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Using a wireless digital network may not seem like traditional QRP,
but transmitting with low power is at the core of how these networks
operate. Here's a basic guide to setting up your own.
Setting Up a Mesh Network Node
BY J. GORDON BEATTIE, JR.,' W2TTT
Y
OU may have read about "mesh
nodes" or "mesh networks" and
wondered how these amateur
radio nodes get configured to produce
a functional network. Amateur radio
mesh nodes based on the Austin
Broadband-Hamnet (HSMM-MESH)
Group's wonderful software take care
of the identification requirements while
also creating functional networks that
can be used for both routine and emer-
gency communlcations." With this soft-
ware, readily available Linksys WRT-
54G/GS/GL routers (photo A) can be
transformed into mesh network nodes
that provide fast and robust selt-orga-
nizing networks through which we can
pass text, data files, video, and even
voice traffic.
There is an inherent simpli city to the
Linksys implementation that is quite
attracti ve to the new user of this tech-
nology and it is strongly recommended
as an entry-level system. In this article,
we will be discussing the setup and con-
figuration of the Linksys-based HSMM-
MESH/Broadband-Hamnet nodes.
Getting Started
You will need to obtain a Linksys router,
and that requires some care to get a
model and version that are compatible
with the mesh software. The compati-
ble models use the Linux operating sys-
tem. You can find the model and ver-
sion information on the bottom of the
router in the upper left corner of the label
right under the Linksys logo as shown
in photo B. See Table I for a listing of
compatible models and required soft-
ware. If you find a router on the Internet,
it s likely to be pre-loaded with an after-
market software build called "DD-WRT"
which provides some additional con-
ventional router functions. If you find
such a unit at an attractive price, don't
be worried about compatibility as long
as the version is listed in Table I. Of
course, the best unit is one that has the
correct version, powers up, and is free,
so check garage sales and local thrift
stores. For reference, the WRT-54GS
versions 1 through 3 are the best,
because they provide the most memo-
ry for embedded applications to be res-
ident on the mesh node.
e-mail: <W2TTT@atl.nel>
Photo A. Three different models of Linksys routers (from top, WRT54GL,
WRT54GS and WRT54G) that are ideal for use as nodes in Broadband/Hamnet
(HSMM-MESH) networks.
Model
WRT-54
WRT-54GS
WRT-54GS
WRT-54GL
Version/Notes
V1-4 (V1 is 5V only)
V13 Most desirable has large memory capaci ty
V4
V1.(}-1.1
Softwa re Versi on
bbhn-1.0.0-wrt54g
bbhn-1.0.0-wrt54gs
bbhn-1.0.0-wrt54gs_v4
bbhn-1.0.0-wrt54g
Table I. Mesh network-compatible Linksys WRT-54IWRT54GSIWRT-54GL models.
42 co February 2014 Visit Our Web Site
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Fig. 1. Windows IPCONFIG example. Note the connection information of
"local.mesh" in the lower part of the screen.
Once you have your router, plug it in
and make sure that it cycles up in a few
seconds. If successful, the "Power" and
"WLAN" LEDs will be lit. Next, connect
your computer' s Ethernet port to any
one of the router's LAN ports, labeled
1-4, then open up a web browser and
enter the IP address <http://192.
168.1 .1 > to log on to the router's admin-
istrative console. If the router is in its
default mode and is running Linksys
software, then you will need to enter
nothing in the user name field and
"adrnin" in the password field. If you are
repurposing a router with DD-WRT,
then you will use the logon of "root" and
"adrnin" as your password. One of these
should let you into the router's admin-
istrative console.
Troubleshooting
Router Access
If you have trouble accessing the
router's logon screen, then you may
need to get a new IP address from this
router. For Windows PCs, go to a sys-
tem command prompt- and type
"IPCONFIG/RELEASE co-" and then
"IPCONFIG/RENEW<cr>" (see fig. 1).
You should then be able to access the
router and log on. Apple and Linux-
based systems havesimilar commands.
If you have trouble withthe logon and
password because you either don't
know them or forgot them, then power
ontherouter while holding thereset but-
ton down with a pen for about 30 sec-
onds. This will clear the whole configu-
ration and should restore the router to
default settings.
Obtaining and Loading
the MESH Software
There are several different files to use
with your Linksys router depending on
its model and version. You will find the
correct file name for your hardware in
Table I. Download the needed file from
either the Broadband-Hamnet web site
< http : / / www. h s mm- mes h. 0 r gl
software-download.html> or from the
file section of the "ComTechGroup"
Yahoo Group <http://groups.yahoo.
com/group/ComTechGroup/>, which
you can easily join by simply request-
ing access.
Once the file is saved on your com-
puter and you have logged into the
router, select the "Administration" sec-
tion tab and then select the "Upgrade"
button. You will be prompted for a file-
name. Browse over to the correct folder
and select the file. At NO TIME during
this phase of the process shoutd you
unplug the router from the PC. Once
completed, you will note that the router
reboots and is now an unconfigured
mesh node. Your router will take a bit
longer to boot the mesh software than it
did the default Linksys or other router
software. The "Power" LEDwill begin to
flash, then the "DMZ" LEDwill come on.
