Re: Mesh Networks: Possible to make one for perosnal use?

On Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:50:33 +0000 (UTC), DanS
<t.h.i.s.n.t.h.a.t@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Let me clarify a little bit, I'm not talking about a full-blown rtr like
a Cisco rtr. There would be no NAT or ACL's or the like. Just basic rtr'g
function's.

Yeah, right. That's what you start with. Just the basics. Then, one
customers wants a static route. Another wants to initialize a VPN
connection. Another wants bursty traffic. Another wants streaming
traffic. Someone is sure to want SNMP. Maybe RIP2. Ad infinitum. If
you think small now, you're going to get burned big later. If you
really do have a gutless CPU, you're going to be very limited in what
you can do.

Also, it's not 802.anything. The radio portion is proprietary, and
already takes care of retries, FEC, etc.

Ok, there's hope. You can always do both a MAC layer 802.11
implimentation *AND* an IP version. Incidentally, I would kill to
have FEC in some of my flakey 802.11 links. I have one that's been
running with 50-80% retransmissions due to interference for perhaps
the last year. It works, but only barely.

Incidentally, Digi/Maxstream has a 900MHz IP bridge box:
<http://www.digi.com/products/wireless/xpress.jsp>
No clue on price and I haven't tried it.

Enjoy it ?!?!?!?! I can't stand dealing with some of the people we deal
with.

I used to have a slogan at a previous employer.
"This would be a nice place to work if it weren't for the customers".
Also, "Choose your customers wisely".

... config prompt with a terminal program. Check the terminal baud
rates, cabling, etc. and then they asked the question.....'Does the radio
need DC power to configure it ?'.....What !?!?!?!......Twice !!!!

That's fairly bad. I've seen similar problems with computers,
wireless, commercial radio, etc. Once in a while, I've even done
something clueless in an area I'm not familiar with. The technology
is sufficiently advanced and complexicated that Joe Sixpack is no
longer expected to know anything about how things work. For example,
I was tinkering with a friends new big screen HDTV, cable box, and
Blue Ray player. Three remotes and he asks me to which box to point
the remote. He really didn't know how they worked or which box
controlled with video source or did what. Yet, his knowledge of
camera and microscope optics is well over my head. Some things are
not obvious to everyone.

Ideally, I'd like to sell product to intelligent people that don't call
support for basic RTFM questions.

That will never happen. Clueful customers get promoted until they are
no longer functional. It's called the Peters Principle:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle>
Please resign yourself to dealing with fools, idiots, incompetents,
beginners, and managers. That's a part of what they pay you to do.

People that realize you can't run 200'
of RG58 coax for anything. Another experience.....one group is doing
radix feed in an underground mine setting and narrow-band 800/900 mHz
using 25W radios. Each locomotive has a radio in it. On some the radio,
is mounted at one end, the antenna the other. The loco is 40 or 50 feet
long. Whomever designed the system had then order pre-cut lengths of RG58
@ 150' each. They then just rolled up the excess and put it off out of
sight. There were performance issues, and when our field engineer went
there to help, it was easily identified as the major problem in the whole
system. RG58 @ ~16db loss per 100/ft. meant that at the radio connector,
the unit had 25W of output and a usuable RX sensitivity of -112
dbm....but by the time it reached the antenna, it was down to 100 mW, and
a minimum operating RX sensitivity of -88 dBm.

Heh-heh. I've had exactly the same thing happen to me. We sent out a
standard length of coax with each installation. Far too many
installers didn't bother to RTFM and cut the coax to length with
similar results. There were also those that snaked the coax carefully
through whatever, and then cut the coax too short at both ends to
complete the install. That's what field service is all about.

Of course you learn some new things visiting customers. One of
Intech's products was the M360 radio direction finder. A customer
called complaining that the antenna could not be installed on the
mast. The antenna was assembled in two pieces, a funnel shaped base
and the antenna platform assembly. To keep water out of the
fasteners, they were installed from the BOTTOM through the base. Ever
try installing 8 screws from below an antenna on top of a 30ft mast,
on a swaying boat? I succeeded but nearly killed myself doing it.
Redesign followed shortly thereafter..

Anyway, clueless users no longer bother me. I just smile, take their
money, and go on to the next clueless user. If I meet someone with a
clue, it's a welcome change, but most often, also a suprise.

THAT is what I'm taking about...basic knowledge.

It's not so basic when you know zero about the technology. Ever ask
the satellite, cable, or telco installer anything about the underlying
technology? Most don't know how it works.

--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558 jeffl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
# http://802.11junk.com jeffl@xxxxxxxxxx
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS
.

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