[Commotion-dev] What would you do with the USB port on your Commotion access point?

Wed Jan 23 01:26:35 UTC 2013

Hi Ben, All,

Do check out the 2nd generation MeshPotato that VillageTelco are commissioning.
It is based on the same chipset, and has a USB port, and will come in
indoor and outdoor ready varieties.  See below for the announcement
yesterday from Steve Song from
https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/village-telco-mp20/TpceSRIiUr4

The main interesting points for me, apart from it being an
open-hardware project, and will come running OpenWRT, are the
relatively generous flash (16MB) and RAM (64MB), plus 11 exposed GPIO
lines.  We hope to use those to connect Arduinos connected to RF front
ends for long-range meshing as part of our mesh helper device project.

We have asked for 10 of the initial batch, and will be happy to try
flash images that people provide.

Paul.

----

Hi all,

First of all, apologies for not providing more information sooner but
you can count on more regular updates from now on.   Here's where we
stand with the Mesh Potato 2.0

As you know, we're building the MP2.0 on the AR9331 chipset.  Our
plans have changed slightly since first announced.  We're going to
release the MP2.0 in three different versions.

MP2 - Plain
==========
This is a straightforward AR9331-based access point.  It differs from
the TP-Link WR703n in some significant ways.  It will have:

- 16MB flash and 64MB DRAM memory
- 2 ethernet ports
- 1 USB port
- multiple accessible GPIOs
- standard power supply 7.5-12VDC

The MP2 Plain will be an indoor unit in a standard housing with antenna.

MP2 - Phone
===========
The MP2 will be an MP2 Plain with an FXS daughterboard.  The FXS
subsystem is a full-featured FXS device based on the Silicon Labs
Si3217x chip.

I can't confirm this absolutely but we hope that you will be able to
retrofit an MP2 Plain with an FXS daughterboard.  More on this soon.

MP2 - AWD*
===============
This is a full outdoor unit which will be designed for rugged use and
will have a PoE/TL adaptor which will carry Voice/Data/Power via a
single CAT5 cable to the MP2 AWD.

We expect the pricing will be $39 for the MP2 Plain, $49 for the MP2
Phone, and $69 for the MP2 AWD.  We should have 200 hundred of the MP2
Plain devices available shortly for order.  The MP2 Phone should
follow 2-3 months after that and the same again for the MP2 AWD.

If you're interested in ordering some of the initial MP2 Plain
production run, please let us know by filling in this brief form at
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dGlNdTJOTXQzMENzVFVHZlNhMWJrQ1E6MQ
The form is not binding in any way, it is just to help us assess demand.

Please don't hesitate to pose any questions you may have.

Regards... Steve

* AWD stands for All Wheel Drive. Please help us think of a better name :-)

---

On Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 7:45 AM, Ben West <ben at gowasabi.net> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> For the past few months, I've been using a heavily modified derivative of
> Commotion-OpenWRT on Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH units which I use as gateway
> routers in WasabiNet.  These units happen to have a USB port, which works
> just fine and dandy under OpenWRT, both for USB peripherals and mounting USB
> disks (presumably both solid state or HD).
>
> I'm using these USB ports to monitor APC battery back-up supplies on the
> gateway routers, but that's pretty boring.  I've tried asking a couple times
> at the hacker space here in St. Louis what neat uses folks may have for a
> USB port on their Internet router, e.g. file server, or miscellaneos remote
> control, but the interest there hasn't been strong.
>
> The Buffalo routers are neat, but even neater looks to be this 40$US unit, a
> TP-Link TL-MR3020 :
> http://www.microcenter.com/product/379216/Portable_3G-375G_Wireless-N_Router
>
> I do believe Musti was showing off something similar to this at the IS4CWN
> last year.  Don't let the '3G connectivity' nonsense distract you; this is a
> cute little 802.11n ath9k-based radio with a USB port, and it looks like it
> will run OpenWRT with some encouragement.  Furthermore, a 2nd USB port can
> be had with some soldering and elbow grease.
> http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-mr3020
>
> Likewise, the TL-WR703N is an equivalent unit:
> http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wr703n
>
> What could this USB port do for you?
>
> - Filesystem for squid proxy? (Probably not very practical)
> - 3G/4G modem for Internet gateway?
> - USB sound adapter for streaming MP3 applications?
> - Control this desktop rocket launcher
> http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/8a0f/ ?
>
> --
> Ben West
> http://gowasabi.net
> ben at gowasabi.net
> 314-246-9434
>
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