I am just getting interested in HSMM-MESH and I'm having trouble deciding where to start.  I see advantages and disadvantages with both Lynksis and Ubiquiti products.  Linksys operates on 12 volts, dual diversity antennas, and has both a Wan port and a built in 4 port switch.  Both are good advantages, but the output power is kind of low and to connect better antennas you have to factor in coax losses.  Ubiquiti devices on the other hand have a better output power and some models connect directly to the antenna with a built-in N type connector.  Dissadvantages are only one ethernet port and 24volt poe.  What do you gurus recommend as a first setup to prove concept and get other people excited about HSMM-Mesh.  Mainly I want to impress the local Emergency Management Director with the capability and get him onboard with getting an established network in the area.

Thanks for your advise

N4TNA

Chris

If you are wanting to build a mesh in your house, the 54G's are fine.    If you are looking to have an externally mounted node, you can't beat the Bullet for simplicity and ease of placement.

Also, I'm running a Bullet M2 with a $3 passive POE injector I bought off of ebay.   It's running fine off of 12 volts (my Travel Trailer's main battery) and I'm powering it through about 40-50 feet of cable.  I suppose if I needed to go with a longer cable, I would need the nice 24V injector.   I don't use it for hsmm-mesh (Yet), but I use it to pull in the campground wifi with a high gain co-linear antenna.  (A necessary evil to work on the road)

http://ae5ca.com/?p=74

Summary: Ubiquiti NanoStations are a better choice, generally.

Many people now discount the older WRT54's in favor of the newer and better Ubiquiti gear.

As Alan said, WRTs are still QUITE useful for local use, as an access into the mesh, for adding services to the mesh (web, chat, mail, file server, etc). They were made for close-in usage.

But as Darryl points to Clints page, UBNT gear is made to go the long haul. They are designed for the long distances and therefore have better radios and the software is much better at the timing and other issues that come with long shots.

Here locally, we are FINALLY building out a big network, and for the really long hops, we dont even flash to BBHN firmware, but use the stock AirOS as transparent links, and then hang BBHN-flashed gear off the ends for connectivity. The BBHN gear sees the transparent links basically as a CAT5 cable, so you dont lose overhead in the hops.

So it all depends on what you want to do. If it is just tabletop exercise, then WRTs will work just fine and are seriously inexpensive and plentiful. If you want to connect buildings across town, go with UBNT.

73 & Happy Meshing!

Jim