[Commotion-discuss] MtP router network

[Preston Rhea]

Hey Bill,

Thanks for subscribing to commotion-discuss. CCing that list in this response.

Some of the messages I got from other implementers and OTIers suggest
that there is a bug in the splash screen for repeater, not gateway,
nodes. The developers are working on isolating it. Any data we can get
from our routers is good for them. I did try to go through the AP,
both with my phone and my laptop, and neither worked. Yet, all the
implementers - including me - can SSH in to their DR1.1 node and from
it ping out to the internet by the command line. So it's a splash
screen problem.

The settings did not carry over, I unchecked the "keep settings"
button - a must-do at this stage since all features aren't static.

I personally know that the two routers on MtP street have DR1.1, and
mine has PR3 - all the others have PR 2.1. The main issue with
updating, other than making sure not to carry settings over, is that
the new versions turn on mesh encryption by default and don't turn on
the wireless interfaces by default when you first start them up. This
doesn't work well with implemented networks in Mount Pleasant, Red
Hook, Detroit, etc. since it's not always easy to get to where you can
connect to the nodes by Ethernet. So, Dan rolled a custom image that
keeps the wireless interfaces on when you update, which I used for
both MtP Street routers.

However since you can easily manage your own node I recommend that if
you want to update, you should do so - just make sure you don't turn
mesh encryption on for your node, since all the nodes in the network
have to have it on for it to work. Otherwise the devices won't mesh.
If you run QuickStart, it will automatically encrypt the mesh links,
so you can either run it and then turn mesh encryption off, or you can
just set up the node yourself through the admin interface.

I believe that the next version of Commotion, DR2, is due out at the
end of next month (correct me if I'm wrong team) - stay tuned and
we'll probably update all the routers with that at that time, and turn
on encryption.

Thanks for staying meshed,

Preston



On Wed, Jul 31, 2013 at 3:21 PM, Bill Comisky <bcomisky at pobox.com> wrote:
> Preston,
>
> We could test if the problem is just in the splash authentication by
> disabling client-splash or whitelisting a MAC for testing.  When you tested
> previously, did you test through the AP interface?  Also I'm curious about
> whether the current settings were preserved across the upgrade or not.. if
> there was some misconfiguration in the old settings, maybe it propagated
> through to the new firmware.
>
> Just subscribed to commotion-discuss, saw your messages about upgrades.  Is
> there a list of nodes in MtP and what firmware version they're running?
> Just checked and I'm at PR2.1. Should I upgrade? Any risk of older/newer
> firmwares not talking to each other?
>
> Bill
-- 
Preston Rhea
Field Analyst, Open Technology Institute
New America Foundation
+1-202-570-9770
Twitter: @prestonrhea