[Commotion-dev] Unifying Serval and Commotion Mesh

[Josh King]

Hi Paul,

This is something that we've been thinking about recently here at OTI as
well. I think it makes a lot of sense to standardize around SSIDs and
BSSIDs. Additionally, I'm working on rewriting the way that the OpenWRT
firmware handles connecting to the mesh as a standalone C daemon and
library, something that I hope may eventually serve as a cross-platform
way to manage configuration profiles and wireless connection issues in a
generalized fashion.

In the short term, I've been thinking too about how to make sure that
the Commotion Android application and Serval can work together
effectively on the same device. Would it make sense for Serval to make
use of Meshtether to establish the wifi network if it's available, and
for Meshtether to connect to the Serval application's instance of
servald for encryption, if available?

On Sun 16 Dec 2012 09:07:38 PM EST, Paul Gardner-Stephen wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> From a Serval Project perspective, we see much value in converging on
> a single "standard" SSID (and ideally BSSID) for WiFi mesh networks
> for Serval and Commotion.  The logical choice is almost certainly to
> use whatever values that Commotion uses.
>
> In fact, what we would like to see in time is that Commotion and
> Serval's Android ad-hoc WiFi mesh management software converge into a
> single thing, and possible a single APK that contains all Commotion
> and Serval functions, or possibly it will be two separate APKs --
> there are arguments for and against.
>
> But back to the present...
>
> The BSSID/ad-hoc bug issues on Android phones remains a source of
> intense pain (which is part of why we are working on a "mesh helper"
> device that would basically be a cross between an OpenWRT router and
> mobile phone, that would basically be pocket-sized battery-powered
> WiFi adhoc+AP plus long-range UHF radio).
>
> So I am not sure that a final solution is possible now, but we are
> thinking about our default SSID for the Serval Mesh 0.90 release we
> are hoping to have out by Christmas, and we hope to continue the
> conversation about converging this all as much as possible.
>
> Our feeling in the lab here is that until we have interoperation
> sorted out, that we will probably default to a serval-specific SSID,
> probably mesh.servalproject.org, so that it will point people to a
> (yet to be populated) web page where they can learn more.  But for
> 0.91 and later, we hope to make moves towards convergence.  Perhaps
> having a short list of configured network names and patterns is the
> next step, but this is all really thinking out loud for now.
>
> Paul.
>
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-- 
Josh King

"I am an Anarchist not because I believe Anarchism is the final goal,
but because there is no such thing as a final goal." -Rudolf Rocker

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