Questions and answers
Does it need the internet?
No. Not to set up, not to use, not ever. The device makes its own Wi-Fi network and everything is stored on it.
How do I use it?
Plug it in, wait about a minute, and join the Wi-Fi network printed on the card in the box (or scan the code on it). Type 10.10.10.1 into the phone's browser and the library opens. There is nothing to install.
How many people can use it at once?
Lantern serves about twenty phones on its built-in Wi-Fi, Signature about thirty. Vault includes a separate router and serves forty or more across a compound; a whole-house router is an optional upgrade on Signature.
How long does it run on a battery?
Lantern draws about three watts, so a common 10,000 mAh power bank runs it through the night and a 20,000 mAh bank for about two days. Signature draws about five watts; a 20,000 mAh bank runs it for about twelve hours. The owner's status page shows how long the bank you are on should last. Vault carries its own power station, which recharges from a wall outlet, a vehicle or a solar panel.
Is Wikipedia really all on there?
Yes: every article in English Wikipedia, with images, as of the library's date. Other languages can be added from the settings page when the unit is plugged into your router, and Vault will ship with Spanish, French, German and Chinese.
Do the maps work without GPS?
Yes. The maps are searchable by place name and browsable with no signal at all. A phone cannot share its own GPS position with the device (that needs a secure connection the internet normally provides), so for a "we are here" dot the unit needs its own GPS: a Lantern Mesh has one built in; a Wi-Fi only Lantern takes a USB GPS receiver, about $15. Either one also keeps its clock right.
What is the Mesh radio?
An option on the Lantern (+$99). Meshtastic is an open radio network that people run all over the country: small LoRa radios pass short text messages from one to the next, a few miles at a time, with no towers, no internet and no account; if there are other radios around you, you are on their network too. A Lantern Mesh has the radio and a GPS inside; its Mesh page shows who is in range and what they are saying, everyone on its Wi-Fi can send, and the map shows where the other radios are. It also has a private household channel that only your own radios can read, and one-to-one messages are end-to-end encrypted. The Mesh Card is a pocket radio that joins the same mesh from a bag or a belt, so the person who is out can reach the house. Messages are short (a text, not a call), and the mesh only carries what people on it send: it is not the internet.
What is the Library Assistant?
On Signature and Vault, an assistant that runs entirely on the device. Ask a question in plain words; it searches the library and your own documents, answers only from passages it found, and shows you the source beside the answer. If the library has no answer, it says so rather than guessing. Sums, percentages, unit conversions and equations are worked out exactly, and questions about learning a subject point you at the lesson to start with.
What is Learn?
On Signature and Vault, Khan Academy's English U.S. curriculum, about 18,000 lesson videos and 9,000 practice exercises, through Kolibri, the offline learning platform. Each person in the house picks a name and keeps their own progress; no account and no connection.
Can I put my own documents on it?
Yes. From a phone, or from a folder on a USB stick: manuals, guides, papers. They are read into the same search as the library, ahead of the encyclopedia, and the assistant quotes them. They stay on the device; anyone on its Wi-Fi can open them, so manuals belong there and papers with account numbers do not.
Can I update the library?
Yes, two ways. Plug the Ethernet port into your home router and the settings page lists everything the Kiwix project publishes, and newer builds of what you have; pick what you want and it downloads onto the unit. Or apply a library update from a USB stick. Nothing on the unit ever needs the internet to be read.
Can I share it with the neighbours?
Yes. One tap on the settings page opens the network to anyone nearby for 24 hours, no password; it locks itself again after that or when the unit restarts.
Can I use my own Raspberry Pi?
The Library Card is the complete Lantern library on a pre-loaded 512 GB card for a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5. The Library Download, the same library as a disk image you write yourself, is coming.
Is the content licensed?
Yes. Every source on the device is either in the public domain or licensed for distribution, and each is credited on the device and on the What's in the library page. Where a source is licensed for personal use only, we leave it out rather than ship it without permission.
Where does it ship from, and how fast?
From Minnesota. In-stock Lantern orders ship within two business days; a Lantern with the Mesh radio ships within about seven business days, because the radio is fitted to order. Signature and Vault are coming soon; reserving one is free.
What if I don't like it?
Return it within 60 days for a full refund. Details on the warranty and returns page.