[XCSSA] New Mesh Technology Experimentation

Sun, 1 Oct 2006 19:58:57 +0000

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Cool stuff going on with mesh technology and MIT.

Tweeks

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Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2006 10:56:34 -0700
From: "Bao Q. Nguyen" <bn@ucsd.edu>
To: "Michael Mee" <mike@socalfreenet.org>
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Subject: Re: [SCFN] cheap mesh that works, maybe
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The ability to mesh with other nodes is what making this project special. As
the requirement of "good" wireless coverage is a function of quantity
instead of quality. I've also been playing with the project/devices with
friends and as far as I know the mest routing protocol and maybe some other
factors limited the mesh network growth to about 25-50 nodes, after that the
performance start dropping dramatically.

In my view and i'm experimenting is that if there's enought of these placed
at coffee shop and surrounding businesses it's possible to have very good
and wide coverage by adding lots of these.

The underlying problem with the project is still to improve the routing
protocol to work with installation of said 1000 full mesh node.

-bn

On 10/1/06, Michael Mee <mike@socalfreenet.org> wrote:
>
> At least two years ago, I took a look at the MIT roofnet mesh project
> (currently at http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/roofnet/doku.php). It was far
> from ready for prime time, requiring lots of custom tweaking and a
> non-trivial build process.
>
> Things have changed since then. The current state is one of transition.
> The students who built roofnet have started a company, www.meraki.net,
> which has a cute little ~$50 box that is a gateway ap, bridge, or
> standalone repeater. See http://meraki.net/mini.html.
>
> I've started playing with this (details below) and early indications are
> that it is AWESOME!  You plug it in, it configures itself, works out
> where the gateways are and just runs. You can use it via regular
> wireless or jack in and use it as a bridge. And, of course, you can plug
> in an existing DSL connection. There's even a great website to view the
> current status on a map.
>
> The original roofnet source was open. The new source will be 'mostly
> open' except for some proprietary bits.  A new website, www.roofnet.net,
> will track and support the open source version over time and maintain
> some relationship with Meraki primarily to help low income housing
> projects via www.netequality.org.
>
> Its a tangled web and things are moving quickly. We've received
> permission to be in the Meraki beta (as would anyone I suspect) and I'm
> going to order 4 minis - let me know by Monday if you'd like to piggy
> back as the minimum order size is 3 (though you can't do much with one!).
>
> I've done my testing with reflashed Netgear WRT634U boxes. I bought 5
> "refurbed" from Justdeals - though 2 are dead - and flashed them as
> described at http://roofnet.net/wiki/doku.php?id=netgear.
>
> So far, they work great!  And the roofnet.net web site uses google maps
> to give a  wonderfully clean view of the routes chosen and current
> status. Over the next few days I'll be rolling out units on my street,
> replacing minirelays (www.socalfreenet.org/minirelay) that are currently
> scattered throughout to see how it works in the real world. My neighbors
> will be so glad to have me back (not!) - my street network worked
> perfectly all the time I was away :-).
>
> There is also a version for the Wrap based system we use a lot. If the
> street test goes well, there is a strong chance we'll deploy this
> software very soon to upgrade the Mercado install we did 18 months ago.
> There have been continuing line of sight / signal quality issues that
> this could resolve quite well. We could change all the CF cards in a
> couple of hours, so its a low risk exercise. And remember its zero config.
>
> One particularly nice (rumoured) mode in the Meraki mini lets you use
> the box to connect to an existing (conventional) 802.11b/g network and
> use that as a gateway and then repeat locally and also mesh with any
> nearby minis. Rumour has it that Google bought 1000 of these for their
> employees in Mountain View to get the last part of the connection from
> their recently built muni network outside
> (https://wifi.google.com/support) to inside.
>
> cheers, michael
> R & D, www.socalfreenet.org
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SoCalFreeNet.org General Discussion List
> To unsubscribe, please visit:
> http://socalfreenet.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_socalfreenet.org
>

