[B.A.T.M.A.N.] Connecting non-batman nodes to a mesh network

[B.A.T.M.A.N.] Connecting non-batman nodes to a mesh network

[Panayot Daskalov]

Hi All,

I want to ask for your advice about a batman problem I am facing. I have 
a mesh network of custom build embedded Linux devices. The devices have 
only network one interface and this is the Wi-Fi that is used by batman. 
So far the mesh is running OK, but at some point I need to be able to 
connect with a laptop (non-Linux) to the network and access some of the 
devices via its IP address. I tried simply connecting to the adhoc 
network and setting a static IP to my laptop. I have managed to do that, 
but I can't access the nodes from the mesh.

I read the instruction for mixing with non-batman devices by bridging 
the bat0 interface with the "non-batman" interface, but as far as I 
understand that applies to systems with at least 2 network interfaces 
e.g one for batman nodes and one for the non-batman. So my question is - 
can I mix non-batman and batman nodes when I have only one network 
interface on the batman nodes? If yes, then how?

Thanks in advance.

Best regards,
Panayot

P.S
I am using batman-adv 2011.2.0, because I can't cross compile the latest 
version against the kernel I use on the devices - 2.6.28. Also I don't 
use batctl.

Re: [B.A.T.M.A.N.] Connecting non-batman nodes to a mesh network

[Antonio Quartulli]

On dom, nov 20, 2011 at 10:49:16 +0200, Panayot Daskalov wrote:
> > Hi All,
> > 
> > I want to ask for your advice about a batman problem I am facing. I have 
> > a mesh network of custom build embedded Linux devices. The devices have 
> > only network one interface and this is the Wi-Fi that is used by batman. 
> > So far the mesh is running OK, but at some point I need to be able to 
> > connect with a laptop (non-Linux) to the network and access some of the 
> > devices via its IP address. I tried simply connecting to the adhoc 
> > network and setting a static IP to my laptop. I have managed to do that, 
> > but I can't access the nodes from the mesh.
> > 
> > I read the instruction for mixing with non-batman devices by bridging 
> > the bat0 interface with the "non-batman" interface, but as far as I 
> > understand that applies to systems with at least 2 network interfaces 
> > e.g one for batman nodes and one for the non-batman. So my question is - 
> > can I mix non-batman and batman nodes when I have only one network 
> > interface on the batman nodes? If yes, then how?
> 
 Hi Panayot,
 
 you are right: you need two "interfaces" in order to let clients connect
 to the mesh. However (if you want to use wifi interfaces only) you can
 also create "virtual interaces" using the same "real interface". This
 feature is available depending on the wifi driver you are using. If you are
 using madwifi or one of the new mac80211 drivers (not all support it),
 this technique should be feasiable without introducing many problems :)
 
 For instance, what driver are you using?
 
 Cheers,
 
-- 
Antonio Quartulli

..each of us alone is worth nothing..
Ernesto "Che" Guevara ☭

Re: [B.A.T.M.A.N.] Connecting non-batman nodes to a mesh network

[Panayot Daskalov]

Hi Antonio,

thanks for the prompt reply!

The devices have either RTL8188SU or RTL8188CUS chipsets from Realtek. 
Drivers can be found here -
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=48&PFid=48&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&Downloads=true#RTL8188SU 
<http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=48&PFid=48&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&Downloads=true#RTL8188SU>

May be they are mac80211 compatible, but I am not sure. Can you give me 
an example of creating a virtual interface so I can try?

Thanks.

Best regards,
Panayot

On 11/20/2011 11:16 PM, Antonio Quartulli wrote:
> On dom, nov 20, 2011 at 10:49:16 +0200, Panayot Daskalov wrote:
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> I want to ask for your advice about a batman problem I am facing. I have
>>> a mesh network of custom build embedded Linux devices. The devices have
>>> only network one interface and this is the Wi-Fi that is used by batman.
>>> So far the mesh is running OK, but at some point I need to be able to
>>> connect with a laptop (non-Linux) to the network and access some of the
>>> devices via its IP address. I tried simply connecting to the adhoc
>>> network and setting a static IP to my laptop. I have managed to do that,
>>> but I can't access the nodes from the mesh.
>>>
>>> I read the instruction for mixing with non-batman devices by bridging
>>> the bat0 interface with the "non-batman" interface, but as far as I
>>> understand that applies to systems with at least 2 network interfaces
>>> e.g one for batman nodes and one for the non-batman. So my question is -
>>> can I mix non-batman and batman nodes when I have only one network
>>> interface on the batman nodes? If yes, then how?
>   Hi Panayot,
>
>   you are right: you need two "interfaces" in order to let clients connect
>   to the mesh. However (if you want to use wifi interfaces only) you can
>   also create "virtual interaces" using the same "real interface". This
>   feature is available depending on the wifi driver you are using. If you are
>   using madwifi or one of the new mac80211 drivers (not all support it),
>   this technique should be feasiable without introducing many problems :)
>
>   For instance, what driver are you using?
>
>   Cheers,
>

Re: [B.A.T.M.A.N.] Connecting non-batman nodes to a mesh network

[Marek Lindner]

Hi,

> The devices have either RTL8188SU or RTL8188CUS chipsets from Realtek.
> Drivers can be found here -
> http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=48&PFi
> d=48&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&Downloads=true#RTL8188SU
> <http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=48&P
> Fid=48&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&Downloads=true#RTL8188SU>
> 
> May be they are mac80211 compatible, but I am not sure. Can you give me
> an example of creating a virtual interface so I can try?

the keywords you want to search for are: multi VAP, multi SSID & mac80211 iw
A few links that came out of that search:
http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers
http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Documentation/iw

I somehow doubt that the Realtek chip supports the mac80211 infrastructure. 
You might want to switch to the mac80211 driver for your chip. Not all chips 
support multi VAPs though.

Note: This mailing list is about batman and not so much about how to setup / 
configure your wifi driver or what features it supports.

I extended our FAQ with your question. Thanks for bringing it up.

Cheers,
Marek

Re: [B.A.T.M.A.N.] Connecting non-batman nodes to a mesh network

[Panayot Daskalov]

Hi,

thank you all for the valuable help.

It appears that the official drivers for those chipsets do not support 
mac80211 and I can't make virtual interfaces with them. So I had to take 
TP WR740N router, put OpenWrt + batman-adv on it and make it the entry 
point to the mesh network. That didn't go without problems, but at the 
end it worked.

BTW - the instructions on the web site about installing batman-adv on 
OpenWrt are outdated and didn't work for me. I have installed batman 
just doing - /opkg update && opkg install kmod-batman-adv/.

Best regards,
Panayot

On 11/21/2011 09:02 AM, Marek Lindner wrote:
> Hi,
>
>> The devices have either RTL8188SU or RTL8188CUS chipsets from Realtek.
>> Drivers can be found here -
>> http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=48&PFi
>> d=48&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&Downloads=true#RTL8188SU
>> <http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=48&P
>> Fid=48&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&Downloads=true#RTL8188SU>
>>
>> May be they are mac80211 compatible, but I am not sure. Can you give me
>> an example of creating a virtual interface so I can try?
> the keywords you want to search for are: multi VAP, multi SSID&  mac80211 iw
> A few links that came out of that search:
> http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers
> http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Documentation/iw
>
> I somehow doubt that the Realtek chip supports the mac80211 infrastructure.
> You might want to switch to the mac80211 driver for your chip. Not all chips
> support multi VAPs though.
>
> Note: This mailing list is about batman and not so much about how to setup /
> configure your wifi driver or what features it supports.
>
> I extended our FAQ with your question. Thanks for bringing it up.
>
> Cheers,
> Marek

Re: [B.A.T.M.A.N.] Connecting non-batman nodes to a mesh network

[Marek Lindner]

Hi,

> It appears that the official drivers for those chipsets do not support
> mac80211 and I can't make virtual interfaces with them. So I had to take
> TP WR740N router, put OpenWrt + batman-adv on it and make it the entry
> point to the mesh network. That didn't go without problems, but at the
> end it worked.

great!


> BTW - the instructions on the web site about installing batman-adv on
> OpenWrt are outdated and didn't work for me. I have installed batman
> just doing - /opkg update && opkg install kmod-batman-adv/.

What exactly are you referring to ? What page / which instruction ?

Regards,
Marek

Re: [B.A.T.M.A.N.] Connecting non-batman nodes to a mesh network

[Panayot Daskalov]

Hi,

I was referring to this link 
http://www.open-mesh.org/wiki/batman-adv/Openwrt-quick-install, but as I 
can see it has been removed. Probably because it was outdated. Funny 
because I remember reading it couple of days ago. Anyway it seems that 
there is no problem now, so please disregard my comment.

Best regards,
Panayot

On 11/24/2011 01:53 PM, Marek Lindner wrote:
> Hi,
>
>> It appears that the official drivers for those chipsets do not support
>> mac80211 and I can't make virtual interfaces with them. So I had to take
>> TP WR740N router, put OpenWrt + batman-adv on it and make it the entry
>> point to the mesh network. That didn't go without problems, but at the
>> end it worked.
> great!
>
>
>> BTW - the instructions on the web site about installing batman-adv on
>> OpenWrt are outdated and didn't work for me. I have installed batman
>> just doing - /opkg update&&  opkg install kmod-batman-adv/.
> What exactly are you referring to ? What page / which instruction ?
>
> Regards,
> Marek

Re: [B.A.T.M.A.N.] Connecting non-batman nodes to a mesh network

[Marek Lindner]

On Thursday, November 24, 2011 20:25:56 Panayot Daskalov wrote:
> I was referring to this link
> http://www.open-mesh.org/wiki/batman-adv/Openwrt-quick-install, but as I
> can see it has been removed. Probably because it was outdated. Funny
> because I remember reading it couple of days ago. Anyway it seems that
> there is no problem now, so please disregard my comment.

AFAIK we never had a page there. Are you talking about:
http://www.open-mesh.org/wiki/batman-adv/Quick-start-guide ?

Regards,
Marek