[Freedombox-discuss] mesh network [was: FreedomBox Testing 2012.0617 Image Published]

[Yan Hetges]

Hello

first of all, i'd like to quickly introduce myself. My name is Yan, i
like freedom and have been using Debian as my main desktop OS since woody 
and been playing with it on servers since the same time. I've also been
actively deploying a wifi adhoc mesh network with OpenWrt and derivates
since 2006 (it has ~15 nodes and covers an area of maybe 15 km^2).
And i've been reading this list since late January...

On Sun, Jun 17, 2012 at 10:03:49PM -0400, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
> Hmmm...  So, the Freedombox needs to use external infrastructure such as an ethernet or WiFi router?

yes, freedombox wants to use the internet
> 
> I was thinking WiFi would connect all neighbors together on a WiFi mesh able to simultaneously transmit / receive to other Freedomboxes directly without a hub / router. Sort of an ad hoc Internet.

it could theoretically connect all neighbours together and NOT
simultaneously tx/rx because the wifi radio can only either or, not both
at the same time. And that's the main issue, usable bandwidth gets less
at each hop.
> 
> Is such a thing possible with WiFi?

to a certain degree, and it might never be able to replace an
infrastructure! Also, to connect neighbours without internet, they want
to be pretty close to each other... like one in every appartment! That
will then make so much noise that there might be no communication
possible over more than 2-4 hops. Please don't understand me wrong, i
LOVE the idea! Also, to make that work out of the box, without external
antennas mounted on a roof, or the FBX mounted in a weatherproof box on
top of a bamboo pole in a tall tree or something like that, is very 
unlikely. I suggest reading RFC 1925 [1] espexially (5),(8) and (10).
If you really want to integrate a self employing mesh function into
FBX i'd recommend looking deeply into what R.O.B.I.N. [2] does.
Also, it would be very much appreciated and make group communication
much easier if you (some of you) would consider reading and following
[3] , especially 9. And/or RFC 1855 [4].
Thank you everyone so much for all your work!

  cheers

    --Yan

[1]http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1925.txt
[2]http://wiki-robin.meshroot.com/
[3]http://linux.sgms-centre.com/misc/netiquette.php
[4]http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1855.txt

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