Slashdot Mirror
Turn-key Mesh Routing Access Point
IPSection writes "LocustWorld announces the release of MeshAP-05. This is a test release of a bootable CD which turns a single board computer or laptop into a mesh node and access point. Clients can sign on to the network, cells communicate to form a robust, dynamic, compressed and encrypted mesh network. This is a prototype release intended for the widest possible test. Feedback is encouraged." There are several interesting things on this site, actually -- check out the Swarm Chip.
First of all, here's the full text, since it already seems to be Slashdotted:
"Version 5 of the mesh-AP is a bootable CD which is designed for either SBC systems like the "seahorse" and "starfish" but will work in many laptops and desktop systems. Simply boot the CD and place a wi-fi card in the machine. Driver support for multiple ethernet cards and multiple wi-fi cards. The system contains multiple protocols, assigning dhcp addresses to standard wifi clients at each "cell" cells communicate via mesh routing and form a robust self organising, compressed and encrypted network. There is a DNS proxy and HTTP proxy on each cell and IP is also gatewayed using NAT. See the enclosed word document on the CD for more information. This is a testing release, not suitable for production use, feedback is welcomed and development is ongoing. Requires 64mb of ram, zero harddisk space required. (UPDATED: Several fixes + full gateway discovery and repair)"
Now, for those of us who don't work with wireless networking on a daily basis, does someone care to explain the potential applications of this? Why is it useful? What can someone do with this?
And, finally, a note to the LocustWorld admins: The fact that your site is Slashdotted already should be a good indication of why not to use PHP-Nuke, eh? At first glance, I can't even tell whether this is a Slashdot-like news site or a corporate site. And if it's a corporate site, why do you have a poll on your front page? Since the site crashed, I can't even hit the mission statement.
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The reason this is useful is that it allows a group of (perhaps constantly changing) network nodes to form a big cohesive network. It sounds like it creates isolated layer 2 cells and builds a single layer 3 network out of the cells, which I believe is what the Linksys WET11 does.
Compare this to the coherent layer 2 network which can be created with Spanning Tree Protocol by using OpenAP like these guys do.
Most WiFi access points do not support a mesh topology, but only support hub and spoke. With hub and spoke, you can only connect to the network if you have line of sight to a hub, but with a mesh network, you can connect via any other network node. Mmmmmmm. . .
Perhaps someone who actually got through the slashdotting can comment on the other features (compression, encryption, proxying, etc.)
Why is this useful? The current state of affairs in the 802.11 world is that there are dozens of devices that have vague analogs in the wired networking world, but none of those analogies are perfect. Basically, you have the following classes of device:
- WLAN cards. Oronoco cards and the like. You one in a desktop box and it gets wireless ethernet capability. Can either talk to other WLAN cards (in what's called an ad-hoc network) or to a wireless access point. Basically like a NIC, except NICs don't try to plug themselves into hubs or other NICs. And the situation of connecting directly to another box using a crossover cable is usually viewed as a degenerate case; ad-hoc networks are completely legit and workable.
- Wireless Access Points are devices designed to allow WLAN cards to talk to a wired network. If there's an AP available, WLAN cards will break out of ad-hoc mode (where everyone talks to everyone) and switch to an associated mode, where they only talk to their AP. Ideally this is the AP with the best signal strength - but not always.
- Wireless Bridges are designed to allow a wired network participate in a wireless network.
Anyone who need this explaination probably just went "What!? But there's already a device to connect wireless networks to wired networks!" Ah, would that it were so. As much as AP's resemble wired switches, they're not.Wired networks are true undirected graphs. Wireless networks are heirarchal and difficult. Repeaters exist, but they're usually a bad idea, because you take huge hits to throughput.
Now, mesh wireless takes care of all that. Got a spot that's a little dim? Plop down a mesh point, it integrates into the network and you're nice and bright there now. Couldn't be easier, and is a whole lot more like a wired ethernet with the wires taken away, as opposed to the completely different animal that non-mesh wireless is.
Short form: wireless is obnoxious even if the results are cool. Mesh wireless is gorgeous, and the results are cooler.
IP is just rude.
Is there any torture so subl
There are a number of other interesting wireless projects which provide some cool / usefull features to 802.11 wifi networks:
NoCat Networks which implement QoS controls on user traffic giving priority to authenticated users.
Janus Wireless is working to improve mobile IP connectivity and integrated peer network services
IRIS which was mentioned recently and is perfectly suited for integration itno wireless networks for large amounts of reliable, distributed data storage.
MIT's GRID routing project which is probably the most similar.
The really cool uses will come when the integrated peer network / wireless network applications become popular an tandem with pervasive 802.11 deployment in homes and offices.
Mesh05b-test
I wish there was a way I could mod you down for your post being "untrue". Whether your post was a bold faced lie or a servere misinterpretation of the article could be for someone browsing at -1 to decide. Assuming the latter, if you would bother to read the article you would see that this by no means turns an old computer into a "Wif-Fi access point like something LinkSys or D-Link or whomever sells." Rather it turns it into something fundamentally different than your standard access point: the key word, as seen in the title of the slashdot article is MESH.
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WHO ATE MY BREAKFAST PANTS?
Anyone know how quickly 802.11 devices can connect, authenticate, route and transfer?
Nearly instantaneously. If you implement channel, bssid, ssid, and wep key hopping at the kernel level you can communicate datagram style without problems. There is no need to use DHCP, as you can intelligently assume an available address and start transmitting datagrams (for a mobile IP stack, for example) instantly.
Any old PC with WiFi. New Mini-ITX with card and case, guessing around £250UKP (but darn yanks get things cheaper :)). Woolmart sell a cheap PC based on the VIA Mini-ITX boards, about $199 I think. Add a D-Link DWL-500 and BOOM! or pay more for the Orinocco Buffalo.....
http://www.meshnetworks.com
really, i dont work for them(or anyone else ;0/). There are many vying to use this same tech - mostly for the purpose of delivering bandwidth with wireless none line tech (as opposed to line of site that has had some success already)- but there are other reasons.
I remember way back when people liked the internet there were more than one 'visionary' wantabe entrapeneur proposing highly efficient planes (or even balloons) basically hovering over urbania and reflecting fat bandwith to all. Think of it as a flying high gain antenna - 24/7(pairs or quads i think). Really, i'm not making this up.
At the risk of ridicule and flame anybody ever power-chute? (stick with me I'm going somewhere with this), then picture a miniature sized, radio powered, highly efficient 802.11 WAP baring airplane (did you know there have been radio planes[not powered-chutes] that stayed up for as much as 30 hours or for trans - atlantic flights), with a panning camera ...a kind of 802.11 distibution machine with eyes and limited brains. Swarm like even or autonomous drones or singular and remote controlled. In pairs, comunal even, slow, methodical but highly efficient INSTANTLY DEPLOYABLE ROAMING NETWORK.
Want an applicaton for meshnetworks?
-boats with bandwidth and beer
-live bikinis at high rez and beer
-instantly deployable roaming netowork
Back to the fridge....
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what about continuing the routing process over the Internet? Are Internet ARP tables generally updated fast enough for this?
There are a number of details, but the short of it is that a mobile IP stack takes care of all routing to a dedicated internet endpoint which serves as your connection to the net. This means you can actually transfer traffic for a single TCP session over multiple wireless links simultaneously. You can read more about mobile IP by searching google...