Re: current status of 802.11s mesh in ath5k ?

[Nick Kossifidis <mickflemm@gmail.com>]

2009/6/20 Hans Maes <Hans@bitnet.be>:
> Andrey Yurovsky wrote:
>>
>>  However ath5k will not beacon until you issue a scan due
>> to a bug.  You can bring up an ath5k node like this:
>>
>> # iw phy phy0 interface add mesh type mp mesh_id mymesh
>> # ifconfig mesh up
>> # iwlist mesh scan
>>
>>
>
> So, once the first scan triggers the beaconing, everything should keep
> working ok ?
> Or should I throw together a small script that triggers a scan once every
> 10minutes until this bug is fixed ?
> (In my case the mesh nodes should stay online 24/7 without user interaction)
>>
>> Things seem to work well aside from the scan issue, however I haven't
>> fully verified multi-hop yet.
>
> I have a semi production setup with about 10 mesh nodes, in a building where
> multihop is required due to the extensive use of metal plating and therefore
> 'poor' wireless performance. In a typical scenario I need about 4 to 5 hops
> to reach the nodes at the other end of the building.
>
> The nodes only have a single antenna connected, so I need to change some
> code to disable antenna switching, but I'm not a C expert/module developer
> at all so that might take a while to figure out...

Antenna controls are there, we just don't have a user interface yet
(configfs/debugfs)
Check out  ath5k_hw_set_antenna_mode inside phy.c, available modes are
on enum ath5k_ant_mode inside ath5k.h and we call it on ath5k_config
inside base.c ;-)

> I thought I managed to do it about 2 months ago but broke something since
> the nodes seemed to work perfectly after updating the wireless modules but
> they all went offline 3 to 5 days later and only came back online after
> reverting to the stable 2.6.29 wireless modules.
>
> Anyway, when I get that issue worked out without breaking anything else I'll
> see how the multihop performs and report back in a few days.
>
> Thanks!




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Nick