August 17th, 2007 — Wifi Mesh Networking
Downloaded the Meshcom OpenAP firmware and installed it onto a Linksys WRT54GL router. The firmware is 2141KB in size. The flashing part was very easy. The admin interface of the router provides a very easy to use GUI to change the firmware. Just login to the admin interface and select the file and press the button. Within 1 minute the router has the new Meshcom firmware.
The admin page for the new firmware is totally different from the original admin page of the original firmware. The meshcom admin page is much simpler and easier to configure. Many of the complex features are hidden from the user. An advantage as well as a disadvantage.
I configured the IP addess 192.168.1.10 for the router and also made all the authentication configurations open. After saving the changes I opened the mesh browser on my meshcom driver enabled laptop and the router immediately showed up in the browser.
Now I want to test the firmware on a WRT54G router since its cheaper than WRT54GL routers. Also GL routers are difficult to source. I also want to plugin my cable internet connection onto this flashed router and test the internet connection sharing.
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August 13th, 2007 — Technical, Wifi Mesh Networking
With the meshcom client driver installed on 5 laptops and the mesh browser showing all the nodes, the next plan was to share the internet connection on my laptop with every other laptop in the mesh.
I am using a tata indicom data card to access the internet on my laptop. In its connection properties, enable internet connection sharing. Then select the local area connection that was formed when you installed the mesh driver as your local network.
Once you do this, windows will configure your IP for the lan to be 192.168.0.1
Setup IPs for every other laptops in the same range, ie 192.168.0.x The subnet is 255.255.255.0 The gateway and DNS on all other laptops must be 192.168.0.1
You can use any internet connection. The only requirement is that you enable sharing and also select the mesh lan as your local network.
Now every other laptop can access your internet connection without an access point or a router. Your mesh will take care of routing packets to your gateway (your laptop) through the best path available.
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August 13th, 2007 — Technical
If you are using any third party software to manage your wireless connection, then turn them off. Let windows manage your connection. Install your driver only after enabling windows to manage your wireless.
I was having trouble with my linksys router which I am using to connect to the internet. My wireless was always getting connected to linksys and I had to manually disconnect and connect to mesh. So its better that you turn off all other access points in your range.
While installing the driver in one of the lenovo laptops the installation got stuck. I waited for over 30 minutes and still there was no progress. I restarted the laptop and found that the driver was properly installed. That laptop is still working fine in the mesh.
After the driver installation and testing if you have any trouble connecting to the internet, disable the connection with the tag “MeshCom MeshDevice Driver” in your network connections folder.
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August 12th, 2007 — Technical, Wifi Mesh Networking
Today I successfully setup a 5 node mesh network using the meshcom client driver. Installed the driver onto 5 different laptops and after some tweaking and trouble shooting it started working.
The laptops used were
2 lenovo
1 Thoshiba
1 HP
and 1 Dell
This is the screen shot of taken from the mesh browser. Now all the nodes are directly in range. Next Im going to test the mesh routing by placing the laptops at various palces so that not every laptop is in the range every other laptop.
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August 12th, 2007 — Technical, Wifi Mesh Networking
Meshcom was founded by experts in the wireless industry from Finland, with a vision to creating self configuring self healing network to provide broadband access to everyone. The company is funded by Finnish industry investment LTD and Nordic growth.
The Meshcom products include a driver for normal client devices like the laptop, pda etc, a mesh firmware for access points. They also provide an mesh management software to see all the nodes in your network.
Meshcom client drivers can be installed on normal laptops and they will form mesh network if in range. You can test out mesh networking by using 3 laptops. No need to purchase any special routers.
Meshcom Open Access Point firmware is linux based and can run on many AP platforms. It has got a webbased management tool to configure the router.
Im already testing the mesh. Will post a report soon.
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