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Difference between revisions of "WirelessMesh"

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All the wireless devices whether OLSR or non-OLSR, communicate with each other in the Ad-Hoc mode. They must use the came channel. There are 3 main IP settings to be carried out for every node in the mesh. LAN, WLAN and OLSR (HNA4). The OLSR refers to a network and is not an individual address. It is a reflection of the LAN subnet.  
All the wireless devices whether OLSR or non-OLSR, communicate with each other in the Ad-Hoc mode. They must use the came channel. There are 3 main IP settings to be carried out for every node in the mesh. LAN, WLAN and OLSR (HNA4). The OLSR refers to a network and is not an individual address. It is a reflection of the LAN subnet.  


The LAN for each mesh node should belong to a seperate subnet. LANs of different nodes talk to each other using the mesh routing.  
The LAN for each mesh node should belong to a seperate subnet. LANs of different nodes talk to each other using the mesh routing. The LAN and WLAN network should not be on the same subnet.  


The OLSR setting is in the format X/n where 'X' is the network ID of the LAN and 'n' is the subnet mask. Eg. 192.168.3.0/24
The OLSR setting is in the format X/n where 'X' is the network ID of the LAN and 'n' is the subnet mask. Eg. 192.168.3.0/24


WLAN is the interface that actually communicates with other nodes in the mesh as well as the non-OLSR users who are logged in through their wireless interfaces. WLAN IP should be kept static and all the WLANs should exist on the same subnet as they directly link to each other. The 'freifunk-dnsmasq' package adds a facility to allocate DHCP IPs to the WLAN interface in order to allow wireless laptop users to use the mesh.  
WLAN is the interface that actually communicates with other nodes in the mesh as well as the non-OLSR users who are logged in through their wireless interfaces. WLAN IP should be kept static and all the WLANs should exist on the same subnet as they directly link to each other. The 'freifunk-dnsmasq' package adds a facility to allocate DHCP IPs to the WLAN interface in order to allow wireless laptop users to use the mesh.  
A quick check list of steps to remember.
1. Plan your network.
2. Update your routers with the Freifunk firmware.
3. Get the Nodes up without the extra 'freifunk-dnsmasq' package.
4. Check if the mesh is running.
5. Connect the internet to the WAN port of the selected Node.
6. Through the internet update all your Nodes one by one with the 'freifunk-dnsmasq' package.
7. Set your OLSR-DHCP setting and now your mesh is fully ready.
8. You can replace the internet with local webserver/s that acts as the local free knowledge base.


In the setup at HBCSE in Mahkhurd Mumbai, we used 2 Linksys routers to form an OLSR mesh. We called them Node1 and Node2.
In the setup at HBCSE in Mahkhurd Mumbai, we used 2 Linksys routers to form an OLSR mesh. We called them Node1 and Node2.