[hackerspaces] Mesh network specs

Wed Dec 28 17:25:40 CET 2011

Todd,

As I said previously, open-mesh.com products are great.  That said, I
prefer to use Ubiquity Networks devices over the "enterprise" grade
open-mesh devices.  Personally, I'd consider it equivalent to throwing
away money to go with something like the Airaya, versus going with a
Ubiquity Networks device.  We've had their devices deployed in coastal
outdoor environments for 10 years now with no problems - and it's all
super inexpensive.

Loki // BrainSilo

On Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 6:34 AM, Todd <todd at cruxtech.net> wrote:
> 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]
>>>>
>>>> PGP: 0x807B17C1 / 7960 1CDC 85C9 0B63 8D9F  DD89 3BD8 FF2B 807B 17C1
>>>> WWW: https://drwho.virtadpt.net/
>>>>
>>>> "Apathy is suicide and we will bear the blame!" --Psykosonik
>>>>
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