[plug] Wireless Ad-Hoc and Mesh networking test

[Adrian Woodley]

As Nick just pointed out, the AGM is next week (the 10th).

Guess there is time for that live CD.

Adrian Woodley wrote:
> G'day Pluggers,
>
> As mentioned yesterday, I'm keen conduct a test of Ad-Hoc wireless 
> networking under Linux, using plug member's laptops (or other devices).
>
> I envisage the test being broken into two steps; establishing an 
> ad-hoc network and implementing a mesh-routing protocol.
>
> The first step will have all devices within range of each other and no 
> special routing will be required. The aim is to establish how easily 
> two (or more) Linux devices can be made to talk to each other, without 
> any supporting infrastructure.
>
> The second step will implement a mesh network using OLSR[1] as the 
> routing protocol. This should allow the network to be physically 
> extended, such that not all devices are within range of each other, 
> yet all devices will be able to communicate with every other device by 
> routing through those nearby.
>
> To participate in these tests you'll need a laptop (or other Linux 
> device) with a wireless network card. Ubuntu Intrepid (8.10) has 
> ad-hoc networking support via Network Manager. I'm not sure about what 
> version of are platforms provide this (Fedora, OpenSUSE, etc).
>
> If you don't use Network Manager, the following script can be used to 
> setup an adhoc network. You'll need to have avahi-autoipd installed.
>
> -->%--
>
> #!/bin/bash
> WIFI=wlan0
>
> ip link set dev $WIFI down
> iwconfig $WIFI mode adhoc
> iwconfig $WIFI essid PLUG
> ip link set dev $WIFI up
> avahi-autoipd -D --force-bind $WIFI
>
> --%<--
>
> OLSR can be setup in the following way:
>
> sudo apt-get install olsrd
> sudo sed -i 's/Interface "eth1"/Interface "wlan0"/' /etc/olsrd/olsrd.conf
>
> make sure wlan0 matches your wireless device.
>
> This will setup olsrd, but not enable to run at startup.
>
> If you're interested in doing further testing, you can also install 
> mobilemesh and batmand.\
>
> Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to make up a live CD to set this 
> all up automatically.
>
> Anyway, hope to see you all out at Christ Church Grammar this evening 
> for the great Ad-Hoc wifi test and the PLUG AGM.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Adrian
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