Hey Alexey!

I have a healthy start towards wireless fidonet mesh points using iw amd binkd.
So far I prefer open mesh since I can successfully set the usb wireless dongles to 150mbs speeds on 2.4GHz by forcing the bitrate as well as setting the bandwidth to 40MHz instead of the usual 20MHz width. Also this method keeps the excellent range I get with these particular dongles. Currently I am using (from lsusb ->) "0cf3:9271 Qualcomm Atheros Communications AR9271 802.11n" usb dongles. Excellent range with these adapters as well as excellent
kernel support with the native ath9k_htc linux kernel driver. Definetly better
then the RT3070 jobbers that is for sure although with those 300mbs should have
been possible if it hadn't been for the lack of suitable support for the rt2800usb driver. It used to be good and at one time a neighbour and I managed
to connect two mesh points at 300mbs. Those were the days. :::sigh:::

----- '<Esc>:read !/sbin/iw mesh0 info' starts
Interface mesh0
ifindex 23
wdev 0x300000009
addr 00:c0:ca:92:32:ef
type mesh point
wiphy 3
channel 9 (2452 MHz), width: 40 MHz, center1: 2442 MHz
txpower 20.00 dBm
----- '<Esc>:read !/sbin/iw mesh0 info' ends

It is most definetly doable.

Life is good,
Maurice

... Don't cry for me I have vi.
--- GNU bash, version 4.4.12(1)-release (x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu)
* Origin: Little Mikey's Brain - Ladysmith BC, Canada (1:153/7001)

Hey Alexey!

Not only doable but done. Here is some evidence;

----- '<Esc>:read !~/bin/binkd -vv' starts
Binkd 1.1a-95 (May 15 2017 01:26:40/Linux)
Compilation flags: gcc, zlib, bzlib2.
Facilities: fts5004 ipv6
----- '<Esc>:read !~/bin/binkd -vv' ends

----- '<Esc>:read !/sbin/iw mesh0 station dump | grep bitrate:' starts
tx bitrate: 150.0 MBit/s MCS 7 40MHz short GI
rx bitrate: 150.0 MBit/s MCS 7 40MHz short GI
----- '<Esc>:read !/sbin/iw mesh0 station dump | grep bitrate:' ends

----- '<Esc>:read !grep -o rcvd:[[:print:]]* ~/log/binkd.log' starts
rcvd: linux-4.11.0.tar.xz (98888684, 6592578.93 CPS, 1:153/7001.250@fidonet) ----- '<Esc>:read !grep -o rcvd:[[:print:]]* ~/log/binkd.log' ends

The CPS more or less matches the speed from what I've seen out of scp and wget transfers over the same wireless dongles. Also I can replicate this setup using wpa_supplicant (<-secure mesh) but as of this writing I cannot get wpa_supplicant to use 40MHz bandwidth which is crucial for getting the 150.0 MBit/s speeds. I've heard much chatter about getting it to work but mostly with respect to hostapd and not secure mesh using wpa_supplicant. It might happen but I am not holding my breath.

Have I missed anything?

Life is good,
Maurice

... Don't cry for me I have vi.
--- GNU bash, version 4.4.12(1)-release (x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu)
* Origin: Little Mikey's Brain - Ladysmith BC, Canada (1:153/7001)

Good ${greeting_time}, Maurice!

14 May 2017 21:48:44, you wrote to me:

I have a healthy start towards wireless fidonet mesh points using iw
amd binkd. So far I prefer open mesh since I can successfully set the
usb wireless dongles to 150mbs speeds on 2.4GHz by forcing the
bitrate as well as setting the bandwidth to 40MHz instead of the
usual 20MHz width.

Alas, that's not possible in the large cities... :-/

Also this method keeps the excellent range I get with these
particular dongles. Currently I am using (from lsusb ->) "0cf3:9271 Qualcomm Atheros Communications AR9271 802.11n" usb dongles.

I have two unbeatable 0bda:8187 RTL8187 dongles for that purpose.
Alas, can't find them at aliexpress.com this time...

