OK...  I finally figured out some of this tunneling install...

I needed putty...  I didn't know I needed putty.  I haven't used putty in YEARS!  LOL

Got putty installed and connected to the 192. address of the "router in the middle" in SSH mode with a port of 2222.  It took me a while to figure out how since there weren't very clear instructions as to what to use to ssh into it nor what port...

Username root

password (what I set it to)

And finally had a prompt I could actually type all this stuff into for the server scripts!  It looks like it all installed correctly...  I think...

The ServerDMZ router got swapped out for one that could use the VPN tunneling named N5MBM-3-Bridge.  I manually entered all those port forwarding entries and the advertised services very carefully.  Now only one out of 8 works...  So for some reason, 7 entries no longer function.  I can ping them.  I can see them on my 192. network.  But nothing on the mesh can get them to do anything...

I have the "router in the middle" (now N5MBM-3-Bridge) LAN port 1 plugged into the N5MBM-1-QTH mesh router and LAN port 4 plugged into the 192. network switch.  The Mesh Gateway is unchecked. LAN mode is NAT. Address is 192.168.1.2 WAN is disabled.  I can't seem to use the WAN port or it gets all confused...  I have to use LAN NAT mode to get all my local 192. servers and resources on the mesh.

The N5MBM-1-QTH mesh router is setup as the Mesh Gateway, WAN set to static 192.168.1.117 Internet gateway 192.168.1.1.  WAN port is connected to the 192. network switch.  LAN mode is 13 host direct.  This is where everything comes together between my farm mesh and the 192. house LAN and the internet.

I have tried different configurations and this works - most of the time.  But it has an annoying habit of losing its mind and I am guessing it is router loops.  The DNS on my network goes haywire and so does the DHCP sometimes.  Sometimes it takes a while for it to settle down and behave after rebooting one or two routers.  And I have a lot of routers scattered around the farm!  Different buildings, different cameras, etc.

But now that I have the server side setup - I am going to sit on my hands until I can get ahold of the other guys router across the county from me and slap the client side on it...  Patience is sometimes not my strong suit!

Tonight I get to bang my head into the keyboard and figure out why all those advertised services can't be gotten to that were there on the mesh a few hours ago working just fine with 3.0.0 on the other router...

Bill - N5MBM

Bill:

If you wish to automate the scp file transfers (like in a batch file or shell script) you will run into a problem entering the password, which must be done interactively. There are two solutions:

#1, learn how to use expect which will script the login process for you.

or

#2, upload your ssh key to the node and then configure your ssH_config file for the destination, port (2222) and user name (root)

I realize this post is quite cryptic. I'd be glad to post more complete instructions for either option if there is interest.

Over here we are faced with a hilly country and as such don't always have line of site to all our fellow hams.

The mesh is starting to get to a point of where we will get Critical mass in some areas and ZL1LW and myself have started visiting various clubs and presenting what the mesh is about.

This was our most recent mesh presentation to the North Shore Radio club.

https://nzmesh.wordpress.com/2015/02/08/north-shore-radio-club-mesh-presentation/

Complex it is indeed.

Thanks for your continuous support on the fantastic Ham Mesh and the assistance given through these forums. It is indeed a pleasure to see it work.

The intention locally is to set up ham broadband networks for emergency use, with VOIP and HD cams operating at the same time, hence our hope for more bandwidth, not at the cost of network instability either. I guess we are all pioneers in respect to experimenting with the system.

We know that the mesh can be fortified and made more fault-tolerant with every node added to the mesh itself. The problem is that we don't have much nodes to play with for now, so most experiments were mostly point-to-point in essence.

I don't know then, if hypothetically speaking, if we had 40 MHz bandwidth instead of 20MHz, we could get better distances at the same maximum 15Mbt/s we managed to achieve so far....

I'll need to read into the document shared with us by K6AH. It's certainly a great read into how mesh behaviour changes, sometimes quite in a weird way, depending on network topology and node placements and a ton of other factors.

WIFI noise is one that we have noticed for sure, but going to a more remote place where we couldn't detect any commercial WIFI anywhere, the maximum throughput in ideal conditions was still 15Mbt/s  - which is presumingly caused then, by the 20MHz bandwidth limit.

re: 3.0.1...

Ah.  the WRT54GL can take 3.0.1.  You just can't load the tunnel add-on to it.

