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

Ben West ben at gowasabi.net
Wed Aug 14 15:30:57 UTC 2013 

Hi Luigi,

USB wifi adapter compatibility is tricky for instances where you want the
radio to broadcast multiple SSIDs (i.e. adhoc signal and a local AP
signal).  To date, I've only been able to get this working on
TL-WN821N *v3*which uses the
*ath9k_htc* driver, not v2 which uses the carl9170 driver.  Likewise for
the TL-WN722N.  Even then, I had patch the ath9k_htc driver (patch for
OpenWRT included) to make the radio do multiple SSIDs.

On the other hand, if you are using the commotion-mesh-applet tool under a
compatible desktop GUI like GNOME or Mate, it will only start a single
adhoc interface, rather than multiple SSIDs.  The caveat, at when I last
tested that tool in March, was that it expected the USB wifi interface to
be named "wlan0" rather something else like "wlan1."

Could you respond with the OS and kernel versions on all machines involved,
i.e. your laptop and the rPI?  The USB wifi driver might also be a bit
stale, too.



On Wed, Aug 14, 2013 at 8:43 AM, LuigiScop
<luigi.scopelliti at fastwebnet.it>wrote:

> 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<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@**lists.chambana.net<commotion-discuss-request at lists.chambana.net>ha
>>>> scritto:
>>>>
>>>>> Send Commotion-discuss mailing list submissions to
>>>>>      commotion-discuss at lists.**chambana.net<commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
>>>>>
>>>>> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
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>>>>>
>>>>> You can reach the person managing the list at
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>>>>>
>>>>> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
>>>>> than "Re: Contents of Commotion-discuss digest..."
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> 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<luigi.scopelliti at fastwebnet.it>
>>>>> >
>>>>> To: commotion-discuss at lists.**chambana.net<commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
>>>>> Subject: [Commotion-discuss] Commotion installation on Linux laptop
>>>>> Message-ID: <51C0B700.4000207 at fastwebnet.**it<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<Commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
>>>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/**mailman/listinfo/commotion-**discuss<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<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<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
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ______________________________**_________________
>>>> Commotion-discuss mailing list
>>>> Commotion-discuss at lists.**chambana.net<Commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/**mailman/listinfo/commotion-**discuss<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
>>
>>
>
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> Commotion-discuss at lists.**chambana.net<Commotion-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
> https://lists.chambana.net/**mailman/listinfo/commotion-**discuss<https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/commotion-discuss>
>
>


-- 
Ben West
http://gowasabi.net
ben at gowasabi.net
314-246-9434
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