Once the "DMZ" LED goes off and the
"WLAN" LED starts to flash, you have
successfully loaded and rebooted your
mesh node! You will see that the head-
er of the page has your call sign and
identifier ontop, along witha pageof sta-
tistical elements. Congratulate yoursett:
Basic ASIC
MESH Node Configuration
You're making progress, but you have
more todo. First, youwill probably need
Photo B.
The bottom of a
Linksys router
will show you its
model number
and version
information.
1: '
~ C 192UilH I
to repeat the process of releasing the
old IPaddress and obtaining a newone
as you did when initially accessing the
console. (These addresses are gener-
ated by the router itself . See fig. 1.)
Once you have the new IP address,
then enter ''http://localnode:8080 -ccre-"
to see the main mesh node console as
shown in fig. 2. Click on the "Setup" but-
ton and enter a logon of "root" and
"mesh" as your password.
You will then be presented with a
basic configuration screen as shown in
fig. 3. Youwill need toenter a newvalue
for the "Node Name." It should include
your call sign with an extension that
makes the node unique with respect to
its ID. Some folks use functional exten-
sions with serial numbers, while other
put in locations. There are no hard and
www.cq-amateur-radio.com February 2014 CO 43
Winter
Finds
fast rules, but make sure that your call
sign is at the beginning. You will also
need to enter a new node password in
two places. Make sure that you remem-
ber what you entered . You might even
want to put a label on the bottom of the
node with that password as long as you
can maint ain physical security, but in
any case, write it down-somewhere!
Finally, it is strongl y recommended that
you move the node off of channel 1, 6,
or 11, as they are the most popular ones
in use for normal WiFi operations. We
usually pick channel 3, but your local RF
ecosystem may dri ve other choices.
(Note: WiFi channels 1-6 are shared
with the 2.3-GHz amateur band, so any
planned activities under FCC Part 97
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Fig. 2. This is the screen you will see after loading the mesh software but before
configuring the node. You now need to do setup.
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Fig. 3. The configurati on screen will guide you through the steps needed for
correct setup.
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Fig. 4. Once you've entered all the necessary information, you'll get a screen that
looks like this while the router is configuring and rebooting itself.
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Fig. 5. Voila! Your mesh node is configured and ready to start communicating!
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Fig. 6. The mesh network status screen shows you what other nodes are
accessible to you as well as what features, or services, they offer.
www.cq- arnateur-radto.com February 2014 CO 45
Fig. 8. Example of what you might see from the IP camera once you've selected
a mode on which to view its photos.
Fig. 7. The Foscam IP camera lets the user select different modes based on which
one works best on your browser. The camera is accessed and configured over
the mesh network.
Just Do It!
Weall have become interested inatopic
that we've read about, gotten really fired
up, and then came the practical reality
of making it happen. You knowthe type
of issues that come up.. ."I'm distract-
ed," "I don't know howto find or load the
new software," "What happens if I do it
wrong?" etc. This article is an attempt
to help you conquer those issues, and
get on the air! I hope that you found it
helpful and interesting.
Noles
1. See Beattie, "HSMM-MESH Net-
working in EmComm Applications," CO
October 2013, p. 26
2. To access the system command
prompt in Windows, click on the "Start" or
Windows logo button, then type "CMD" in
the search bar and click on "CMD.EXE"
when it comes up.
Is There Anybody Out There?
OK, I borrowed the title line from Pink
Floyd, but there really is a need to put
up more than one node and find out if
they can communi cate with each other.
In order to see neighboring nodes,
select the "Mesh Status" button. If you
have two configured nodes or have a
nearby node, you will see something
like what's shown in fig. 6.
As you can see, there are two neigh-
boring mesh nodes and each has some
defined "Services." You can connect to
these services if they are defined and
are using a compatible device. For
example, W2TIT-LT2 is a Telnet serv-
er that allows for keyboard-to-keyboard
connections, while W2TTI-PI01 is a
Raspberry Pi computer running an
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) server. The
W2TTI-IPCAM01 is an IP camera.
Connecting to this Foscam brand cam-
era is as easy as clicking on the cam-
era link from your web browser and fol-
lowing the camera server connection
sequence (fig. 7). Along the way youwill
be prompted for a camera logon and
password, and then you will be provid-
ed with a choice of camera server
modes. Try each one with your brows-
er to determine which option will give
you success (fig. 8). ActiveX Mode pro-
vides full recording and snapshot capa-
bilities which are not shown hereas that
plug-in was not installed into the
Chrome browser that was used for the
screen shots in figs. 7 and 8.
web browser , and you will be present-
ed with a screen as shown in fig. 5. You
now have a functional configured mesh
node that should be ready to communi-
cate. Congratulate yourself again!

. - .. :. ..
--.. ..
entered, press the "SaveChanges" but-
ton and the node will save your entries
and reboot. During that reboot period
you will see a screen as shown in fig. 4.
Once it comes up as described previ-
ously, you will need to once again
ensure that the computer gets a new IP
address. Once that is done, enter
''http://localnode:8080 crs" in your
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rules- which allow more power and
antenna flexibility than Part 15 rules-
must be conducted on one of these
channels.)
One interesting thing to note is that if
two mesh nodes are on different chan-
nels, they will search out other nodes
on other channel s, but at a cost in
network performance. Once it is all
46 co February 2014 Visit Our Web Site

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