(sorry, I'm having too many QSO's at once.  I think my brain is not cross-band capable.  ;-)

sorry. 

scp is a command/protocol used for transferring files.

on linux and OSX, it is built in.

On Windows, look for WinSCP.

Although, you should be careful.  Research how to use SCP/WinSCP before attempting.

D.

Uhhh... whats SCP? 

As I sit on windoze 7 box scratchin' my head... LOL

Bill - N5MBM

N5MBM-10-ServerDMZ is not a WRT54GS it is a GL. Thank God for ePray! A few clicks of "Buy it NOW!" and some GS v2's show up on my doorstep 5 days later...

Now I have six NOCALL routers ready to go. I am going to be handing them off to folks across the county. And see how this tunneling stuff works!

I am excited, but am sort of lost - but I will get it, eventually!

Bill - N5MBM

also, regarding the tunneling...

You should be able to upgrade your N5MBM-10-ServerDMZ (is it a "MESH" type node or "NAT" type?)  Hopefully MESH...  ;-)

Backup the files as previously mentioned via scp...

upgrade it to 3.0.1

It is recommended that you disable the Internet Gateway function (the node itself will always have internet if you plug a cat5 from your local lan into the WAN port of the node.)

restore the files you backed up (via scp), save

install the tunnel add-on and reboot

get the info from the server that you want to connect to (ie.  network number, password, dns name)

configure your tunnel client with that info.

done.  (watch your Mesh status page grow!)

Darryl

Bingo... That is exactly what I am doing right now. Still, if I want to update other nodes on our net, having everything safely cached on the server will be nice.  Thanks

If you are talking about changes made in the /cgi-bin/ports page (ie. services, dhcp, and port fwd)....

I think you are using OSX, so it's trivial.
You can:

scp root@YOURNODENAME:/etc/config.mesh/_setup.services.dmz ~
scp root@YOURNODENAME:/etc/config.mesh/_setup.ports.dmz ~
scp root@YOURNODENAME:/etc/config.mesh/_setup.dhcp.dmz ~

UPGRADE THE NODE
Do the initial node setup (ie. Assign the SSID and password)
Reboot

then, SCP them from your local machine back to the node
Then, go to /cgi-bin/admin and hit the SAVE button.

that should be a rudimentary BACKUP/RESTORE of the ports page stuff

The nice thing about BBHN is it's just a means of moving data.  If you can move it over ethernet, or the internet, or even your own little local network at home - you can move that same data across the mesh.

That being said - if your repeaters have the ability to connect to others over an internet link - you have everything you need already.  If not, you have some work to do.  This is talking about a two-way link to link both repeaters together mind you...

There's a way to listen to repeaters in remote locations though...  For details and live on the air examples checkout www.n5mbm.net and scroll down about halfway down the main page you will find "The Listening Post".  I use it when I am out of town in strange hotels or sitting in a parking lot waiting for my wife to exit the mall with my credit cards intact...

Bill - N5MBM

n5mbm.net

To K5DLQ -

In reference to tunneling...

Take a peek at http://n5mbm.endoftheinternet.org:8080/cgi-bin/mesh

Forgive my confusion here - but I have a node called N5MBM-10-ServerDMZ that sits between the mesh and my local 192. network and is the internet gateway.  Do I need to upgrade THAT one to 3.0.1 and use the tunneling off of that router or do I need to add another Linksys router to be the tunnel router?

The pile of linksys routers is getting sort of tall in the server room!  LOL

I am hesitant to ask because of all the config I had to do for all those resources hanging off of it and it isn't capable of taking 3.0.1 - which means I have to swap out routers with one that will!  And I have 6 of them now sitting here.  But damn...  Is there a way to backup the config so I don't have to go through and retype all that stuff again?  LOL  :)

Bill - N5MBM

We've implemented vtun since it is light, simple, and firewall friendly.

the best way to allow PC/phones to the mesh is to add a wifi access point that has it's WAN port connected to the LAN of the mesh.

I use an old Linksys WRT54G with DD-WRT to get WPA2 encryption/security from my pc/phone to the mesh.

Thanks.  Even a single directory structure would be great. I could then symlink or copy from there as needed and I could easily script that!

I was wondering the same thing - I have tried to find the button but I can't find it!

I blame the tri-focals...  yeah... yeah...

Bill - N5MBM

Today, everything gets wiped upon an update.

That will change soon on Ubiquiti (where we have more memory and newer OpenWRT support.

Darryl