@W8ISS - So far as I know, at this point in time, the WRT54GS's v1-4 are the only ones that will do the tunneling, so far... Memory limitations and hardware limitations are to blame, from what I understand... But I heard something about somebody doing it with Ubiquiti Bullets - I cannot confirm this though... I haven’t' tried it.

I have dedicated routers setup for tunneling – One server and one client. Each router tunnel allows 10 people to connect to them, each. If I need more than 10, I have to add another router – that's just the way things are, right now. But let me tell ya – if you have a normal DSL line, 20 tunnels will sure knock one hell of a dent in your available bandwidth for normal surfing! I have a 35mb business connection that has a little bandwidth to spare...

With all that being said... I am STILL looking for more people to bog down my internet connection with! :)

Bill – N5MBM

@W8ISS - So far as I know, at this point in time, the WRT54GS's v1-4 are the only ones that will do the tunneling, so far... Memory limitations and hardware limitations are to blame, from what I understand... But I heard something about somebody doing it with Ubiquiti Bullets - I cannot confirm this though... I haven’t' tried it.

The tunneling goes through the internet – no restrictions on encryption there! Once it hits the air though, no encryption allowed... Those people who argue this point are armchair lawyers, at best. Some folks have little else to commit their time to, other than arguing a point that is moot. :)

I have dedicated routers setup for tunneling – One server and one client. Each tunnelling router allows 10 people to connect to them, each. (So I can handle 20 people!)  If I need more than 10, I have to add another router – that's just the way things are, right now. But let me tell ya – if you have a normal DSL line, 20 tunnels will sure knock one hell of a dent in your available bandwidth for normal surfing! I have a 35mb business connection that has a little bandwidth to spare...

With all that being said... I am STILL looking for more people to bog down my internet connection with! :)

Bill – N5MBM

Just saw this tangent after I replied to Bill's tangent about what to do next :)

If there is a need to have more access to tunneling, I have an old server (dell poweredge r200) sitting here soon nothing. Has centos on it currently but would put another distro on it if wanted. Would need the help and advice to get it setup and running.

As for the legal issues of tuneling, the old 2m jnos stations used to do encapsulation and tunneling all the time when there was interest and they had access toe internet. Check out the bottom of the www.mi-drg.org page for telnet links to some of Michigan's know systems. Mileage will vary as there has been off and on interest over the years. So sign me up to do something with the knowledge that I WILL be asking for help in doing this :)

James W8ISS

Nice write up on what 'could' happen to utilize the bbhn system. Too bad there are few that have expressed a 'displeasure' about providing a way to listen to 'public' frequencies. I won't rant here as I already have seen what you have gone through locally here :(

What would I need to do to provide a link from here to say your equipment and world? Currently working on a hamserverpi and asterisk-pi here. Have the software loaded but still need to get the documentation for the hamserverpi so that I can finish the configuration of it. The asterisk-pi is running but has nothing to provide currently other than for my couple of in-house softphones.

Keep tinkering with everything. Sooner or later they'll be knocking at your door for help and to be allowed access to the network :)

James W8ISS

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

one more question..can you port model numbers or links for the rocket and the antenna? Since it's MIMO doesn't it need two antennas per rocket?

Thanks again!!!  --Ed

Dave,

Well done! For some reason I haven't gotten updates from the forums, so I've missed out on your updates and replies to my posts. The next time TARA has a board meeting I'll mention your node setup.

Unfortunately my QTH (Averill Park) is probably too distant to establish a connection. My office (353 Broadway, Troy) has generally poor line of sight towards Albany, but the landlord has been accomodating towards roof access in the past. I have a Linksys node in my vehicle mostly for giggles and grins, but it might be fun to use it + a battery operated node to set up a video link for some of TARA's public service events...

73

Mike

Thanks Bill...that's the information I needed. I've got a nanostation I'm using to provide access to a radio out an outbuilding. I'll look into using them for a mesh as well.

Actually, with the Ubiquiti radios, there is very little difference in price or power. The PicoStation and Bullet are single polarity, the Rocket and NanoStation and Loco are MIMO.  Other than the Loco, they all put out around 28dBm and, other than the Loco, which costs around $50, they cost between $75 and $80. The real cost difference is in the antennas. The NanoStation, Nano Loco and PicoStation all come with antennas (the Pico's is removable). If you buy the Bullet or Rocket you will need to buy an antenna.

As I noted in a previous post, I wouldn't consider anything except a MIMO system. So, that leaves a choice between the NanoStation and the Rocket.  

The benefit of the Rocket is the ability to use high-gain antennas. So, two rockets @ $85 ea. + two RocketDish antennas @ $160 ea. would pretty much be the high end system.

On the other hand, two NanoStations @ $85 ea. will provide excellent performance at 1/3 the price.

Personally, I'd give the nod to the NanoStations. If they under perform, you can always use them somewhere else later on as your mesh grows.

Richard - wb6tae

Ok, I know that this is a bad question to ask, but....

Like I mentioned, I'm not in the best of locations as far as elevation is concerned, but any suggestions on a good combination of radio and antenna?  Best power and gain?  I don't want to go crazy expensive, but I'm willing to spend a little extra for a better setup.

Thanks,  Ed

Having said that, I have a WRT54GL so may not have enough space for the vtun software.

My current mesh internet gateway is a raspberry pi running hsmm-pi so if you are up for me having a go, I can install vtun on that and see if we can connect?

Jon

Wow, some good info here, thanks Bill (and others)..

I did get a WRT54-GS a while ago, updated it, and never really did much with it.  Good to learn that I can still use it, just not for the long haul.  I will use it locally, then pick up a Ubiquity unit.  I'll scope out the different models since my location isn't the best, I'll go for power and gain...  

Thanks again,  Ed

Would New Zealand be far enough away :-)

Just about to flash a wrt with 3.0.1 and need to finish configuring my internet connection with a separate network for the mesh node so its firewalled from my internal LAN but should be capable of setting up a tunnel sometime soon.

Jon

Three quick follow ups to Bill's excellent summary.

1) While the Rocket does have two antenna connectors, they are intended for diversity (MIMO*) use, not for two independent antennas. MIMO improves your received signal by around 3db over single polarity. So, you could use a dual-polarity antenna like Bill mentioned, or something like two yagis, with a 90° difference in polarity. But, they would need to point in the same direction.

2) The NanoStation is an excellent radio and, unlike the Bullets, it supports MIMO. A major plus.

3) The are actually two different radios in the "Nano" line. The NanoStation, which sells for around $80 and the Nano Loco which can be found for around $50. However, the Loco has lower output power and less gain in the antenna. I don't recall the exact ERP difference between the NanoStation and the Nano Loco. But I think it was like 9db or more.

Finally, I cannot over emphasize the advantage of using MIMO radios. The difference over a single polarity antenna is almost magic. Note that the NanoStation has a 60° coverage angle so you might luck out and be able to see more than one distant node. * MIMO = Multiple Input Multiple Output

Richard - wb6tae

Great summary, Bill, thanks - I'm going to point our "mesh newbies" at this so they can hit the ground running.

73 - Orv - W6BI