[Make-wifi-fast] mesh deployment with ath9k driver changes

[Valent Turkovic]

On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 1:50 PM, Pete Heist <pete at eventide.io> wrote:
>
>> On Apr 27, 2018, at 1:42 PM, Valent Turkovic <valent at otvorenamreza.org> wrote:
>>
>> Which OpenMesh devices are you using? I know they have few different
>> models (https://www.openmesh.com/products/wifi).
>> I would highly suggest to use dual radio devices. Does OpenMesh
>> software allow you to choose on which radio mesh interface is running
>> and on which clients can connect to?
>
> 8x OM2P-HS, single radio devices, mainly due to cost in this situation. I don’t know for sure if the radio used for mesh can be selected because I don’t have a dual radio device to test, but I don’t see any evidence that you can configure it it the management interface…
>

Unfortunately you shot yourself in the foot with wrong choice of
under-powered devices :( You need at least two radio devices, and even
then is a question if that would work.
Other thing you could try on a budget is to build your own solution
from off-the-shelf components, but you need to invest much more time
and effort into this.

Some rules you need to follow to get an working network:
- avoid using using omni-directional antennas if humanly possible
(take a look at TP-LINK CPE210/510 and Ubiquiti Nano M2/M5 devices)
- use dedicated radios for mesh (this means using dual radio devices
if possible or two cheap devices instead of one more expensive)
- cut tree branches that are obstructing LOS, move devices higher or
lower to achieve clear LOS
- run outdoor cable trough ground instead wifi if location is close enough

Hope things work out!