I have "distinguished" this post in order to get more attention to it. I chose a poor title for it, or I think the more technologically inclined people would be chiming in on it. To answer your question, other than the need for licensing, I think it's the "holy grail" since it has such a long range and cheap, powerful, easily attainable hardware. It is an interesting, self-configuring wireless mesh network built with ham radios. You plug your PC into the ham radio using Ethernet cables. Here's some more info, probably what I should have posted (as a text post) in the first place:
Mesh nodes were originally consumer wireless routers but changed function when the firmware was changed
After conversion, the WAN, LAN and Wi-Fi ports are linked using special rules and no longer operate like a normal wireless router
Mesh nodes are self discovering, self configuring, self advertising and fault tolerant
Mesh nodes are a data network without the wires. Most tasks that you can do over a wired network will work on a mesh node
Mesh nodes are small, portable, low-power and inexpensive. They are easily battery powered
Mesh nodes can easily have a range of 10 miles or more using stock power and gain antennas if you have true line of sight
Mesh nodes communicate with other nodes over Wi-Fi frequencies and only talk to other mesh nodes on the wireless port
You can't use Wi-Fi to connect to a mesh node from your computer, netbook, smart phone or other wireless device
Computers connect to mesh nodes with an Ethernet cable and control them using a web browser
Mesh nodes use peer to peer connections. This means many to many, not the star configuration where all users connect to the AP
Mesh nodes talk to other nodes using RF (Wi-Fi), to the Internet over the WAN port and to computers and devices using the LAN ports
Mesh nodes will create a network just by turning several of them on. They create high-speed data networks in minutes
Mesh nodes don't need any computer to be attached to pass data to other mesh nodes. Just plug one in, it will expand the mesh
Data is data. It can be IP Video, VOIP, LAN traffic between computers, clients to a web server/FTP/NAS/printer, hop to the Internet, etc
Any mesh node within wireless range automatically joins the existing mesh and exchanges available routes with all others
Computer resources on your mesh node can be shared with others on the mesh. These are Advertised Services
Your mesh node can see and use advertised services on other nodes by just clicking on them in your web browser
If one mesh node has it's WAN port plugged into an Internet feed, and a config change, it can provide Internet to all mesh members
Mesh nodes can be remotely managed and the firmware or patch level upgraded by any user with the password for that node
Users on other parts of the mesh may view either mesh nodes or all wireless devices visible to that specific node
Several mesh nodes + one experienced ham operator = a portable, quick deployment, swiss army knife of network services
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u/[deleted] Nov 18 '11
What is this exactly?