[Mesh] 5 ghz rooftop node in west oakland

[Miguel Vargas]

It's a network!


On Mon, Jan 6, 2014 at 12:36 PM, Max B <maxb.personal at gmail.com> wrote:

> Awesome!
>
> On Mon 06 Jan 2014 12:32:54 PM PST, Pete Forsyth wrote:
> > Yesterday, Marc, myself, and my new roommate Cameron successfully
> installed
> > a NanoBridge at my apartment (phorzaith), and connected it to his node
> > (Adeline Livelabs, described below) -- 0.57 km, line of sight down
> Adeline
> > St. So far we are using the Ubiquiti firmware. I have downloaded files
> from
> > his network, with a maximum throughput of 5.5 MB/sec -- nearly twice the
> > download speed, and about 7 times the upload speed, I can achieve through
> > my DSL Internet connection. This is the mesh's first 5GHz connection, and
> > we expect it to be robust and persistent!
> >
> > Process:
> >
> > First, we went on my roof to see if we had line of sight from up there,
> but
> > found that several slightly taller houses on my side of the street would
> be
> > in the way. There are also limited opportunities for easy installation up
> > there. However, we did note a few other potential targets for future
> nodes
> > I could connect to: the California Hotel (being used as a halfway house),
> > and the bodega on 34th and Adeline which has a nice tall tower that might
> > be useful for getting across the MacArthur freeway. I can also see
> several
> > neighbors' houses who might be friendly to the People's Open network.
> >
> > So we went back to the initial idea (picture attached), a dish above my
> > front door. This has several advantages over the rooftop: it goes in
> front
> > of the taller buildings (providing line-of-sight down the street), and is
> > easier to access for installation and maintenance. We tested by attaching
> > the NanoBridge to an 8' length of 2x3 lumber. Using the Ubiquiti firmware
> > (and also the router's built-in indicator lights), we tested several
> > antenna angles, and discovered that it was more forgiving than expected
> --
> > we were able to achieve a reasonable connection (2 MB/s) with as much as
> > about a 25° angle (not tested thoroughly). Perhaps the signal does zigzag
> > bounces off the fronts of houses along the street?
> >
> > We then made a more permanent installation, using a 10" and 7" length of
> > 2x4 scrap lumber to attach to the wood side of the house. The NanoBridge
> is
> > designed to allow easy vertical adjustment; if we find we need horizontal
> > adjustment it will be easy to accomplish with shims. The installation is
> > higher than the test, which has the advantages of fewer potential
> > interfering objects, and also more difficult to access for any curiosity-
> > or theft-motivated passersby. We also turned the router so its lights
> face
> > the house and taped over them, so as to attract less attention to it. The
> > cost was essentially no more than the NanoBridge; all other materials
> were
> > stuff we had lying around (and very inexpensive if we did have to buy,
> > under $10.)
> >
> > Bill of Materials:
> >
> > * One NanoBridge
> > * One 7" length of scrap 2x4 lumber
> > * One 10" length of scrap 2x4 lumber
> > * One basic bookshelf bracket, 6" by 8"
> > * 12 foot Cat 5e cable (standard; to be replaced with outdoor-grade cable
> > ASAP)
> > * One Power-over-Ethernet injector
> >
> > To do:
> >
> > * Make installation more permanent/less hackery (better cable, run the
> > cable less conspicuously, paint the wood)
> > * Design and implement network infrastructure (public/private); share
> > network with neighbors
> > * ???
> > * MESH THE PLA.NET
> >
> > -Pete
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Dec 31, 2013 at 7:27 PM, Marc <marcjc at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Pete and myself Installed a nanostation m5 on a 20 foot aluminum
> flagpole
> >> in west oakland. The node is about 14 feet above the roof of a two-story
> >> building. The total cost of this install ran to about $145 including all
> >> materials.
> >>
> >> Bill of Materials:
> >>
> >> * One nanostation m5 loco
> >> * One 4 foot wood beam of 3.5" by 3.5"
> >> * Three 5" by 1/4" bolts
> >> * Three 5/8" washers for bolts (optional)
> >> * Three 1/2" washers for bolts (optional)
> >> * Two 5" hose clamps
> >> * 30+ feet of outdoor shielded ethernet cable
> >> * Two shielded/groundable ethernet plugs
> >> * A bunch of zip ties
> >>
> >> The optional washers make it easier to tighten and untighten the bolts
> >> (otherwise they dig into the wood).
> >>
> >> Material sources:
> >>
> >> * Nanostation from Amazon
> >> * Flag pole from habor freight
> >> * Everything else from home depot
> >>
> >> -
> >> marc/juul
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >> http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/mesh
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
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