[B.A.T.M.A.N.] Mesh network advice

[B.A.T.M.A.N.] Mesh network advice

[Rudolf Meijering]

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Hi,

Im setting up a small mesh network of maximum 20 nodes. The network will
mainly be used for sharing internet access but also perhaps for gaming and
file sharing. Access will be controlled via RADIUS and a portal page.

I would like to hear your thoughts / advice on batman vs batman-advanced. I
read the wiki entry on the pros and cons of batman-adv but I am still in
doubt about which one to use. For instance, batman-adv doesnt have gateway
support, but it has ipv6 which if I understand correctly can automatically
configure gateways/routes.

For a practical scenario like mine, what is the factors I should consider
when choosing between the two and which one would you suggest?

Thanks!
-- 
Rudolf Meijering

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Re: [B.A.T.M.A.N.] Mesh network advice

[Marek Lindner]

Hi,

> I would like to hear your thoughts / advice on batman vs batman-advanced. I
> read the wiki entry on the pros and cons of batman-adv but I am still in
> doubt about which one to use. For instance, batman-adv doesnt have gateway
> support, but it has ipv6 which if I understand correctly can automatically
> configure gateways/routes.

I believe the wiki page is a bit misleading - I just corrected it. We were 
trying to convey that batman-adv users can't expect batmand gateway behaviour. 
The kernel module won't help you to choose you best gateway (regarding wifi 
link qualities / bandwidth / etc). You always can run DHCP, IPv6 autoconf or 
any mechanism you like.

In reality it means if you have multiple DHCP gateways in your network the 
clients might not always choose the "best" one. Although this is going to 
change in the upcoming batman-adv 0.3 branch over the next weeks.


> For a practical scenario like mine, what is the factors I should consider
> when choosing between the two and which one would you suggest?

On one hand it depends the applications you want to run over the mesh. Things 
like autoconfiguration via DHCP, filesharing amongst clients, roaming, mDNS, etc 
require a layer 2 mesh. Otherwise you are free to choose.

Regards,
Marek

Re: [B.A.T.M.A.N.] Mesh network advice

[RHS Linux User]

Hi Marek and all,

   This whole feature stuff is still confusing to me.

   I wondering how to make it more obvious to mere users?

   Also, I am into wireless connected sensor systems, so it would be nice
if each node had a provision to address multiple local sensors which might
be connected VIA serial port, local ethernet port or just i/o pins and
then access those from either another local mesh node or the greater
internet.

   I have yet to get the latest open-mesh hardware to see what pins are
available on their PCB?

   Thoughts anyone?

      John


On Sat, 19 Dec 2009, Marek Lindner wrote:

> 
> Hi,
> 
> > I would like to hear your thoughts / advice on batman vs batman-advanced. I
> > read the wiki entry on the pros and cons of batman-adv but I am still in
> > doubt about which one to use. For instance, batman-adv doesnt have gateway
> > support, but it has ipv6 which if I understand correctly can automatically
> > configure gateways/routes.
> 
> I believe the wiki page is a bit misleading - I just corrected it. We were 
> trying to convey that batman-adv users can't expect batmand gateway behaviour. 
> The kernel module won't help you to choose you best gateway (regarding wifi 
> link qualities / bandwidth / etc). You always can run DHCP, IPv6 autoconf or 
> any mechanism you like.
> 
> In reality it means if you have multiple DHCP gateways in your network the 
> clients might not always choose the "best" one. Although this is going to 
> change in the upcoming batman-adv 0.3 branch over the next weeks.
> 
> 
> > For a practical scenario like mine, what is the factors I should consider
> > when choosing between the two and which one would you suggest?
> 
> On one hand it depends the applications you want to run over the mesh. Things 
> like autoconfiguration via DHCP, filesharing amongst clients, roaming, mDNS, etc 
> require a layer 2 mesh. Otherwise you are free to choose.
> 
> Regards,
> Marek
> _______________________________________________
> B.A.T.M.A.N mailing list
> B.A.T.M.A.N@lists.open-mesh.net
> https://lists.open-mesh.net/mm/listinfo/b.a.t.m.a.n
> 

Re: [B.A.T.M.A.N.] Mesh network advice

[Marek Lindner]

Hey,

>    This whole feature stuff is still confusing to me.
> 
>    I wondering how to make it more obvious to mere users?

could you be a bit more specific ? What exactly is not obvious ? We always try 
our best to keep our stuff as simple as possible.  :)


>    Also, I am into wireless connected sensor systems, so it would be nice
> if each node had a provision to address multiple local sensors which might
> be connected VIA serial port, local ethernet port or just i/o pins and
> then access those from either another local mesh node or the greater
> internet.
> 
>    I have yet to get the latest open-mesh hardware to see what pins are
> available on their PCB?

Are you sure this is right mailing list to ask this question ? The hardware is 
coming from open-mesh.com and not from open-mesh.org.  ;)

Regards,
Marek