Yes, and no. The initial network will operate using the public internet infrastructure but will use direct IPs instead of DNS. Clients will connect to local servers and local servers will communicate with each other using a central server (ideally) or directly to each other. (image) In a true SHTF, the servers can be connected to each other directly with cat5 cabling and analog data transmission (modems). Ethernet signals are not capable of running over long long distances without expensive amplifiers. Telephone amps can be made with under $100 in parts.
This. Revolutionary times had a level of surveillance that is only now becoming realized again. Yes, there was no Internet, but there were as you said soldiers everywhere. The thing about technology is that it can be a curse or a blessing. Right now, it is working as a curse to us, with the level of control they have over everything. We can harness technology and use it in our own way. I am working on a communications system that can be used by patriots to communicate either over existing infrastructure as securely as possible, or allow for the creation of grassroots infrastructure (think cat5 cables in the woods). It will function as a telephone system and communications messageboard, that can work over analog or digital lines. It will be a mix of "obsolete" technology and modern security methods that may not be pretty like this site, but will be resilient, secure, and adaptable, something we need more.
(throwaway account of 5-year TD/TDW user)
I haven't considered lasers, but from the looks of it, it requires very specialized equipment that is expensive. One of the goals of this project is to be able to use as many common items as possible: standard cat5 cable, old Bell-era telephones (indestructible, good for field use), standard PCs, dial-up modems (I'm sure every computer nerd has at least a couple of these still laying around somewhere). The only thing that will be hard to find would probably be the ICs, but I'm sure that the ICs can be recovered from some consumer products.