Mesh/Hardware support

sudo mesh wants to support a few different types of devices. This page lists the routers we want to support, ordered by approximate priority.

First milestone

Our first hardware support milestone includes the following devices.

Ubiquiti Picostation 2 HP

We have about 70 of these. These were part of our first large purchase and have been the initial focus of our firmware efforts.

• Frequency: 2.4 ghz
• Chipset: AR2315
• Ram: 32 MB
• Flash: 8 MB
• Ethernet ports: 1 PoE

Remaining ToDo:

• Support "paired" mode

Where router is hooked up to secondary ethernet port of a Nanostation M5 to function similarly to a single dual radio 2.4 + 5 ghz router.

Ubiquiti Nanostation M5

The 5 ghz rooftop mesh backbone is initially being built primarily using Nanobridges and Nanostations and Rockets. Nanostations a are light and easy to install on e.g. flagpoles and can support maybe two or three connected Nanobridges.

• Frequency: 5 ghz
• Chipset: AR7xxx
• Ram: 32 MB
• Flash: 8 MB
• Ethernet ports: 1 PoE and 1 with optional PoE passthrough.

WARNING: Some of the older versions of these have a hardware bug that can kill the router the first time you enable the PoE pass-through.

Remaining ToDo:

• Add 5 GHz-specific and 802.11n-specific configuration options to node-configurator
• Support "paired" mode

Where router has Picostation 2 HP hooked up to secondary ethernet port to function similarly to a single dual radio 2.4 + 5 ghz router.

Ubiquiti Nanobridge M5

The 5 ghz rooftop mesh backbone is being built primarily using Nanobridges and Nanostations. Nanobridges are our directional nodes. We connect them to other Nanobridges or to Nanostations.

• Frequency: 5 ghz
• Chipset: AR7xxx
• Ram: 32 MB
• Flash: 8 MB
• Ethernet ports: 1 PoE

Remaining ToDo:

• Add 5 GHz-specific and 802.11n-specific configuration options to node-configurator

Ubiquiti Rocket M5

Like a Nanostation, but antenna is better (and external and sold separately) and it has twice the ram and more CPU.

• Frequency: 5 ghz
• Chipset: AR7xxx
• Ram: 64 MB
• Flash: 8 MB + USB (port but not sure if USB works in OpenWRT)
• Ethernet ports: 1 PoE

Remaining ToDo:

• Add 5 GHz-specific and 802.11n-specific configuration options to node-configurator

The cheap home router

TP-LINK TL-WR703N / TL-MR3020

These are the cheap indoor option. The TL-WR703N is $25 including shipping but is not FCC/CE certified. The TL-MR3020 is basically the same unit with a few extra LEDs and FCC/CE certification and costs $32 including shipping.

Both of these will need an external USB stick to work with our firmware. These can be had for ~$2.50 for 128 MB sticks and maybe $5.00 for 8 GB. We can probably get lower bulk prices from china.

• Frequency: 2.4 ghz
• Chipset: AR7240
• Ram: 32 MB
• Flash: 4 MB + USB port for additional storage.
• Ethernet ports: 1 non-PoE.

Remaining ToDo:

• The router boots up and gets and IP with DHCP but then becomes unresponsive?

Vizio XWR100

An alternative to the TP-Links. Not as small and cute-looking, but dual-radio and all-around better specs for comparable price.

• Price: $26 including shipping
• Frequency: Dual radio 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz
• Chipset: AR72xx
• Ram: 32 MB
• Flash: 8 MB
• CPU: 680 MHz
• Ethernet ports: 5 non-PoE
• USB ports: 1

Western Digital N600

An alternative to the TP-Links. Not as small and cute-looking, but dual-radio and all-around better specs for comparable price. The 128 MB ram means we can actually realistically run apps on this thing.

• Price: $30 including shipping
• Frequency: Dual radio 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz
• Chipset: AR72xx
• Ram: 128 MB
• Flash: 8 MB
• CPU: 560 MHz
• Ethernet ports: 5 non-PoE
• USB ports: 1

Second milestone

We're not yet sure exactly which platforms will be supported for our second milestone.

Meraki Outdoor

We have a lot of these, but the Linux kernel currently has no support for their watchdog and it is enabled with a 5 minute timer per default. These are otherwise basically the same as the Picostation 2 HP, but with two ethernet ports and less power.

• Frequency: 2.4 ghz
• Chipset: AR2315
• Ethernet ports: 2
• Flash: 8 MB
• Max power: ~200 mW

Remaining ToDo:

• Add watchdog support to kernel.
• Fix issue where firmware shuts down immediately after bootup.
• Make/buy cases.
• Buy antennas.
• Buy power supplies.

Ubiquiti Nanobeam M5

This seems to be the replacement for the Nanobridge. Has nicer mounting bracket with 2D swivel joint. Not yet available for purchase.

• Frequency: 5 ghz
• Chipset: AR7xxx
• Ram: 64 MB
• Flash: 8 MB
• Ethernet ports: 1 PoE

Remaining ToDo:

• Unknown but probably same as Rocket M5.

Third milestone

No hard plans, but some ideas are:

• Generic x86 Linux-based desktop/laptop operating systems.
• Beagle Bone Black
• Raspberry Pi

Fourth milestone

Support an open hardware router (does not yet exist, though a Beagle Bone Black with an Atheros Chipset is probably as close as we're likely to get soon).

Fifth milesone

Support an even more open hardware router, possibly with everything implemented with FPGAs and DACs. Possibly not even limited to the wifi standard.