RCBox + ExtendEast - Final Report
Executive Summary
This report covers our second major deliverable for the RCBox “Extend East” program running from December 2025 through the end of March 2026 funded by OTF. The first project deliverable was focused on Objective 1, which was to onboard and develop an overall work plan for the project with our regional partners. This also included user research and threat modeling, all of which were completed and reported on in January 2026. This work helped guide the rest of the program to a successful completion. This deliverable report covers the outcomes and outputs of the remaining Objectives 2 through 6, all of which were successfully completed. Details of each Objective, Deliverable, and Outcome are provided in our “Objectives & Outcomes” table below.
The major technical highlights achieved were a complete overhaul of the “portal” user interface and admin panel, the successful coexistence and communication between multiple RCBox instances, the addition of support for fully offline delay-tolerant secure messaging (DeltaChat!) between one or more of those boxes, and the successful test of Wifi HaLow radios with IP routing to extend the physical range and number of RCBox instances for viable communication.
Through our collaboration with the regional partner, we successfully tuned the solution to better meet their needs and threat models, while collaborating to produce new localized documentation and content packs.
Overall key achievements included:
- User Interface & Localization: A new portal UI was implemented for easier customization, better privacy control, and documentation, and content packs were localized for the regional context.
- Network & Connectivity: Support for multiple boxes on shared networks with automatic DNS resolution was added, alongside successful integration of encrypted delay-tolerant messaging services (DeltaChat+MadMail).
- System Stability: A new Debian foundation improved stability for simultaneous users and an updated database option improved the message board scalability and performance.
- Maintenance & Security: New methods for offline updates and administrative management were established, and a comprehensive tamper resistance guide was developed to protect the ecosystem.
- Research & Collaboration: Testing confirmed the viability of long-range wireless networks, while local partners provided ongoing feedback and testing support.
In summary, this rapid four-month sprint supported a major step forward for the capabilities, security, and relevance of the RCBox project for the Eastern European context and threat model. We are on the cusp of shipping all of this new functionality and documentation as part of a major new release, and deeply appreciate the support from this funding that got us to this point.