[Commotion-dev] Current state on handsets

[Hans-Christoph Steiner]

On 02/24/2012 07:42 AM, Paul Fuxjaeger wrote:
>> On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 8:51 PM, Jeremy Lakeman
>> <Jeremy.Lakeman at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>> (Shameless plug) I'd say Serval Mesh is on the forefront here....
>>> Simple install and config. Works on lots of phones, though known to
>>> *completely* and almost permanently screw up wifi on some Droid's.

I agree, the Serval Mesh app is the most complete that I've seen.  We're
also working on a more specific app that only does OLSR mesh control
based on the Serval Mesh app, but that's not out yet.

> Thanks for this info!
> 
> Can you specify which models are affected in detail? And its "safe" to
> install it on all others that are in the "compatible" list? We are sure
> we have a couple of willing participants quick if we can assure them
> that it can't screw up their phone.

If you are looking for real assurances, then this isn't the best
software to work with.  Its very beta.  On some devices, it works easily
and seamlessly.  On a couple devices, it nukes the wifi, requiring a
factory reset to restore it.  So if no one has run Serval on a
particular device, the result will probably be good, but might be quite
bad.

>>> You can call between directly connected nodes, though we default to
>>> batman routing which takes ages to flip paths when you are wandering
>>> around.
> 
> What do think, would batman still do something useful in the "walking
> speed pedestrian scenario" or is it using totally the wrong approach in
> this case? How much effort would it be to switch to a routing management
> layer that is known to being able to cope better with these kinds of
> dynamics?

Try it and tell us :)  I think its worth trying with a few technically
savvy people, and if it works, then try spreading it more.

>>> Our development branch has a store and forward file transfer system
>>> built in, that we're also using for delay tolerant text messaging, and
>>> collaborative mapping (still a work in progress).
> 
> Ideal would be if one can mimic a subscribe-to-a-named-channel
> communication paradigm, similar to twitter, but operating on "local"
> namespace scope. So when you are physically connected to this ad-hoc net
> - you can read what others post into the channel if you're subscribed to
> it.
> 
> But for a start it would be nice to just "see" how the network changes
> over time - visualizing the routing table growing/shrinking or
> something. This is what floats our nerd boats...
> 
> How much effort would it be to get that?

One thing that might work is Bonjour/XMPP/nDNS chat, but I don't know
off hand an Android client that supports it.   Basically, it allows you
advertise your IM account over the local network (in this cash, the
BATMAN mesh), and then directly IM people.


>>> And everything we've done also works in wifi client / hotspot mode
>>> between devices connected to the same network. Useful if you can't get
>>> root on some devices.
> 
> Thats nice, so root is only necessary for getting ad-hoc mode to run?
> The rest of the serval stack can be assumed to work on non-rooted devices?

At this point, if you want mesh networking, then you'll need root.

.hc

>>> Note that there's basically no security at this point.
> 
> That's not a problem from our point of view. It's a "fun experiment",
> not intended to be used for any security/privacy relevant communication.
> yet :)
> 
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