-- 
Bao Nguyen

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The ability to mesh with other nodes is what making this project special. As the requirement of &quot;good&quot; wireless coverage is a function of quantity instead of quality. I've also been playing with the project/devices with friends and as far as I know the mest routing protocol and maybe some other factors limited the mesh network growth to about 25-50 nodes, after that the performance start dropping dramatically.
 In my view and i'm experimenting is that if there's enought of these placed at coffee shop and surrounding businesses it's possible to have very good and wide coverage by adding lots of these. The underlying problem with the project is still to improve the routing protocol to work with installation of said 1000 full mesh node.
 -bn <div>On 10/1/06, Michael Mee &lt;<a href="mailto:mike@socalfreenet.org">mike@socalfreenet.org</a>&gt; wrote:<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
At least two years ago, I took a look at the MIT roofnet mesh project (currently at <a href="http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/roofnet/doku.php">http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/roofnet/doku.php</a>). It was far from ready for prime time, requiring lots of custom tweaking and a
 non-trivial build process. Things have changed since then. The current state is one of transition. The students who built roofnet have started a company, <a href="http://www.meraki.net">www.meraki.net</a>, 
which has a cute little ~$50 box that is a gateway ap, bridge, or standalone repeater. See <a href="http://meraki.net/mini.html">http://meraki.net/mini.html</a>. I've started playing with this (details below) and early indications are
 that it is AWESOME!&nbsp;&nbsp;You plug it in, it configures itself, works out where the gateways are and just runs. You can use it via regular wireless or jack in and use it as a bridge. And, of course, you can plug in an existing DSL connection. There's even a great website to view the
 current status on a map. The original roofnet source was open. The new source will be 'mostly open' except for some proprietary bits.&nbsp;&nbsp;A new website, <a href="http://www.roofnet.net">www.roofnet.net</a>, 
will track and support the open source version over time and maintain some relationship with Meraki primarily to help low income housing projects via <a href="http://www.netequality.org">www.netequality.org</a>. 
 Its a tangled web and things are moving quickly. We've received permission to be in the Meraki beta (as would anyone I suspect) and I'm going to order 4 minis - let me know by Monday if you'd like to piggy back as the minimum order size is 3 (though you can't do much with one!).
 I've done my testing with reflashed Netgear WRT634U boxes. I bought 5 &quot;refurbed&quot; from Justdeals - though 2 are dead - and flashed them as described at <a href="http://roofnet.net/wiki/doku.php?id=netgear">
http://roofnet.net/wiki/doku.php?id=netgear</a>. So far, they work great!&nbsp;&nbsp;And the <a href="http://roofnet.net">roofnet.net</a> web site uses google maps to give a&nbsp;&nbsp;wonderfully clean view of the routes chosen and current
 status. Over the next few days I'll be rolling out units on my street, replacing minirelays (<a href="http://www.socalfreenet.org/minirelay">www.socalfreenet.org/minirelay</a>) that are currently scattered throughout to see how it works in the real world. My neighbors
 will be so glad to have me back (not!) - my street network worked perfectly all the time I was away :-). There is also a version for the Wrap based system we use a lot. If the street test goes well, there is a strong chance we'll deploy this
 software very soon to upgrade the Mercado install we did 18 months ago. There have been continuing line of sight / signal quality issues that this could resolve quite well. We could change all the CF cards in a 
couple of hours, so its a low risk exercise. And remember its zero config. One particularly nice (rumoured) mode in the Meraki mini lets you use the box to connect to an existing (conventional) 802.11b/g network and
 use that as a gateway and then repeat locally and also mesh with any nearby minis. Rumour has it that Google bought 1000 of these for their employees in Mountain View to get the last part of the connection from 
their recently built muni network outside (<a href="https://wifi.google.com/support">https://wifi.google.com/support</a>) to inside. cheers, michael R &amp; D, <a href="http://www.socalfreenet.org">www.socalfreenet.org
</a> _______________________________________________ SoCalFreeNet.org General Discussion List To unsubscribe, please visit: <a href="http://socalfreenet.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_socalfreenet.org">http://socalfreenet.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_socalfreenet.org
</a> </blockquote></div> -- Bao Nguyen

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