|
Written by XtremeX
|
Bathurst Wireless utilises a mixture of traditional Point to Point and MESH to get the best of both worlds. Below is a network topology explaining some information about each setup and its advantages and disadvantages. Depending on your geographical location, height, finance and resources will determine the type of setup that you will utilise.
Access Points
Bathurst Wireless AP's use /27 subnets from 10.192.16.0 which gives us 30 Hosts per subnet.
A typical access point can be allocated like the following. This layout is a prefered guide to base your layout. The top priority to having your AP grow would be a good idea to have DHCP working to allow clients to connect with ease, as it was when you first connected. It is a good idea to also set DHCP to have a short lease length. about 10 mins to 30 mins.
It is advised that each AP be set to 11Mbit only so that slow connections do not consume the RF space, allowing faster friendly links.
AP's do NOT have /32 olsr routes, they are advertised as HNA blocks so no olsr is needed to communicate with the AP. This allows ordinary clients to connect.
The first IP is set to the router / gateway IP.
10.192.16.1
The next four IPs are reserved for AP's
10.192.16.2 - 10.192.16.5
The next eight IPs are for local servers and static IPs
10.192.16.6 - 10.192.16.13
The next 17 IP's are DHCP enabled to issue IP's to clients
Example Layout
Router / Gateway IP
|
| 10.192.16.1 |
Reserved for AP Units
|
| 10.192.16.2 |
| 10.192.16.3 |
| 10.192.16.4 |
| 10.192.16.5 |
Static IP's and local servers
|
| 10.192.16.6 |
| 10.192.16.7 |
| 10.192.16.8 |
| 10.192.16.9 |
| 10.192.16.10 |
| 10.192.16.11 |
| 10.192.16.12 |
| 10.192.16.13 |
Client DHCP Range
|
| 10.192.16.14 |
| 10.192.16.15 |
| 10.192.16.16 |
| 10.192.16.17 |
| 10.192.16.18 |
| 10.192.16.19 |
| 10.192.16.20 |
| 10.192.16.21 |
| 10.192.16.22 |
| 10.192.16.23 |
| 10.192.16.24 |
| 10.192.16.25 |
| 10.192.16.26 |
| 10.192.16.27 |
| 10.192.16.28 |
| 10.192.16.29 |
| 10.192.16.30 |
Mesh Access Points
OLSR MESH links are like OSPF on steroids without the tedious configuring or pitfalls of OSPF.
Mesh networks generally use low gain antennas such as omni directionals in a high wireless density area. Since Bathurst is a dispersed low density area we are using mesh in a traditional routed environment with point to point links. This gives us the best of both worlds
Mesh gives us the ability to dynamically update the routing information, link state quality and handles circular routes naturally making the network more stable and efficient.
Bathurst Wireless Mesh Links use 12.192.XX.YYY/27 subnets. The XX.YYY being the same as the AP that you are hosting.
Unlike the Point to Point backbone links mesh enables us to dynamically link multiple links/backbones giving multiple benefits.
Advantages
- The more mesh links the more routing paths are available giving better redundancy and throughput (by taking the best path), operating like the internet.
- Routing paths are created and managed dynamically. Minimal administration is required.
- Each node is responsible for their own equipment. Less global administrative action required.
- Mesh naturally supporting multiple links/backbones allows more people to easilly become Access Points and usefull members helping the network grow.
- Accessing and becoming a backbone link is extremely simplified as all routing is dynamic and backbones are more readily available.
- A new node in a prime location can easilly become a redundant backbone for the network, linking to other mesh points
- Only one channel and mesh access point is needed for multiple links, instead of a seperate card, unit and rf channel for each point
- Additional members to a mesh network strengthen it by providing more possible links
Disadvantages
- Since lower gain antennas are used it is not suitable for long distance links or low wireless density areas
Mesh is the prefered method as it is scalable for a reliable wireless blanket, allowing more access, distributed bandwidth and routing.
If you are not within reach of a wireless mesh, then a long distance Point to Point link may be more beneficial.
The requirements to connect to the Bathurst Wireless mesh include either, being an AP, being a mesh AP or a mesh/backbone node linking to 2 locations.
You must be running olsrd mesh to communicate with the mesh endpoints.
Random Blurb
routing will always follow the more specific subnets. eg /30 will always override a /24
olsrd automatically announces all IPs of all interfaces bound and defined as /32s
a Mesh point can sustain a huge flat network if required as it uses individual Point to Point links for broadcast information.
Point to Point Links
Bathurst Wireless Point to Point links use a /29 subnet.
These links are also security protected as these are generally high speed or long distance backhaul links, linking remote inaccessible locations.
They are similar to Mesh links, they utilise and require OLSR to operate and are completely dynamic. BUT they have a much smaller subnet, and are completely locked down to prevent abuse of these links.
Advantages
- Great at long distance links due to the use of higher gain / more directional antennas
- A possible higher throughput due to general tighter beamwidth of antennas at both ends
Disadvantages
- Possible point of failure. If the link is down then all nodes lose connectivity to the rest of the network
- More channels are required for each link. This can slow other links and cause interference
- Point to Point links will consume rf space for a single link
- Bandwidth is limited to the point to point link
|
