When the Internet Goes Quiet: Keeping Useful Knowledge Close

A gentle companion to our 72-hour preparedness guide: how to keep a library of useful information in your home, even when the internet is down

Most of us don’t think about what happens to our access to information until the power or the internet fails. In the first hours we reach for the phone, and when it doesn’t work, we feel the gap. Food, water, warmth, and medical supplies come first. Those are what keep a household going through a 72-hour outage or longer. If you haven’t started there, my earlier post, Ready in Body, Resting in God, has a free printable checklist and simple guides for water, first aid, and sanitation. But once the immediate needs are covered, the next question is often, “How do I look something up?”

I’ve been looking into a free, open-source project called Project NOMAD that quietly answers that question. You install it on a computer, and an old laptop can do the job. While you still have a connection, it downloads a local copy of useful knowledge: Wikipedia, medical references, repair guides, maps, books, and educational lessons for children. When the internet drops, anyone in the house can open a web browser on their phone or tablet, connect to that laptop over your home network, and read what is stored there. No cloud, no account, no signal. The laptop simply needs power.

It is not the live internet. It won’t give you today’s news or let you pay a bill. What it does is keep a solid, searchable library of the kinds of information people actually need when systems are down: how to treat a common injury, how something works, where a road leads on a map, or background on a topic that suddenly matters. It can even keep the children learning with offline Khan Academy lessons if school is interrupted.

In the same way we set aside shelf-stable food and basic medical supplies as an extra layer of care, this is simply another layer: knowledge that stays available when the wider web does not. You set it up once while everything is still working, choose what is worth keeping, and then it sits ready. If the lights stay on and the internet never fails, nothing is lost. If they don’t, the information is already in the house.

“The astute see an evil and hide, while the naive continue on and pay the penalty” (Proverbs 22:3, NABRE). Preparing a little knowledge ahead of time is one more ordinary act of stewardship. We do the sensible thing, and then we rest in the One who already holds the days ahead.

What Is Project NOMAD?

NOMAD stands for Node for Offline Media, Archives, and Data. It was created by Crosstalk Solutions, a small networking company in Oregon founded by Chris Sherwood, who is known for his technology tutorials on YouTube. The project began in 2025 and drew wide attention in early 2026, as more people began thinking about what they would do without the internet.

Project NOMAD doesn’t reinvent the wheel. It brings several trusted, free projects together under one simple home screen: Kiwix, which has been making offline copies of Wikipedia for years; Kolibri, the offline learning platform that carries Khan Academy lessons into schools without internet around the world; and open map data from OpenStreetMap. It is free and open source, which means anyone can look at how it is built. It also collects no data about you.

A Few Honest Things to Know First

• It needs a little technical comfort to set up. Installation is done by typing a few commands into a terminal. It is not hard for someone who is comfortable with computers, but it is not “plug and play.” If that isn’t you, this is a lovely project to do with a tech-minded teenager, grandchild, or friend.
• It runs on Linux, not Windows. Project NOMAD is designed for Ubuntu or Debian Linux. Installing Linux on an old laptop usually erases what is on it, so back up anything you want to keep first. (There is a community-supported way to run it on Windows, but it is more involved.)
• Set it up now, not during an outage. The downloads are large and take hours. Everything has to be in place while the internet still works.
• Plan for power. A laptop is a good choice because it has its own battery. A charged power bank or a small solar generator can keep it, and your Wi-Fi router, running longer. Lowering the screen brightness helps too.
• Keep it at home. Project NOMAD has no password of its own, so it should only be used on your private home network, never opened to the wider internet.
• Keep paper copies too. A computer can fail. Print the essentials, such as your 72-hour checklist, emergency contacts, and basic first-aid steps, and keep them with your kit.
• Medical references are not a doctor. They can help you understand a situation. In an emergency, always call 911 or seek medical care whenever you can.

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How Project NOMAD Works

Project NOMAD is a free, open-source offline knowledge server. Here is how it works.

Step 1: Install while online. You install the software on a regular computer running Ubuntu or Debian Linux. During setup, while you still have an internet connection, you choose which content to download.

Step 2: Content is stored on the computer. Depending on what you choose, it can keep:

• Wikipedia (the full English version with images takes well over 100 GB; text-only or smaller collections use much less)
• Medical references, repair guides, and other reference collections
• Offline regional maps
• Free ebooks
• Educational courses, including Khan Academy lessons, with progress tracking for children
• An optional AI assistant that runs entirely on your own computer, with nothing sent to the cloud

Step 3: Shares content over your home network. Once set up, Project NOMAD works like a small private website inside your home. Any phone, tablet, or computer connected to the same Wi-Fi can open a normal web browser and use it. On the laptop itself, the address is http://localhost:8080. From other devices, it is the laptop’s network address followed by :8080 (for example, http://192.168.1.25:8080).

Step 4: Works fully offline. When the internet goes down, the library keeps working as long as the laptop and your Wi-Fi router have power. If the router is off, you can still read everything directly on the laptop.

Step 5: Updates when connected. While the internet is available, Project NOMAD can update itself and the content you chose, on a schedule you control, so your offline copy stays reasonably current.

Practical notes

• Basic hardware is modest: a dual-core processor, 4 GB of memory, and enough free storage for the content you choose. Plan for a large hard drive if you want full Wikipedia and maps. An older laptop is usually enough for the library itself.
• The AI assistant is optional and demanding. To run it well, the project recommends a much stronger computer (around 32 GB of memory and a dedicated graphics card). Most households can skip it and still have everything else.
• Recommended system: Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (ubuntu.com/download/desktop). Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and Debian 12 are also supported (debian.org/download).
• Official site and install guide: projectnomad.us
• Source code and documentation: github.com/Crosstalk-Solutions/project-nomad

This creates a quiet, self-contained library of useful information that stays available in your home even when the wider internet does not. It is one more way of preparing without panic.

I am not affiliated with Project NOMAD or Crosstalk Solutions. I am simply sharing a free resource I found helpful. Please check the official site for the latest instructions before installing.

Helpful resources

• Ready in Body, Resting in God: our 72-hour preparedness guide and free printable checklist (rejoiceandpraise.ca)
• Project NOMAD: projectnomad.us
• Get Prepared (Public Safety Canada): getprepared.gc.ca
• Canadian Red Cross: redcross.ca

Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, Revised Edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved.