Hello, I'm Cale-
I'm Not a Network Guy, but since I interviewed two of your brilliant leaders on my Ham Radio Podcast; the Powers that Be thought I'd be the best candidate to model up a network for our county ARES group.
So, with all of that said; I'm here to listen and learn because I LOVE the concept of AREDN and know we need it's capabilities here in Spartanburg SC.
First things first.
I am a ham, and have on hand (flashed by Randy at Hamvention) the following:
2- NanoStations M5
1- Nano-Loco M5
2- Nano-Beams M5 (not flashed to AREDN)
2- Small 8 port non POE switches (1 in barn, 1 in house)
I have NO wired internet at or near my house-we're too rural.
We do utilize an AT&T Wireless Home-phone and Internet Modem/Router by ZTE for our household internet.
My shack and pod-studio are located in a barn just up the hill from the house about 75 yards.
I use my AT&T Smartphone as a hot-spot in the barn for connectivity and podcast recording.
Since I know nothing about networking, I see this as an ideal opportunity to learn more about it and the AREDN protocol to complete a host of tasks all the while prepping for my County's needs.
I recently installed a NanoStation on the barn and pointed it at my house. I then installed the other NanoStation on the eave of my house pointed at my barn.
I connected both Stations to the mini-switches at each end, and after connecting my PC to the Barn Switch I could log-in and see the house Station from the AREDN screen. That's as far as I've gotten.
Ideally, I'd like to have the internet passed through the network from house to barn (mimicking a real world situ) and then install a few IP Cameras connected to the Stations (maybe even adding a few more of those) so I could use them 'see' what is happening (again-as one would in a real world situ). IP Phones would be next on the list between house and barn and finally I'd like to get my IC7100 on the network to allow operations from the house (just to see if I could actually pull it off).
I have 30+ acres to play on, mostly wooded :( but enough room to keep from having all the gear in the same space to allow a more real-world feel in it's application. I'm convinced if I could get it working here (way out in the no-wheres) I could begin to make it work in town.
So did I post this in the right forum? if not please move to wherever it'd best fit. I thank you in advance for your help and consideration!
73, Cale/K4CDN
I'm Not a Network Guy, but since I interviewed two of your brilliant leaders on my Ham Radio Podcast; the Powers that Be thought I'd be the best candidate to model up a network for our county ARES group.
So, with all of that said; I'm here to listen and learn because I LOVE the concept of AREDN and know we need it's capabilities here in Spartanburg SC.
First things first.
I am a ham, and have on hand (flashed by Randy at Hamvention) the following:
2- NanoStations M5
1- Nano-Loco M5
2- Nano-Beams M5 (not flashed to AREDN)
2- Small 8 port non POE switches (1 in barn, 1 in house)
I have NO wired internet at or near my house-we're too rural.
We do utilize an AT&T Wireless Home-phone and Internet Modem/Router by ZTE for our household internet.
My shack and pod-studio are located in a barn just up the hill from the house about 75 yards.
I use my AT&T Smartphone as a hot-spot in the barn for connectivity and podcast recording.
Since I know nothing about networking, I see this as an ideal opportunity to learn more about it and the AREDN protocol to complete a host of tasks all the while prepping for my County's needs.
I recently installed a NanoStation on the barn and pointed it at my house. I then installed the other NanoStation on the eave of my house pointed at my barn.
I connected both Stations to the mini-switches at each end, and after connecting my PC to the Barn Switch I could log-in and see the house Station from the AREDN screen. That's as far as I've gotten.
Ideally, I'd like to have the internet passed through the network from house to barn (mimicking a real world situ) and then install a few IP Cameras connected to the Stations (maybe even adding a few more of those) so I could use them 'see' what is happening (again-as one would in a real world situ). IP Phones would be next on the list between house and barn and finally I'd like to get my IC7100 on the network to allow operations from the house (just to see if I could actually pull it off).
I have 30+ acres to play on, mostly wooded :( but enough room to keep from having all the gear in the same space to allow a more real-world feel in it's application. I'm convinced if I could get it working here (way out in the no-wheres) I could begin to make it work in town.
So did I post this in the right forum? if not please move to wherever it'd best fit. I thank you in advance for your help and consideration!
73, Cale/K4CDN
One of the first things to consider is the network switches to use at both ends of your RF link between the Nanostations. You didn't identify the brand and model you are using, so look at the Netgear GS105E or GS108E switches. They have the needed capability for VLANs. Darryl K5DLQ has a great short video on this website explaining the basics of VLANS.There are also a lot of sample switch configurations under the Software menu on the home page.
The right network switch and the right switch configuration will get you started to successfully hooking up devices on your mesh.
Here are the two switches I have on hand:
Barn- Netgear Prosafe FS108
House- TPLink TL-SG 105R
Looks like an upgrade will have to happen there first.
My QTH is in a tree infested neighborhood, and my nodes can't seem to connect to anything more than a half mile away.
You' can hit your barn, but unless you live on a hill and have a hundred foot tower with HF beams, you'll probably won't have any RF links to other AREDN hams.
I'm not looking to connect 'off the farm' for now, just need a working example to model for future deployment then help entice others to buy in.
the 100' tower is on the 5 year plan.