We’re excited to welcome you to our updated Calyx website. We hope you enjoy our new look! We are continuing to make changes and updates, so we appreciate you bearing with us during this time. If you have any questions, need help finding information, or want to report an error, please email us at help[@]calyx[.]org.
Since the launch of the new Calyx Sprout BYOD membership, we tested four popular devices requested by our members and community partners, especially the RV Mobile Internet Resource Center. In this article, we would like to share some insights from our test in the hope it will inform your decision in choosing the best devices for your unique cases.
To compare the real-world performance of the tested wireless access points that work with our BYOD SIMs, our team performed regular speed tests simultaneously in different locations and repeated the test several times across a span of days. Each speed test collected data using multiple distinct speed testing tools provided by OONI and the Measurement Lab (M-Lab), including the DASH Streaming Test that emulated a video streaming experience and NDT Speed Test that measured network speed and performance. We gave each tested device a score on user experience based on the following criteria:
Our tests demonstrated that all four devices work seamlessly with our BYOD SIMs. Specifically:
Please note, the above charts demonstrated the then-current data during our test. Subsequent results are subject to any change in the operations by T-Mobile, the upstream provider of the Calyx Internet Membership program. Besides, the area, terrain, network traffic, and weather of each specific device can also play a contributing factor. We cannot guarantee that our members will see the same results and speeds as we have seen in these initial tests. We share these results not to demonstrate that there is one best wireless access point for our BYOD SIMs, but instead to demonstrate that these SIMs will work with a wide variety of wireless access points – many more than we’ve been able to test so far. The best hardware setup for you is highly dependent on your specific use case, location, and other individual factors.
As always, we recommend that you use a reliable VPN and privacy-respecting browsers and tools—such as Tor Browser and DuckDuckGo search engine—to maximize the protection of your online privacy. With that in mind, we plan to do additional rounds of testing to evaluate the advanced features of these hotspots, including the native VPN support and other privacy-focused features. Stay tuned for our future test results.
GL.iNET GL-X3000 Spitz AX
User interface: ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
Features and specs
Bonus
GL.iNET GL-XE300 Puli
User interface: ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
Features and specs
Bonus
Peplink MAX BR1 Mini 5G
User interface: ⭑⭑⭑
Features and specs
Bonus
Mikrotik Chateau
User interface: ⭑⭑⭑
Features and specs
We are sharing an important update regarding the recent change to the server infrastructure at Calyx Institute to ensure transparency and respond to emerging questions and concerns on personal data stored at Calyx. Please continue reading for details about the change and how it affects your data.
In July, Calyx experienced an outage of our storage infrastructure, which caused our member portal to be down for approximately 12 hours and greatly affected several key projects. This is not the first time this has happened, and our internal data infrastructure has been undergoing reconstructions for more than a year. This outage made it a matter of urgency to keep our work running while conducting a full data infrastructure audit and redesign.
To conduct an urgent fix, the affected projects were migrated to the Vultr cloud to ensure project stability and resilience. This includes our member portal and database. Here you can find information about Vultr's note on data encryption, their privacy policy, and their approach to data protection in Trust and privacy section of Vultr Trust Center.
For the same reason, we have switched to Proton as our primary email provider, and are in the process of transitioning our email server for the member helpdesk to Proton. This means future emails from us to our members, including this one, will be sent from a Proton SMTP server. Here is Proton's privacy policy and their explanation of how email encryption works within and outside Proton.
This operational update will not change any member status and services. Member login credentials stay the same. The integrity of our members' personal data is our main priority and we will continue improve our infrastructure to secure data privacy. Calyx does not, and will not have access to any payment information if you have been using credit card or cryptocurrency for your contribution, as all of the transactions are and will remain being handled by PayPal and NOWpayment. As a reminder, you can login to your member portal any time to delete your shipping information if you are not waiting for shipment from us.
We always strive to do our best to keep our members apprised of changes, and to take efforts to enhance organizational transparency.
As part of this effort, we are reviewing our privacy policy and are currently in the process of a thorough update. Please stay tuned for our updates.
After months of diligent work with all of the applicants for the 2025 Sepal Fund, we are thrilled to announce the stellar list of our current recipients, including: Library Freedom Project (LFP), CryptoHarlem, Abya Yala Network, and Open Archive. To share more exciting news, LFP, CryptoHarlem, Abya Yala Network, and Open Archive will join us at the Global Gathering 2025 event in Portugal between September 8-10. We look forward to the precious opportunity to connect with everyone in person and further expand the community for internet freedom. Here is a brief introduction to each of these grantees:
Founded in 2015, LFP is a non-profit organization rethinking the role of librarianship by building a network of values-driven librarians committed to fostering information democracy. The mission of LFP is rooted in empowering library workers to take bold action in the face of censorship, surveillance, and other threats to intellectual freedom. By equipping librarians with privacy-first tools, advocacy strategies, and professional development opportunities, LFP helps libraries become hubs of equity, access, and resistance.
From intensive trainings to curated resources and coalition building, LFP bridges gaps in the library world, turning libraries into safe havens where individuals can access knowledge, express ideas, and protect their digital privacy without fear.
CryptoHarlem's work is rooted in community protection, digital justice, and long-term empowerment. CryptoHarlem delivers direct cybersecurity support to grassroots organizations, produces community-informed research on digital harms, and amplifies the voice of underserved communities that are impacted by surveillance and exclusion from the tech sector.
Abya Yala Network brings together activists, developers, and people's technicians working with organizations and communities to appropriate autonomous and secure digital platforms by hosting and administering themselves. The network is formed by Centro de Autonomía Digital, Espora, Laboratorio Popular de Medios Libres, Numérica Latina, and Sutty.
OpenArchive is dedicated to protecting people and their histories. They are a non-profit organization that conducts community co-research to develop privacy-first mobile archiving solutions, create guides, and host training workshops. Since 2014, the organization has collaborated with communities world-wide to infuse co-research outcomes into free tools that are as easy to use as they are secure.
Their open-source flagship mobile application Save, securely archives, verifies, and encrypts media to ensure it is authenticated, preserved, and accessible. Their goal is to foster freedom, autonomy, and accountability by ensuring the historical record endures as technologies change.
As we explained in the Calyx granting philosophy, our effort focuses on supporting organizations with limited resources to unleash their potential and grow, through community building, eliminating barriers with minimized restrictions, and a culture of reciprocity. With this in mind, we were able to provide single-year discretionary funding to the Sepal Fund finalists alongside the selection of the Sepal Fund grant recipients. This group is comprised of the Center for Intimacy Justice, Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP), the De|Center, and Convocation Research + Design. While we have closed funding applications for the 2025 cycle, we aim to continue refining and evolving our granting strategies in the future.
If you would like to meet us and the stellar folks at LFP, CryptoHarlem, Abya Yala Network, and Open Archive, come to the Calyx booth throughout Global Gathering! See you there!
Nicholas Merrill, president and founder of Calyx Institute, has left the organization to pursue other projects. Nick has championed privacy and data security over the last 25 years, and we thank Nick for his decades-long leadership, guidance, and contributions.
As Nick charts the next chapter of his career, Calyx Institute’s Interim Executive Director Ellen McDermott will continue to lead the organization’s important work.
We remain fully committed to our mission to defend digital privacy, advance connectivity, and strive for a future where everyone has access to the resources and tools they need to remain securely connected. Our work will continue to grow an alternative FOSS digital ecosystem centering on CalyxOS, offer hands-on tools for people to access the internet easily wherever they are, and support internet freedom through grantmaking, research, education, and community capacity building.