On Tue, Aug 9, 2016 at 12:17 AM, Jehan Tremback <jehan.tremback@gmail.com> wrote:

I just ordered 5 CHIP computers to set up a small wifi testnet. Any thoughts on how these compare? One possible advantage of the CHIP is that it includes battery charging circuitry to make a lithium battery a cheap addition. On the other hand, this has an antenna connector. I'm wondering if it's worth cancelling or reducing my order of CHIPs, since they won't ship until October anyway.

The CHIP is really solid. I've tested it. It has a limit on only being able to do two wifi networks at once on its built-in wifi chip but supports all modes (ad-hoc, master, client). It runs full Debian! The Omega2 is OpenWRT and needs soldering or add-on boards to use the USB (though soldering five wires is not hard). The only thing it has going for it over the CHIP is that it's cheaper (actual cost including shipping and taxes is $5 vs. $12 for the CHIP), potentially lower power (unknown but likely <1 watt), has a u.fl antenna plug and on-board ethernet (but you'd need to solder an ethernet transformer and an RJ45 plug or buy the adapter). The CHIP battery support _is_ really nice. I actually didn't realize until this email that it also has charging circuitry (I thought it could just suck power from a battery)! That's pretty amazing. I'll have to test it ASAP.

I was testing cheap Li-Ion USB battery packs from china yesterday to find a model that can both charge and discharge at the same time to act as a 5v UPS (un-interruptable power supply) between a solar panel and a e.g. an Omega2 and out of four tested I found one that actually lived up to expectations:

https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Mesh/Power#Battery

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marc/juul