I have been trying to load the .bin file from BBHN site into my new bullet and keep getting an error. I can get to AirOS, select administration page select to upgrade and select the file up upload to the bullet but with 5 to 10 seconds I get a failure notice. Does anyone have any ideas what is happening? I will get screen shots when I get back home Friday evening. Thank you for your efforts. Bill

Once the node that the Pi is connected to through the WAN port is up an going, I make sure that node with the Pi has the "Gateway" box checked.

The other nodes are already set up to query the internet for the time, so when they join the mesh they find the gateway to the Internet. Then their NTP client sends a request for the time. Since the node software is already setup to make the NTP query, no services need to be advertised.

Now this is not a real internet connection in the way you would think of it. But all the nodes can send the NTP client time request though to it. The key to the success of this configuration is the DNS server on the Pi. You could also set up your Linux box to do the same. Just add the additional services and configurations to it. Then properly connect to the WAN port of a node.

I'm new to Hamnet, and I need some help connecting a Foscam FI8910W IP camera to a MESH node.  I have read that port forwarding needs to be used to connect through the node to the camera, but I don't understand the details.

First, should the camera be connected to one of the LAN ports or the WAN port?  It seems that port forwarding relates to WAN, so I'm confused.  If it connects to the WAN port, how do you do this if you're using a Ubiquiti Bullet? Should the camera be an advertised service of the node?

Should the camera be given a static IP?  If so, does the camera IP need to be within a particular range related to the node IP?

Step by step instructions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Phil, W4PHS

I'm new to Hamnet, and I need some help getting started with VoIP over hamnet.  I would like to make direct phone-to-phone calls without using a PBX.  Since the Grandstream HT701 can connect using the IP address of the phone to call, they look like possible candidates.

Does anyone have any experience with Grandstream products such as the HT701?

I believe port forwarding needs to be used to connect to an external device like this, but it's not clear to me if the device should be connected to the LAN or WAN port on the router.

Thanks,

Phil, W4PHS

Though LMR-400 is great, you are aware that at 2412MHz it has an attenuation loss of 6.6dB/100ft?  This means that a 70-ft cable run (after adjusting for insertion loss) would cost you ~5.2dB loss?  And then on top of that you are going to build your own antenna (which for microwave has to be pretty precise)?

Let's do the math (Assuming Linksys...Adjust accordingly for Ubiquity (600mw--> 27.8dBm & -95dB RX sensitivity))...
Assuming Linksys:
Pout=0.079W --> 18.9dBm
Linksys Pout (assuming no di/duplexer) & cable run --> 18.9dBm - 5.2dB = 13.7dB of power to antenna
Assuming you can have an antenna gain of 8dB we yield an ERP of 21.7dB.  Sounds good eh?
So let's assume you have another node 300ft away, Let's calculate the Free Space Loss:
L=32.4+20*log(D)+20*log(f) = 32.4+20*log(300/5280*1.609km)+20*log(2412MHz) = 79.2dB loss per 300ft path
So at a receiving antenna, the antenna sees a signal that is 21.7-79.2 = -57.5dB.
Now, let's look at the Linksys hardware...The Linksys device at the other end has a RX sensitivity that is around -65dB.
Assuming the antenna has no gain and the cable in the other Linksys device has no loss...
Now we compare the numbers...difference between the two is (-57.5)-(-65)=7.5dB margin.
This 7.5dB margin will likely work fine in fair weather, but it may not be enough to protect the link from extreme weather conditions.
A margin of 10 to 15dB is fine.  However, to give for some attenuation and multipath in the received radio signal, a margin of 20dB should be safe.

That's only half of it...Now we need to look at the RX signal that the Linksys device attached to 70-ft LMR-400 cables receives.  (Same equations...I'll just post the sequential numerical results).
18.9dB  --> (antenna) --> -79.2dB --> Antenna RX sig of -60.3 --> 8dB Antenna Gain:  -52.3 --> Feedline loss:  -57.5dB --> Margin:  7.5dB.
(I wasn't expecting it to be the same...)  So the same result applies.  Link will be intermittent.

