Mesh/BATMAN-adv

The batman-adv is an implementation of the BATMAN routing protocol. The protocol is configured with a file, but these settings can be changed with batctl. The advantage of routing using batman-adv, rather than cjdns, is its a layer two protocol, which can send all types of layers three packets (udp, tcp/ip, etc). The protocol "forwards all traffic until it reaches the destination, hence emulating a virtual network switch of all nodes participating. Therefore all nodes appear to be link local and are unaware of the network's topology as well as unaffected by any network changes."

Configure batctl

The ...

Wireless configuration

This configuration is valid for OpenWRT 12.09 (Attitude Adjustment), which uses BATMAN 2012.4.0. In newer versions, the version of BATMAN used is 2013.0.0 and the configuration of BATMAN slightly differs.

In /etc/config/wireless:

config wifi-device 'radio0'
	option type 'mac80211'
	option hwmode '11g'
	option channel '3'        # You may want another channel
	option disabled '0'
	option phy 'phy0'

# the interface where non-mesh nodes connect
config wifi-iface
	option device 'radio0'
	option ifname 'ap0'
	option encryption 'none'
	option network 'lan'
	option mode 'ap'
	option ssid 'sudomesh'   # You should change the ssid to be unique for dev purposes

# the mesh interface
config wifi-iface
	option device 'radio0'
	option ifname 'adhoc0'
 	option encryption 'none'
	option network 'mesh'
	option mode 'adhoc'
	option bssid 'CA:FE:C0:DE:F0:0D' # You should change this to be unique for development purposes, but for meshing this should be the same for all routers on the mesh
	option ssid 'sudomesh-backchannel' # You should change the ssid to be unique for development purposes, but for meshing this should be the same for all routers on the mesh

Write some of this stuff down for reference later! You might need it!

Network configuration

In /etc/config/network:

config interface 'loopback'
	option ifname 'lo'
	option proto 'static'
	option ipaddr '127.0.0.1'
	option netmask '255.0.0.0'

# set up ethernet bridging between eth0 and bat0
# this means that packets can move between the ethernet port
# and the wifi mesh
config interface 'lan'
	option type 'bridge'
	option proto 'static'
	option ipaddr '10.42.10.11' # this should be a unique IP
	option netmask '255.255.0.0'
	option dns '208.67.222.222'
	option gateway '192.168.1.1' # an internet gateway, not sure how to deal with multiple gateways yet
	option ifname 'eth0 bat0'

# the mesh interface
config interface 'mesh'
	option ifname 'adhoc0'
	option proto 'none'
	option mtu '1528'

BATMAN configuration

In /etc/config/batman-adv:

config mesh 'bat0'
	option interfaces 'adhoc0' # the interface for which to enable batman0
	option 'aggregated_ogms' # no idea what this means
	option 'ap_isolation' # no idea what this means

System configuration

In /etc/config/system you can set hostname and timezone. This is not strictly necessary for BATMAN to work, but it should be set correctly. The below timezone is correct for the pacific U.S. timezone. The naming convention for hostnames is: <router-model-name>-<some-unique-name-you-choose>

config system
	option hostname	tl-wr703n-foo
	option timezone	PST8PDT,M3.2.0,M11.1.0

You may also have to turn off dnsmasq. (someone else can chime in if this contradicts their working knowledge)

/etc/init.d/dnsmasq disable

Testing

You should see the 'sudomesh' and 'sudomesh-backchannel' wifi interfaces when running `sudo iwlist wlan0 scan`