MESHdesk -> Easy and flexible mesh networks controller

Introduction

• Mesh networks can be a very convenient way to distribute a WiFi signal over a large geographical area.
• Would it not be nice to have an applet that is part of RADIUSdesk which will allow you to create and manage these mesh network with ease.

MESHdesk

MESHdesk will run as an applet in RADIUSdesk and include the following features

• Be Open Source so you can deploy and run your own copy on your own servers.
• Use Batman-adv as the mesh protocol.
• Allow you to run multiple SSIDs over the mesh and separate them through VLAN's.
• Allow you to fine tune the mesh by adjusting Batman-adv settings
• Specify what should run on the breakout points. Including:
  • DHCP Server with NAT.
  • CoovaChilli captive portal (Which just have to use RADIUSdesk as a RADIUS server ;-)!)
  • Bridged directly onto the LAN.
  • Tagged with a specific VLAN number.
• Ability to fine-tune each node. Including:
  • Specifying the SSIDs including their security.
  • Specifying a fixed IP Address for the LAN side of the gateway node.
• Graphical presentation of the mesh:
  • Google Maps integration / Your own aerial photo of the terrain.
  • Inclusion of ALFRED to distribute information across the mesh and collect it centrally.
  • Use of graphviz-tools to give a graphical presentation of the mesh

Hardware

• The initial development will be done on Atheros based hardware running OpenWRT.

[Dirk van der Walt]

Screenshot

[vusumzi]

hi i have already have a mesh network composing of 5 picostations as clients and 2 nanostations m2 one as a gateway and other as a client. upon looking for a captive portal to manageme bandwidth. meshdesk can help a lot. my question is it possible to implement to the already mesh network. i have configured the the stations on secn

[Dirk van der Walt]

Hi,

MESHdesk came a long way since this original post. I think you'll find the following info handy:

http://www.radiusdesk.com/meshdesk_user_guide

There are also some info on how to add it to SECN:

http://www.radiusdesk.com/technical_discussions/md_firmware_mp2

It might be less complex to simply flash and replace with th MESHdesk firmware since it runs the latest Barrier Breaker release.

Kind regards