Mesh

I remember the forum thread created by Sepp on the Ning and will copy the following message to it.

http://p2pfoundation.ning.com/forum/topics/could-peernet-be-separate-from

Note : It would be nice if we can find ( or experiment together ? ) an easy way to support the set up of a p2p-mesh / distributed cloud networking , including a model to provide it with internet access.

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I would wish for an easy to deploy, easily scalable, easy to self-maintain mesh, with data transparency concerning its self-awareness ( data about the mesh available to all users )

I still have a lot of unresolved questions, and will be happy to introduce you to such questions, or listen to any answers some of you may already have.

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What could be an easy to deploy and cheap approach ? And what business model to use, as to connect the mesh to the internet ( this has a cost ).

I notice some of the following "packaged" solutions :

the google supported Meraki Mesh http://meraki.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meraki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meraki#Criticism

or , better ? , its open source counterpart Open-Mesh http://p2pfoundation.net/Open_Mesh

Yet even with Open Mesh, I get confused between http://www.open-mesh.com/ and

http://www.open-mesh.org/

and ask myself if the "controller" offered in the .com one is open source and gpl ? http://www.open-mesh.com/index.php/dashboard.html https://www.cloudtrax.com/

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Can the price of the deployment of such packaged solutions be reduced further ? Reduce its price to that of installing a specific mesh networking software on wifi enabled devices, such as smartphones, laptops, ... as is proposed in the case of the OLPC ( one laptop per child project ) http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Mesh_Network_Details

I also ask myself questions regarding compatibility, or rather, capability to use a variety of communication protocols

I did not test various protocols. I notice that, for a mobile capability ( in case of smartphones and laptops being included into the mesh ? ), a mobile ad hoc protocol may be useful ?

Hence using the "batman" protocol ? Which is used and developed by http://www.open-mesh.org/ ?

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This has been discussed earlier on http://p2pfoundation.ning.com/forum/topics/could-peernet-be-separate-from

As of today, end 2011, what solutions would we recommend using for such deployment ?

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Yet such protocol would still need to run on a software, hence OpenWRT or a customized version of it such as Commotion ? https://tech.chambana.net/projects/commotion/wiki

OpenWRT seems to be a linux based operating system run mostly on wifi routers, and Commotion seems to be a customized version.

I remember being suggested to do it by flashing a Linksys router ( installing it on the router ) , such as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linksys_WRT54G_series#WRT54GL ( Some of these routers can be bought with openwrt linux pre-installed. )

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Regarding the business model, I like an approach also taken by Fon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FON

It consists in sharing ones bandwidth with other users, yet it requires to purchase the FON router and use their ( closed source ? ) software running on it...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FON#Fon_membership

"To become a Fon member (Fonero) and join the Fon community, you must own a Fonera router or a router with the Fon software built in. This allows you to share a little of your Wi-Fi at home, and in exchange get the right to use other members’ Fon Spots."

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What hardware alternatives are there ? Is it preferable to use open source solutions and non bundled hardware ?

WRT54GL and the like routers ? Possibly also combined with Plug PC's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug_computer for setting up a set framework to which mobile devices can connect and add themselves to as to increase the density of the mesh ?

Are there softwares that could enable the accountancy of internet bandwidth sharing solutions ? Some kind of mutual credit system, but for bandwidth sharing ?

With as business model, to finance the backbone routers hardware purchase and operation, the possibility , as with FON, for non contributing members to buy bandwidth credit ?

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Are there existing solutions that can measure as peer contribution, not only internet bandwidth sharing, but bandwidth routing, creating an incentive for people to install a software which includes their device into the routing cloud/mesh ?