[Commotion-discuss] Next step:extend the range of a local mesh network.

Wed Aug 14 13:43:41 UTC 2013

Hi Dan,
totally agree that main challenge is to pick up a good USB wireless.
I have bought (1 month ago) theTP-Link  TL_WN821N(V.2).The V.2(I found 
out later) is not in the Linux kernel. I had to install the firmware 
carl9170. Easy to make it works in managed mode.
Still not working in ad-hoc mode.Not sure if it is a problem of the 
firmware( it should work also in ad-hoc) or the /etc/network/interfaces  
and wpa_supplicant setting.
Assuming that TL_WN821N(v.2) works,could be helpful to have some info 
from you based on your experience.
After I'll buy the TP-Link TL-WN722N
Thanks.

luigi

On 13/08/2013 23:07, Dan Staples wrote:
> On 08/13/2013 04:56 PM, Dan Staples wrote:
>> Hi Luigi,
>>
>> Glad to hear about all the successes!
>>
>> I have made a mesh network from Raspberry Pis before (battery-powered,
>> even), so it's definitely possible. The main challenge is to pick a good
>> USB wireless adapter. I recommend the TP-Link TL-WN722N [1], since its
>> driver supports ad-hoc mode in recent Linux kernels.
>>
>> Then, you install your Raspberry Pi operating system (I recommend
>> Raspbian), and configure the wireless adapter to be in ad-hoc mode with
>> the correct SSID,BSSID,channel, etc. This is done in
>> /etc/network/interfaces...if you need info on how to to that, I can give
>> you resources.
>>
>> Then you can install and configure OLSRd on the Pi, so that it can mesh
>> with the other devices. For an olsrd config file, you can look at
>> /var/etc/olsrd.conf on one of your picostations for an example.
>>
>> Let us know how that goes!
>>
>> -Dan
>>
>>
>> [1] http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?model=TL-WN722N
>>
>> On 08/13/2013 12:04 PM, LuigiScop wrote:
>>> It was a pleasure to join Commotion team several  months ago.
>>> With your support I was able to implement a local mesh newtwork with
>>> two routers (picostation), my  two Linux LapTops and Iphone.
>>> I have also tested the capabiity of commotiont application portal by
>>> installing either Tidepools and MediGrid.
>>> Most of the time spent to play with the raspberry and after installing
>>> MediaGrid.
>>> Everything works.I tried to upload and share some music and the chat.
>>>
>>> Based on this experience I have some questions.
>>> a)How to make the Raspberry pi part of the Mesh?In my application I have
>>> connected it to the AP as external device.
>>> b)Is there any future for the integration of raspberry in the commotion
>>> network?
>>>
>>> Last question.
>>> c)My idea is to buy two Nanostations and to extend the range of my local
>>> mesh.
>>> Any suggestion based on your experience?
>>> To reach longer distances(1 to 2  miles)I would choose a 5Ghz (the power
>>> limit in Italy is 1 W output power at 5Ghz).Much more less for Wifi(15dbm).
>>> Thanks for your support and suggestions.
>>>
>>> Luigi
>>>
>>> Il 19/06/2013 14:00, commotion-discuss-request at lists.chambana.net ha
>>> scritto:
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>>>> Today's Topics:
>>>>
>>>>      1. Commotion installation on Linux laptop (LuigiScop)
>>>>      2. Re: Commotion installation on Linux laptop (Dan Staples)
>>>>      3. Material for a workshop on mesh networks (Alexander Chemeris)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>
>>>> Message: 1
>>>> Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:37:36 +0200
>>>> From: LuigiScop <luigi.scopelliti at fastwebnet.it>
>>>> To: commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>>>> Subject: [Commotion-discuss] Commotion installation on Linux laptop
>>>> Message-ID: <51C0B700.4000207 at fastwebnet.it>
>>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Everything at home which has a wifi interface can be connected and the
>>>> network(built by 2 picostations) is working as ad-hoc network.
>>>>      If the fridge,the oven or the stove had a wifi interface, they would
>>>> be connected to commotionwireless.net too.
>>>>       The only issue I have found is that if I try to access internet with
>>>> the  linux laptop  using the ad-hoc interface of the AP router,I can't.
>>>>       But if I use the router AP as master ,I can.
>>>>       I red somewhere that this feature is not avalable for laptop. Please
>>>> confirm.
>>>>       On the other end if I connect a local web server to the POE LAN port
>>>> of one router, I can have access to the  web page also from the linux
>>>> laptop through the  ad-hoc  interface     of the router(picostation).
>>>>       As a demo to show the capabilities of commotion solution I would
>>>> like to implement a Server application.
>>>>       Which application  do you suggest first that can explain better the
>>>> commotion solution capabilities?
>>>>       I need to recruit some people on ths project.
>>>>
>>>>        Luigi
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Commotion-discuss mailing list
>>>>> Commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/commotion-discuss
>>>> When connecting your laptop to the picostation over ad-hoc, do you have
>>>> olsrd running on the laptop? If so, and if the picostation has access to
>>>> the internet, your laptop should get a route via olsrd to the internet
>>>> as well.
>>>>
>>>> To troubleshoot this, try checking the output of "nc localhost 2006" (to
>>>> show olsrd info), and "route -n" on the laptop to show local routes.
>>>>
>>>> As for applications, I would suggest either Tidepools (a local mapping
>>>> application: http://www.tidepools.co/) or MediaGrid (a secure
>>>> file-sharing and webchat application:
>>>> https://github.com/danstaples/MediaGrid). They both require a good bit
>>>> of tinkering to work well, but could be a fun project. Or you could try
>>>> for something simpler to setup, like an Apache web server.
>>>>
>>>> Also, when you have the server set up, try using the application portal
>>>> on the picostation
>>>> (https://code.commotionwireless.net/projects/commotion/wiki/Application_Portal).
>>>>
>>>> When you "add an application", it will show up automatically on other
>>>> routers nearby within a few minutes!
>>>>
>>>> Dan
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> Commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/commotion-discuss
>>>
>>
> As for your other questions, we would like to have a Commotion image for
> Raspberry Pi, but it is not a top priority for now. Perhaps someone from
> the dev community can create one ;)
>
> And we often use Nanostations for connecting parts of a mesh network
> over longer distances. They work really well for that purpose, but
> aren't the best for providing access points since they are directional.
>
> -Dan
>