As someone who has worked with mesh technology... You can not do what you are interested in doing legally or cheaply with existing technology. I have assembled small mesh networks in city environments and you either need a really good density or just one shutdown will break the system. Almost none of the gear works anywhere near as well as manufactures say it does.
There is a lot of really bad router firmware out there. Even OpenWRT leaves a lot to be desired. But the concept is sound, and wi-fi can be extremely resilient when built correctly. You can't just buy something off-the-shelf and trust the manufacturers' claims without thorough testing, though.
The problem with government action and internet killswitch is the common frequency used bu WiFi routers and possibility to ban and jam that frequency.
There's no way to ban 2.4 ghz, since it's used by microwave ovens. Even jamming it is somewhat difficult.
The problem is getting reliable and neutral connection to remaining internet.
Yes. Did you see the thread on cjdns/Hyperboria?
