Securifi Community Forum

Securifi Products => Almond+ => Topic started by: nal51511 on January 04, 2018, 12:50:33 am

Title: Mesh network
Post by: nal51511 on January 04, 2018, 12:50:33 am
Hi,

anyway to create a mesh network with the almond +?

Nick
Title: Re: Mesh network
Post by: Casey_SJ on January 19, 2018, 01:46:22 pm
I think Securifi is intentionally omitting this feature from Almond+. I'm sure they have their reasons, some of which may be to differentiate newer models from older models to encourage new sales.

Anyhow, the best implementations of mesh networking involve a dedicated backhaul channel that connects the nodes together. Each node in the mesh network would be a tri-band node. WiFi would be delivered over standard 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands while a dedicated third band would be used to communicate between nodes.
Title: Re: Mesh network
Post by: MrBishop on February 20, 2018, 12:13:36 am
You can easily run a mesh network if your willing to run WiFi. You just need to run some cable, or you could connect them directly over wifi but you'd get WAY better results with cable. you'll have to sacrifice one of the radios (2.4 or 5) or add a USB WiFi adapter and configure it to connect to the back end. On the "Access Points" you'll configure DHCP requests be forwarded to the switch/router connecting modem (where DHCP server is). Point DNS to primary DNS server. Statically set IP of AP's (suggested they be outside the DHCP range). Disable firewall/NAT on AP's (Routers/Almond serving as AP not the actual L3 Switch/Router's Firewall). (I think that covers it)

The easier option is to get a Securifi router with "AP Mode" and it will do all that for you but might cause complications if you want a wifi mesh (Don't do it!/Use cable to connect them or suffer). I know a few other brands of AP's but don't know if i'm allowed to suggest them. A seamless mess is kinda new, but mesh networks have been around for a while.

I've configured two networks where the Almond+ was the main home automation back end and one of them it was the primary router. Both support multiple AP's which is essentially what a "mesh router" is except they make it more user friendly/plug and play. As well many are purely wifi for the back end which is horrible if you want decent performance or do gaming. they usually compensate by using a extra set of antenna on a separate network which means each router competes for spectrum with it's self and it's "friends". Meanwhile Cat6 is future proof and cheap enough, but be careful it's full copper a lot of it's fake/copper plated. Otherwise Cat5e will work.

An idea i've played with but haven't tried yet is bonding two Ethernet lines/ports together to get 2Gbps but not sure how to do it on OpenWRT.
Title: Re: Mesh network
Post by: jwh7 on February 20, 2018, 09:56:09 am
Just having AP's and/or Repeaters is not a mesh network.  Mesh networks are layer 2 (MAC addressing, VLAN, etc) versus layer 3 (IP Addresses). The driver and kernel must support it, and user space must allow it.  I thought there would be an easy-to-find wiki on this, but the best overview I found is an EnGenius whitepaper (https://helpcenter.engeniustech.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005862868-Wireless-Backhaul-Network-Deployment-Best-Practices).
Title: Re: Mesh network
Post by: mparadis on February 20, 2018, 10:49:54 am
I would imagine its more of a time/resources thing. Perhaps it is technically possible, remember though that the Almond+ and Almond 3 are vastly different hardware / software, but it may be a very resource intense project for little to no gain for the company. They are now several iterations removed from the release of the Almond+ (soon to be three new Almonds since the +). Just my thought.
Title: Re: Mesh network
Post by: sbsbessa on June 06, 2018, 04:06:56 am
@Securifi_Staff it would be nice to get any comment.

Is there any chance mesh networks will make their way to Almond+?
Title: Re: Mesh network
Post by: czyzczyz on June 25, 2018, 06:17:37 pm
802.11s support seems to be something that works with the later 'Chaos Calmer' releases of OpenWRT but not the old 'Kamikaze' firmwares. The Almond Plus runs on Kamikaze.

It's possible that maybe 802.11s can be done with Kamikaze, but this document from OpenWRT about setting up mesh networking only mentions Chaos Calmer.

https://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/mesh.80211s