Pretoria Mesh: Difference between revisions

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  3. Get [[Pretoria Mesh Settings]] and configure your node.
  3. Get [[Pretoria Mesh Settings]] and configure your node.


= Log of changes to the network =
= Network Log 30 January 2006 =


'''30 January 2006'''
Elardus Park went down at 5:50PM (omni and directional) after a heavy raintorm - I'll climb up tomorrow morning and have a look.
Elardus Park went down at 5:50PM (omni and directional) after a heavy raintorm - I'll climb up tomorrow morning and have a look.


'''1 May 2006'''
= Network Log 1 May 2006 =
 
I noticed that the elardus park tower would often lose its routing information for the elardus park mesh so I did a bit of research on the olsrd.conf file. Here is what I discovered
I noticed that the elardus park tower would often lose its routing information for the elardus park mesh so I did a bit of research on the olsrd.conf file. Here is what I discovered


Line 73: Line 73:
  sync
  sync
  mount -u -r /
  mount -u -r /
= Network Log 10 May 2006 =
Added Marelie Davel onto network
WiFi: 10.51.1.23
LAN: 10.3.23.1
Discovered major problem with new Freifunk firmware
If you have a '-' in the ssid it interprets this as a command line option
So "pta-mesh" caused the wireless interface to fail
Had to change all mesh node in the Pretoria wireless network to "ptamesh"
When I changed Rodericks to "ptamesh" and reboot a very weird thing happened
After logging in and checking the state of the wireless interface here is what I found:
rodrick2istc# ifconfig wi0
wi0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
        inet6 fe80::202:2dff:fe25:5fae%wi0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x4
        inet 10.50.1.1 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 10.50.1.255
        ether 00:02:2d:25:5f:ae
        media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect mode 11b <adhoc> (DS/11Mbps <adhoc>)
        status: associated
        ssid "Sector 2" channel 4 bssid 00:0b:6b:37:45:2b
        stationname "FreeBSD WaveLAN/IEEE node"
        authmode OPEN privacy OFF txpowmax 100 bintval 100
Huh!! How did it change it's ssid to 'Sector 2 and channel to 4 when it should be ssid: ptamesh, channel 11!!!!!!
Is someone taking over the node?

Revision as of 17:18, 10 May 2006

The CSIR Pretoria mesh network was setup as a test-bed mesh network in order to get an understanding of the issues that face real-world, outdoor mesh networks. Some of these issues include LOS (Line of Sight), Weather Proofing and the Hidden Node problem.

Below is a diagram showing the current status of the mesh network, green nodes show people who are currently connected, red nodes show people who would like to be connected in the future

Pta-mesh3.jpg


Visualisation

Nodes

      • Please fill in information about your node e.g. Equipment, Placement (Rooftop), Hardware etc.

Koppie Node

Rodricks Node

Davids Node

Karels Node

Louis Node

Andrews Node

Johns Node

Johanns Node

Want to join the Pretoria Mesh?

1. Visit NodeDB and create a node for yourself.
2. Build a node. Read the HowTos for more information on building your own node.
3. Get Pretoria Mesh Settings and configure your node.

Network Log 30 January 2006

Elardus Park went down at 5:50PM (omni and directional) after a heavy raintorm - I'll climb up tomorrow morning and have a look.

Network Log 1 May 2006

I noticed that the elardus park tower would often lose its routing information for the elardus park mesh so I did a bit of research on the olsrd.conf file. Here is what I discovered

The /usr/local/etc/olsrd.conf file had the following settings

HelloInterval           3.0
HelloValidityTime       9.0 (default 3xHelloInterval)
TCInterval              5.0
TCValidityTime          15.0 (default)
MidInterval             5.0 (default)
MidValidityTime         15.0 (default)
HnaInterval             5.0
HnaValidityTime         15.0

With the validity times being so short, a large file downnload would saturate the traffic and occasionally not allow a hello packet through allowing the routing info to expire after the validity time which was 15 seconds for TC

I changed the interval settings to those found in Freifunk firmware which are better suited for static meshes like ours, the intervals were set to:

HelloInterval           5.0
HelloValidityTime       90.0
TcInterval              15.0
TcValidityTime          90.0
MidInterval             15.0
MidValidityTime         90.0
HnaInterval             15.0
HnaValidityTime         90.0

Lets hope the network is more stable now!

P.S. To change the /usr/local/etc/olsrd.conf on the soekris running freeBSD you must do the following

mount -u -w /
vi /usr/local/etc/olsrd.conf
sync
mount -u -r /

Network Log 10 May 2006

Added Marelie Davel onto network

WiFi: 10.51.1.23 LAN: 10.3.23.1

Discovered major problem with new Freifunk firmware

If you have a '-' in the ssid it interprets this as a command line option
So "pta-mesh" caused the wireless interface to fail

Had to change all mesh node in the Pretoria wireless network to "ptamesh"

When I changed Rodericks to "ptamesh" and reboot a very weird thing happened After logging in and checking the state of the wireless interface here is what I found:

rodrick2istc# ifconfig wi0
wi0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
       inet6 fe80::202:2dff:fe25:5fae%wi0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x4
       inet 10.50.1.1 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 10.50.1.255
       ether 00:02:2d:25:5f:ae
       media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect mode 11b <adhoc> (DS/11Mbps <adhoc>)
       status: associated
       ssid "Sector 2" channel 4 bssid 00:0b:6b:37:45:2b
       stationname "FreeBSD WaveLAN/IEEE node"
       authmode OPEN privacy OFF txpowmax 100 bintval 100

Huh!! How did it change it's ssid to 'Sector 2 and channel to 4 when it should be ssid: ptamesh, channel 11!!!!!! Is someone taking over the node?