[Babel-users] Bable vs Linux Mesh mode.

[Juliusz Chroboczek]

>> DHCP, IPv6 autoconf and DNS-SD don't work for Babel nodes.  That's why
>> we need AHCP or HNCP, and DNS-SD proxies.

> Um, er. "Doesn't work?"

The context of the discussion was mesh networks.

More generally, there are good reasons why the Dynamic *Host* Configuration
Protocol should not be used for configuring routers.  (Yes, we all do
that in practice -- sometimes there's no choice --, but that's why babeld
requires an explicit "proto 3" before it will redistribute a DHCP route.)

> I recently went weeks without noticing that one router had
> crashed... until I crashed the other one.

Yes, that's a common issue with redundant systems -- you use RAID, you
have a disk crash, you ignore it, the other disk crashes, good-bye data.
It only goes to show that we need better monitoring tools.

> In the aformentioned network I also have homeplugs connecting part of it
> and the "distance" is shorter in one case using that, but the relative
> capacity of two gigE hops is greater. You can get around this somewhat
> by using the rxcost parameter...

Don't use rxcost.  Use filtering.

Instead of

  interface wlan0 rxcost 42

say

  in if wlan0 metric 42
  out if wlan0 metric 42

(I feel like I'm repeating myself.  Perhaps I should add a "cost 42"
directive to the interface statement that expands to the above?  Seems
like something of a hack.)

-- Juliusz