Miri Technologies Unexpectedly Deploys Its Own Technology

Network technology startup Miri Technologies Inc. unexpectedly deployed its own technology to support residents in a small community in Western Maryland during the devastating flooding earlier this month.

Miri co-founder and CTO Ryan Brenneman is a former resident of one of the affected counties, and had travelled to the area to support video productions at graduations at a local technical school. When he learned that the nearby town of Westernport was without broadband internet connectivity because of the flooding, he immediately wanted to help.

Brenneman set up a free community internet access point in the parking lot of the Bruce Outreach Centre Church, which was being used as an evacuation shelter and as a gathering spot for local residents. Leveraging built-in Speedify bonding technology, a Miri X510 router combined primary internet connectivity from a Starlink satellite connection with secondary cellular connections from AT&T, Verizon and UScellular to enable fast, reliable internet access even with traditional infrastructure unavailable.

The result provided a valuable communication pipeline for community members without their own mobile data access. It also offered benefits even for residents who had cellular data connectivity available, as they could transfer video and other material without being bound by speed or data transfer limits on their personal plans.

"Enabling emergency communications for disaster relief is one of the use cases the Miri X510 router was designed for, but I had no idea that I'd be deploying it for this purpose when I travelled back here," said Brenneman. "At times like these, communication is critical -- whether it's contacting loved ones or uploading photos and videos to insurance providers. The physical and emotional impact on this community will be felt for a long time, but I was hoping to be able to make that day just a little bit easier for them. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by these devastating floods."

www.miri.tech