Hi everybody,

I have a mesh network (not connected to the internet) using Linksys WRT54GLs and the 3.0.0 firmware.  The mesh nodes do not have the correct time.  One computer connected to the mesh acts as an NTP server.  I got one mesh node to have the correct time by modifying the /etc/init.d/ntpclient file (added "-t" to ntpcilent, and modified the NTP server name in two places).

Do the WRT54GLs use the time for anything?

Would it be generally useful to allow the configuration of the NTP server name (and perhaps the ntpclient arguments) at the basic setup screen found at http://localnode:8080/cgi-bin/setup ?

Thanks, and 73,

Andy KB1OIQ

Once you setup one of your nodes as an internet gateway, all your nodes are supposed to find the NTP servers out on the internet and will automagically set their time...

However, I setup tunneling on my little mesh...  Once I did that, nobody could find the internet based NTP servers.  So I setup all of mine to find one locally that I setup on a local PC that sees the mesh AND the internet...  I edited that file and pointed them all to one Windoze 7 box acting as a local NTP server.

All of them worked - except for ONE, and I am STILL trying to figure that one out...

Bill - N5MBM

www.n5mbm.net

In my case, I never intend to connect this mesh network to the real internet.  Other computers connected to the network could setup a pointer to my laptop as the NTP server and I'm sure that would work.

My questions are:

1) Do the WRT54GLs need to know the correct time?  I suspect not.  Maybe I'm being fussy since one of the  screens shows the system time, and I want it to be correct.

2) Can the WRT54GLs be setup as NTP servers?

Thanks, and 73,

Andy KB1OIQ

Yep - but remember, if you are using Windoze, you will have to poke a hole in the Windoze fiewall to let it accept NTP requests!

I don't know about the setting of a node up as an NTP server.  Why would you want to if it didn't have a way of getting a good time signal anyway?

But I felt the same way - I wanted my nodes times to all be correct...  There's one holdout on my network, and I am still trying to figure out why it refuses to synch up...

Bill - N5MBM

www.n5mbm.net

Openwrt should have a built in NTP client/server http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/ntp.client 

You could point all your nodes at an NTP server on your laptop and make sure its go the correct time.

Another option if you are handy with a soldering iron is you could connect a serial port to one of your WRT nodes and attach a gps receiver.  This could be used as an accurate time source for a local ntp server on the node. Set the rest of the nodes to use the server as their time source and you "should" have them all on the correct time.

Info on serial ports here: http://www.rwhitby.net/projects/wrt54gs