Note:  Amplifiers are nice, but keep in mind that they also amplify any noise that they receive and introduce it into the signal and into the device.  You are better off with a nice antenna and a very short cable run (60-70ft is not short).

For link planning...Consult chapter 10 of the Wireless Networking in the Developing World.

I mean this post in good terms...plan out your link accordingly and think it out in detail before you do anything.

Take a look at the Ubiquiti gear instead.  It is intended to be either directly attached to the antenna feed point or mounted with a couple inches of cable outside.

Power and Data is via cheap networking cable.

No need for a 500$+ amp no need for a 100ft LMR run, less than a DB of loss possible, more portable and more deployable.

Between the Ubiquiti node and cat cable it's cheaper than the LMR run at 100ft alone and that's not counting the cost of an amplifier you want to add (hint: amps that are less than 500$ often actually corrupt the data more than they improve it, those 50$ ones have caused havoc in the past ) 

Just getting into this and I'm about to order some LMR-400 (I'd love 600 but $$$$ OUCH!) and to try and limit how much I have to spend on cable runs.  My thought was if it was possible to build/buy an antenna that works for both.  I'm thinking if I could put up one combo antenna at one corner of the house and a second 2.4 only antenna at the other corner (for diversity.)

If I can't build a dual band antenna how close can they be to each other.  One wave length for 2.4 is about 5in and one for 1ghz is about 1ft so I'm thinking if I build a mount that separates them by 2-2.5ft I should be good to not cause too much interference, especially considering that I won't be transmitting on 1Ghz.

This then brings up the discussion of diplexers/duplexers and bi-directional amplifiers.  I'm going to be on probably 60-70ft runs and on 1090 I'm looking at about 4.1db of loss and on 2.4 about 6.2db.

Right now I have 0 antenna's beyond what came with gear so I figure now is the time to plan this out.

Thoughts?

73

KG5DPV

Was the laptop receiving an IP address or not ?

Version installed on your node?

Model of hardware our node is running ?

Hi all,

First post here and am new to broadband hamnet. My problem is this: After finishing work on my node and disconnecting it from my computer, I re-connect my internet using an ethernet cable and my computer does not detect the internet. I have to reboot in order for my internet to work again. I'm using windows 7 on verizon fios. 

A little more background may help. After flashing my linksys router, I could not access the admin page using http://localnode:8080 (or any other address). Then, my friend came over with his laptop. He was able to get into my node right away using http://localnode:8080. After he logged into my node on his computer, we verified that all the settings were the same on my admin page as his- and they were. So, it was a mystery as to why I couldn't log into my node using my laptop. The only way I was eventually able to log into my own node was after he had connected to my node. We reconnected my node to my laptop and all of a sudden http://localnode:8080 worked. But, the problem with not being able to reconnect to the internet as I detailed above remains. 

Any ideas on what is causing these two, possibly related, problems?

Thanks,

Tim

K6TW

Issue has been resolved.

It was as simple has having the correct Server: box entered correctly.

We used " localnode"  in the Pidgin setup screen and bingo!

I can see a problem here. I already use 10.* and break it up into several subnets. It would be a royal pain to migrate to Class B or C VPN IPs (even though 192.168.* does offer more than enough space for me to do so).

My Pentium 3 almost never needs network access anymore. I could connect the Linksys to it. The Pentium 3 box would have the mesh, but be isolated from the LAN and the Internet.

For the Mesh Access Point (MAP)

This is actually intended to be operated under PART 15 so move it AWAY from the mesh channel as far as you can (Channel 11 is often recommended) of course stay within part 15 power and antenna gain regulations.

Short answer: Only WAN port is designed to connect to your home network.

Long answer: Only the WAN port is designed to be the interface to other non-mesh networks. Generally home networks are 192.168.x.x addresses or 72.16.x.x addresses (both class B). The mesh is a 10.x.x.x network (class A). In setup on the mesh node-gateway, check the gateway box. This gives all computers on the mesh access to your home network and internet. This also means you have responsibility for yourself and others to not use "https" (encryption) and other activity that violates our fcc licensing on RF.

If you don't check the gateway box in setup, then only you on that mesh node has access to the internet and there's no related RF traffic to be concerned about.