Network/Reboot

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Revision as of 20:55, 17 May 2014 by Matt (talk | contribs) (→‎Plan: adds bullet router usage docs)
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Taking notes for creating a new network as part of the Sudo Room Reboot, including upgrading to a bigger space!

Plan

In order to focus on good service and user experience, will plan to first deploy a "bootstrapped" wireless network, then plan and coordinate a proper wired network.

Phase 1: Bootstrapped Wireless Network

In this phase, the focus will be on wireless network service with one powerful wireless router, set up wherever the internet connection is. We'll extend the network by using wireless repeaters that have ethernet interfaces. We'll be able to take the broadcast network from the primary router, repeat it to other parts of the building with these repeaters, and ultimately connect switches to the repeaters' ethernet interfaces to extend the network throughout the building.

Wishlist

  • 1 - Really powerful wireless router
  • ~10 - Wireless Access Points (APs)
  • ~5 - Low-power Switches

Plan

Turns out there are a few wireless devices available from Sudo Mesh that aren't very helpful for the Mesh/Firmware, so we can use them with OpenWRT for this purpose. Especially helpful are the Ubiquiti Bullet 2HP routers, which simply have just barely enough memory to be operational, but are ultimately not practical for Sudo Mesh's purposes.

Ubiquiti Bullet 2HP

  1. Reset router, following the instructions here: Mesh/WalkThrough#Bullet
  2. Install OpenWRT firmware, using this image: http://downloads.openwrt.org/attitude_adjustment/12.09/atheros/generic/openwrt-atheros-ubnt2-jffs2-64k.bin
    1. Unfortunately need to use an old version of OpenWRT ("Attitude Adjustment" 12.09) since the community has stopped supporting this device (too low memory).
  3. Configure as repeater
    1. Simplest option is to use the LuCI interface to add the existing network as a "Client" and add this Bullet router's network on top, as shown in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rbsh2zxPnk
    2. (Optional), consider alternative methods for repeating a network listed below:
      1. WDS http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/clientmode#wds.-.wireless.distribution.system
      2. Routed Client Mode http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/clientmode#routed.client.mode
      3. Bridged Client Mode (brcm-2.4 only) http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/clientmode#bridged.client.mode.brcm-2.4.only
        1. Not compatible with Bullet router.
      4. Bridged Client Mode (with relayd) http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/clientmode#bridged.client.mode.with.relayd
        1. Compatible with Bullet router, but requires installing new dependencies, for limited memory device. May need to remove unused packages to make room for this—seems like it could provide better performance than the client/master solution.

Phase 2: Proper Wired Network

As soon as a basically functioning and stable bootstrapped wireless network is deployed, we will begin the next phase, deploying a proper wired network for the whole building. The emphasis will be on modularity, reliability, maintainability, quality materials, and forward-thinking design of the network that will definitively meet the practical needs of the building by providing ubiquitous network connectivity.

Once this network is functional, we'll simply add wireless access points to replace the bootstrapped wireless network.

Wishlist

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