Friday, June 27, 2014

HPRAN - High Performance Radio Area Network


A local, experimental, high performance and robust data backbone.

Goals
* greater than 100 Mb/s performance.
* robust loss of any one node will on
* optional and controllable - passing OLSRD mesh routing info transparently. Learn how to do this.

Measuring
* network monitoring such as MRTG or CACTI
* examples -

Technologies
* Mikrotik radios, 5 GHz, NV2 data
* N or AC mode for user access - ideally both 2.4 and 5 GHz.

Do Next:

  • Access the nodes
  • Better plan
  • Get two nodes linked

Equipment Acquired or otherwise allocated to project
* 6/26 - Fired up Mikrotik radio for the first time.  One of the RB-SXT units.  Set laptop to static IP 192.168.88.20 and it browsed to 192.168.88.1 - Very rich tool set.   Now for a better plan of how to design the system.
* 6/23/2014 - Have RB-SXT radios.  Three DIR-825 for the node switch and access.  Time to power up.
* 6/17/2014 - ordered 2 Mikrotik RB-SXT 5 GHz radios from FAB Corp.
* x/x/2014 - 14xNn $80 Mikrotik Groove from XX
* x/x/2014 - 14xNn $95 Mikrotik 5SHPn 14xNN1 from XX
* 4/18/2014 - 14d41 $46 ECHO58 Echo Series 5.3GHz - 5.8GHz 17 dBi Backfire Antenna from FAB Corp
* 4/14/2014 - 14d42 $54 patch58-19 Tri-Band 5.3GHz - 5.8GHz 19dBi Flat Panel Antenna from FAB Corp

Notes
* Complete system will have two full service nodes each linked to two Link nodes
* The services and data on each of the servers will be identica.
* A third server will be running 'at home' to provide hot backup and development
* Full Service Node - all provide the same services with mirrored data
* Running on UPS
* Full size external hard disk of at least 1T
* User Access
* Two Backbone Radios
* Server -
* IRC
* Asterix
* Link Node
* User Access - one switch with gigabit Ethernet and dual radios on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz
* Two backbone radios
* DC power - probably 12V

Mikrotik Notes

Q: Dean - If you add lines to a list (say, the "/ip firewall filter" list), they are added at the end.  Then, you can "print" where they are in the list, and "move" them to where you want them.  You can't directly insert, but that's OK.   Where the idiosyncrasy comes is, if you save what you did, and later paste it into the command line (without including the "print" command), it won't work.  Apparently the numbering of the lines (needed for the "move" command) doesn't occur until you do a "print".

A: Nigel - You can indeed place them where you like, using 'place-before=NUM' in your add command, and yes, numbering is dependent on you having performed a

HamWAN Notes

Tom/LXL - With the SNMP stuff I've been playing with for MRTG/Cacti - it's just a read only port. If so, maybe Dean would open that up for you.
It should be enough to complete the snmp section of the client node configuration instructions:
/snmp set enabled=yes contact="#HamWAN on irc.freenode.org"
/snmp community set name=hamwan addresses=44.24.255.0/25 read-access=yes write-access=no numbers=0

Monday, June 23, 2014

Back on Packet - again - wip


D710 on the Linux server - it's not as easy as it should be - yet.
setserial...
KISS vs power cycles
Applications

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Soup and Cables

Stopped for soup on the way home from work..   Always a treat.  Just
so happens the local 'cable store'  (aka Goodwill) is across the
parking lot from the cafĂ©.   So what the heck - pickin's have been
slim but there might be a WRT54G or something that would work as a
high speed AP.  Or maybe even a Cat 5E jumper.

I was getting bummed when there was Nada for routers.   Nothing.  Not
even those old BEFWRxyz123's...     Had GW gone out of the 'cable
business?'   Can't be.

Ah - relief...   There on the side shelf behind the rack of cables (no
5E's - darn) was the typical shelf of routers.    No 'blue box'
WRT54G's but better yet - had to check the fine print twice but it was
right - a good as new box with all the original parts and pieces and
packing - a DIR-825.  One of the best 'meshable' routes there is.
Luck held and the revision on the box was B1.   A and C aren't OpenWRT
friendly but B1 and B2 are...

Bottom line - keep checking for those cables...

73
Bill, WA7NWP