via the AREDN mesh AND the Internet if two NICS are assigned to it. Hams come in from the AREDN side. Non-hams come in from the Internet side. When they exchange messages, those messages are stored on the server. When a ham hits "send", it's going to the server - not directly to a non-ham. From there the server routes it - either inside the MESH to another HAM or outside the mesh to a non-ham.
A mail server setup this way could service both non-ham emergency staff and ham operators. Now before you go and say that's not allowed, consider APRS text messaging. We know that a ham can send an SMS message through the APRS network to a phone. Is it legal for a non ham to reply to a ham's message via SMS? If you say yes, then the scenario above is also valid.
NOW, let's say you setup VOIP phones on the AREDN mesh. Could a single phone be used for calls within the mesh and outside the mesh? YES. Is it legal for non-ham to talk to a ham via the AREDN mesh? I'm gonna say no because it's a direct connection between the parties. OK - another scenario - let's say both phones are tied to a PBX and that PBX has both an AREDN side and an Internet side. Is that legal? Again, I'm going to say NO because the PBX is actually bridging the calls together for a live connection.
So how does the PBX differ from the mail server? It's the concept of store and forward. The mail server is a true store and forward environment. Phone calls, on the other hand are direct connections. So, if it was your intent to bridge the commercial band network with the AREDN network to form one big network, I would say NO - that's clearly in violation. That means no VOIP phones too. But if you get creative with some sort of middleware, I think you know what I mean.
I'm not a lawyer, a doctor or a politician and I don't work for the FCC. These are merely my opinions.
---mark, KM6ZPO