Excellent range with these adapters as well as excellent kernel
support with the native ath9k_htc linux kernel driver. Definetly
better then the RT3070 jobbers that is for sure although with those
300mbs should have been possible if it hadn't been for the lack of suitable support for the rt2800usb driver. It used to be good and at
one time a neighbour and I managed to connect two mesh points at
300mbs. Those were the days. :::sigh:::

On "those were the days": in 2001, I had my first dedicated connection over the
WiFi at 64 kbps, with my antenna poking into a side lobe of our customers' AP antenna.


P.S.: I think it would make sense to establish the direct link...
* Carbon copied to Maurice Kinal 1:153/7001


--
Alexey V. Vissarionov aka Gremlin from Kremlin
gremlin.ru!gremlin; +vii-cmiii-cmlxxvii-mmxlviii

... :wq!
--- /bin/vi
* Origin: http://openwall.com/Owl (2:5020/545)

Hey Alexey!

Alas, that's not possible in the large cities... :-/

It is possible but it is considered to be extremely bad behavior despite the fact that certain commercial routers are doing just that - forcing 40MHz. For the record I live in a rural setting but still have to force it since there are
other wireless routers within range of the high power dongles I am deploying. Forcing 40MHz only works on an open mesh setup.

I have two unbeatable 0bda:8187 RTL8187 dongles for that purpose.

I never got mesh to work with those. I don't have any at the moment but a neighbour does if push comes to shove for testing purposes. However doing a search I don't see any available for purchace so I would tend to call them abandonware. I do see newer generation Realteks everywhere and then some.

I had my first dedicated connection over the WiFi at 64 kbps

It looks to me that things haven't improved that much since then. As of this writing the open mesh setup wins and I did manage to get 300N between a TP-Link
WDN4800 pcie card and TL-WN821N usb dongle using the open mesh setup but the range isn't nearly what is needed here. For now I am going to have to stick with the hostapd setup using the 148f:3070 RT3070 outdoor antenna just to keep a couple of the neighbours' so-called smart devices connected to the outside world. They have been getting decent speeds using that setup and the range is good but we're stuck using 2.4GHz@20MHz which is okay all things considered.

I think it would make sense to establish the direct link

If you mean wired I have a regular Gbit network connection between them. Neither of them needs wireless but they are good for testing ideas so that explains what I posted in the way of specs. None of my neighbours can handle such things as they are stuck with their crippleware devices such as smartphones and tablets. I honestly don't see the attraction of those. Oh well.

Anyhow I can hosestly say I gave it my best without having to resort to hacking
an unneeded wireless router. I seriously doubt the results would have been better especially when it comes to effective range/distance. Also I think mesh
is the way to go but as of this writing that would mean the neighbours would have to get better toys. ;-)

Life is good,
Maurice

... Don't cry for me I have vi.
--- GNU bash, version 4.4.12(1)-release (x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu)
* Origin: Little Mikey's Brain - Ladysmith BC, Canada (1:153/7001)

On 2017 May 18 21:16:12, you wrote to Alexey Vissarionov:

I think it would make sense to establish the direct link

If you mean wired

he meant a direct FTN netmail connection instead of using the echos or routed netmail... that's why his post was carbon copied to your netmail address ;)

)\/(ark

Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it wrong...
... Dragons theoretically subsist on virgins, but a pie floater will do
---
* Origin: (1:3634/12.73)

Hey mark!

he meant a direct FTN netmail connection

Of course he did. Silly me. Thanks for the heads up.

Life is good,
Maurice

... Don't cry for me I have vi.
--- GNU bash, version 4.4.12(1)-release (x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu)
* Origin: Little Mikey's Brain - Ladysmith BC, Canada (1:153/7001)

Hey Alexey!

I think it would make sense to establish the direct link...

email me at "mkinal <at> shawlink.ca" as to ftn address I send a direct netmail
as well as any other information I would need to know. Also I've been using the old fashioned ftn headers - so-called Type 2 - which have been a problem in
the past to some sysops. I can do type 2+ and 2.2 if you prefer. Let me know in the email and I'll make it so.

Life is good,
Maurice

... Don't cry for me I have vi.
--- GNU bash, version 4.4.12(1)-release (x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu)
* Origin: Little Mikey's Brain - Ladysmith BC, Canada (1:153/7001)