HR2.0 Episode 98 - AREDN Forum at Dayton Hamvention 2017

http://www.livefromthehamshack.tv/2...mesh-networking-forum-dayton-hamvention-2017/
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From the 2017 Dayton Hamvention, Andre, K6AH, from the AREDN Group, presents a forum about MESH networking using the AREDN firmware on various devices. MESH networking with AREDN is going to be one of my most talked about topics in upcoming episodes. This is really cool stuff. Give this video a look-see.

 

Less videos, more written data. Most of this is fine if you have elevation, but how about average homeowners with trees higher than our houses?

 

That is one of my issues. The answer is to have more nodes in different places, or as an alternative, if you can't reach other nodes, you can always tunnel through the internet between nodes. That kinda defeats the purposes of having a "alternative network" to the internet, but it will work.

 

My node and my neighbors node are both 10 feet off the ground , we do not have direct line of sight ( small building in the way ) and at 200 yards we get over 50 meg bandwidth. In the video he talks about how longer distance links are handled.

 

There is all the written data you want at www.aredn.org including a very good discussion forum.

 

200 yards? Try to find another ham that close who wants to do "techie" things. I am talking about references to a couple of miles in foliage dense areas. The nearest ham to me with any interest is over 2 miles away on the other side of an elevated highway and rises 50-100 feet between us. That is reality, not flat prarie land or houses on top of hills or buildings willing to give you space instead of charging money as if you were a cellphone provider. We hams are supposed to be thinking "when there is no internet" instead of relying on it for links like EchoLINK and WinLINK. ☺

 

1. Winlink needs no internet in your area to function, by design you can connect out of the area to send and receive internet based traffic.
2. Winlink also can operate sans any internet for message delivery if desired, from gateway to gateway: https://www.winlink.org/HybridNetwork
3. It is primarily an HF based network, but has many input methodologies; Packet, Winmor, even telnet via a Mesh or normal LAN system if configured correctly.

But I do concur that Echolink, and the use of the Internet to connect any communications systems may not operate if you have no internet at your location.

Adios

 

If you have very dense foliage, try a 900MHz node. You can hardline it to a 2.4GHz node, and they will gateway together. The 900MHz band is better for cutting through foliage and objects than the higher bands.

I did a video a few episodes back where we connected 2 SharkRF Openspot devices to one another over the MESH. Anything that is connected over the internet can also be connected over the MESH. So put some Winlink or Echolink or other type of servers on the MESH, and if the internet fails, you still have these services (And yes, you don't need internet to use Winlink, but you can hook it up this way.)

 

MESH or normal LAN, yes anything that has an IP can be used. Our area network is rather large and covers both sides of the Border in San Diego Ca. Many products on it, and all can function sans internet.
File server Voip phones Video chat sessions Winlink products DVRS with cameras Aprs I-gates that if no internet function as digis

Backbone is 5 Ghz at average LAN speed of 144 Mbs, users AP's at 2.4. Some links 18 miles. While it is not MESH it functions well. And yes 900 Mhz is a good foliage penetrater. Good work sir.

 

To be clear, the network my fried Mike is referring to is not the AREDN backbone I have built, maintain, and refer to several times in this presentation. His is based on a traditional AirOS network in the Part 15 spectrum (not ham radio) using point-to-point links.

 

I should have indicated so. Yes using none modified Ubiquiti AirOs and AC equipment PtP, with user distribution. The Amateurs on the system mostly doing Winlink and Voip.
It is referred to as HDRENS. "High Data Rate Emergency Network System".

K6AH and company have done a lot of hard work in regards to MESH, very impressive.

Thanks

 

Part 15's ability to encrypt is a very compelling reason to consider it over anything the ham bands can legally facilitate.
What kind of competition does the AREDN approach have with the various Part 15 rollouts out there?

 

2 words - Noise Floor

The Part 15 public WiFi band is full of RF. Noise floor levels are 5-6x higher in my area than the ham-only section of the 2.4GHz band. When some local clubs were running BBHN Part 15 Channel 1, 2, 3, 4, etc - they were lucky to make 1/2 mile hops. After changing to AREDN, these same nodes are now making 6+ mile hops by simply changing to channel -2, which is down in the ham-only part of the band

 

There are other mesh network protocols out there but most mesh's are either low bandwidth or short distance or both and do not use WIFI. Ubiquity has their own "mesh" functionality but it is for a situation where you have a large building and you want to cover that area with your own network with range extenders.
AREDN is a relatively high powered , high bandwidth, long range , mesh network and that makes it unique. There is a protocol that is low powered and relatively low bandwidth but still about 5 to 10 times better than ham packet radio called LORA https://www.lora-alliance.org/What-Is-LoRa/Technology LoRa is the only system I am aware of that is trying to do wide area outdoor coverage with an open system anybody can join and it is unlicensed 900 Mhz band in the U.S. https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/

 

Ubiquity and Cambium and many others provide good connectivity if installed properly. We have links in metro areas exceeding 12 KM at up to 300 MB LAN speed.
We are not knocking ARDEN or any amateur MESH network, but good user connectivity is easy to obtain with of the shelf products. We are not bound by Part 15 rules, and that is our primary reason for not doing MESH anymore.

In fact our current connectivity map covers 75 miles end to end with a host of broadband products, many for amateur radio use. I can speak with a bit of authority on Ubiquiti and Cambium products as I have a company in Mexico installing and providing a wide range of connectivity services. Mostly the Baja area for many companies needing short to medium range backbone and LAN access.

My initial post was in not an attempt to hijack or take away from the great work done with MESH and ARDEN in our area. Our group just has a differing philosophy for amateur radio LAN support.
I am supportive of what ARDEN does and for a large sector it is a good fit.

With that I will not post anything further nor respond so as to allow this thread to get back on track. Adios