[hackerspaces] Mesh network specs

Todd todd at cruxtech.net
Wed Dec 28 15:34:07 CET 2011


Has anyone seen this before 
http://www.open-mesh.com/index.php/enterprise-mesh.html ? or had any 
experience with it ?

On 12/28/2011 6:24 AM, Todd wrote:
> Oh I forgot to mention, yes preferentially all traffic on this network 
> would be encrypted, I am not sure how to implement that though 
> (outside of just using WPA2 on everything)
>
> On 12/28/2011 4:49 AM, Todd wrote:
>> Thanks to everyone who has responded.
>>
>> For the mesh, I do envision as being peer to peer, the only reason to 
>> use backhauls is because I am anticipating that we may not be able 
>> have good enough coverage that the speed won't suck, so it should 
>> still be peer to peer and the backhauls, of which should be few and 
>> just to make large distance jumps,  would be transparent bridges.
>>
>> I have not worked with mesh networking before, not have I had enough 
>> routers to test anything out yet, although that will change in the 
>> next 2 weeks, I want it to be as transparent as possible to the end 
>> users, and we will be setting up each router (with openWRT) 
>> personally, the people who host the nodes shouldn't ever touch them. 
>> So it should work like a normal hotspot with captive portal, at least 
>> that is what I am hoping for.
>> The assumption here is that the mesh would be handing out IPs via 
>> DHCP, or would that not work ?
>>
>> For the backhaul links I am going with professional (read expensive) 
>> hardware,
>>
>> Airaya WirelessGrid-300 5 Ghz 300 Mbps with 24 dbi Panel Antennas
>> So it would be 802.11N for the backhauls, and 802.11G for the end users.
>> This is also why the routers in the mesh network should have dual 
>> radios.
>>
>> The power shouldn't be an issue, or even having the routers exposed 
>> to the elements, my plan is to have the
>> routers indoor in the homes of the people who are hosting it, so the 
>> routers should be safe from the elements,
>> and the antennas would be external to the building, so any routers 
>> chosen would need to have replaceable antennas
>> (in this case DIR-655) although I am wondering what the max length 
>> between the antenna and the router can be for the SMA connectors ?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 12/26/2011 12:08 PM, The Doctor wrote:
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>>> ObDisclaimer: I'm one of the developers of Project Byzantium.
>>>
>>>> I am looking to build a mesh network in chicago, The way we are
>>>> planning to do it is, we have an uplink set up in a datacenter
>>>> downtown with a 100mbit connection, and a place for the antenna on
>>>> the building that will go across the street to the 1st hop, which
>>>> will then have several point to point links to the greater mesh
>>>> network. So the plan is
>>> That sounds like a good first draft of your backhaul.  Good.
>>>
>>>> primarily to have many meshes, probably about 20, each with ~8
>>>> wireless
>>> When you say 'mesh', do you mean a true peer-to-peer wireless mesh, or
>>> are you using 'mesh' to describe your architecture of backhauls and
>>> access point for clients?  What mesh routing protocol are you
>>> considering using?  Which have you tried deploying?  What is the
>>> hardware and software of your expected client base?
>>>
>>>> routers, which are connected via point to point bridges. None of
>>>> this is commercial, so we will not be worrying about things like
>>>> zoning fr the antennas since they will all be on private
>>>> properties. My question is,
>>> I've heard it said that perhaps you should contact the FFC to see what
>>> they think of this because they may take a negative interest in your
>>> repurposing bits of the consumer unlicensed spectrum for a project of
>>> this size.
>>>
>>>> does this sound like a good plan, and if so, what specific
>>>> hardware should be looking to use ?
>>> That's going to be a difficult question to answer because much of our
>>> work has to do with repurposing and modifying off-the-shelf equipment.
>>>
>>> What I can say is that wok-fi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WokFi)
>>> works pretty well for long-haul links between nodes.  You should
>>> probably consider mounting your antennae under overhangs of some kind
>>> to give them some protection from the elements.  If you can hide a
>>> whole node's hardware under an overhang to protect it from rain and
>>> snow, so much the better.
>>>
>>> What are your power requirements looking like?  How do you plan on
>>> powering individual nodes?
>>>
>>>> Please be specific as in technically specific (5ghz 16.5dbi yagi
>>>> antenna) or list the manufacturer/link to hardware that is being
>>>> suggested.
>>> I don't want to assume, but my guess would be that you're going to use
>>> 802.11g links for your backhaul?  Are you going to encrypt the
>>> backhauls or not?
>>>
>>> - -- The Doctor [412/724/301/703]
>>>
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>>> WWW: https://drwho.virtadpt.net/
>>>
>>> "Apathy is suicide and we will bear the blame!" --Psykosonik
>>>
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