ATCOM Mesh Potato User manual

SECN User Guide
Mesh Potato
Small Enterprise / Campus Network
User Guide
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SECN User Guide
SECN User Guide by T L Gillett is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-S areAlike 3.0
Unported License.
Based on a work at www.villagetelco.org.
Acknowledgements
T is work would not ave been possible wit out t e contributions of many people associated wit
Village Telco. In particular I would like to acknowledge t e considerable contributions made by
Elektra bot in providing tec nical guidance and in building t e software, as well as writing t e text
for sections of t is manual. I would also like to acknowledge t e ongoing support and
encouragement provided by Steve Song.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
2. A Simple Mes Set Up.....................................................................................................................4
3. Example Networks...........................................................................................................................5
4. Setting Up MP Devices....................................................................................................................7
4.1 Flas t e Firmware....................................................................................................................7
4.2 Minimum Set-up........................................................................................................................9
Set t e br-lan IP Address.............................................................................................................9
4.3 Basic Set-up.............................................................................................................................10
Set t e root Password................................................................................................................11
Set t e br-lan Bridge IP Address...............................................................................................12
Set t e at 0 IP Address..............................................................................................................13
4.4 Advanced Set-up......................................................................................................................14
Connecting to t e MP...............................................................................................................14
Set t e MP Network Addresses.................................................................................................14
Set t e at 0 IP Address..............................................................................................................14
Set t e AP BSSID and Password...............................................................................................15
Modifying Asterisk Operation..................................................................................................16
5. Overview of SECN Operation .......................................................................................................17
5.1 IP Address Range for MPs.......................................................................................................17
5.2 Batman-Advanced Operation..................................................................................................18
5.3 Telep ony Operation................................................................................................................19
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1. Introduction
T e Small Campus Network firmware is designed to allow a collection of Mes Potato (MP)
devices to provide a data and telep ony network for a small campus.
T e intended use is typically for a small/medium size organisation w ic needs to set up a number
of workpoints spread over a limited geograp ic area, wit eac workpoint being equipped wit a
p one and a networked PC, and to do t is wirelessly wit out using conventional LAN cabling.
T e mes ed MP devices utilise an OSI Layer 2 protocol and simply act as one large switc ,
transparently connecting all t e attac ed devices toget er.
Eac MP device provides a telep one connection, an et ernet cable connection and a WiFi Access
Point. PCs and ot er network devices may be connected to t e et ernet port of an MP, or connect
wirelessly to t e WiFi Access Point of eac MP.
T e wifi access point is encrypted wit WPA by default in order to provide some protection from
abuse of t e data network as long as t e pass p rase/key is kept confidential.
If one or more of t e MP devices is connected via its et ernet port to a LAN wit a router / DHCP
server and internet access, any PC connected eit er by et ernet cable to an MP or by WiFi, will be
able to acquire a DHCP address on t e LAN and connect to t e internet via t e router.
Similarly, networked devices suc as printers or storage devices may be attac ed to t e LAN via an
MP. All attac ed devices will appear on t e LAN and will be visible to eac ot er.
Eac MP device provides a telep one port w ic may be called from anot er MP telep one by
dialling t e IP address of t e required device. Abbreviated dialling is also supported so t at a call
may be made by dialling just t e last octet of t e required IP address.
To use telep ony off t e local mes , individual MPs can be configured to access a VoIP Service
Provider account for outgoing and incoming calls.
Configuration and management of individual MP devices is possible via telep one IVR, browser or
terminal sessions wit access to t e underlying Linux operating system and OpenWRT software.
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2. A Simple Mesh Set Up
In t is simple mes network we will set up a network of two MP devices so t at p one calls can be
made between t em, t en connect one MP to a Local Area Network wit internet access so t at a
laptop can connect wirelessly to t e virtual Access Point and access t e LAN and internet.
Step 1. Flas t e MP devices to t e SECN firmware rv278.
See following section for details of ow to flas t e devices.
Step 2. Set t e unique IP address for eac MP device.
W en t e MP devices are rebooted, connect a telep one.
Lift t e receiver and c eck for dial tone.
Dial 2663 and w en t e announcement as finis ed dial 10*130*1*21 Wait to
ear t e number being read back,
t en t e device will reboot itself.
Repeat t e process wit t e second MP, but dial 10*130*1*22
and wait for it to reboot.
T e MP devices are now set to IP addresses 10.130.1.21 and 10.130.1.22
respectively. It may be useful to label t e devices
as '21' and '22'
Step . Make a p one call.
After t e MP devices ave fully rebooted (allow a couple of minutes after t e wifi lig t starts to
flas ), pick up t e p one on t e '21' MP, c eck for dial tone and dial 22. T e ot er p one s ould
start to ring after a few seconds. Repeat t e ot er way around.
Step 4. Attac t e mes network to your LAN.
Connect t e MP '21' to a spare port on your router wit an
Et ernet cable. T e diagram s ows t e LAN using an IP address
range of 192.168.1.xxx, but t e actual range used will not matter
– it will work with any address range.
Step 5. Attac a Laptop via WiFi.
Your laptop s ould be able to see a WiFi Access Point called
Mes -Potato-AP secured wit WPA encryption. Connect to t is
Access Point wit a WPA password of 'potato-potato' and using
Automatic assignment of IP address (DHCP).
Your laptop s ould acquire an IP address in t e range offered by
your router, and you s ould be able to access t e internet.
You s ould be able to make calls between t e MP devices w ile
accessing t e internet on t e laptop.
You can connect anot er PC to t e '22' MP using an Et ernet
cable and it will similarly acquire an IP address from t e router.
T e laptop and PC s ould be able to access any ot er devices on t e LAN, suc as printers or
network storage devices just as if t ey were connected directly to t e LAN.
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3. Example etworks
Following are examples of practical networks built around MP devices operating in a mes .
Network 1
In t is network, MP devices ave been assigned static IP addresses t at are part of t e LAN address
space, 192.168.1.xxx.
T is means t at t e MP administration interfaces (LUCI web interface and ss command line) will
be accessible from any workstation connected to t e LAN.
W en a workstation is attac ed to t e network eit er by Et ernet cable or WiFi, it will acquire an IP
address from t e router in exactly t e same manner as if it was connected directly to t e router.
T e router address space must be managed so t at t ere is no conflict between t e statically
assigned MP addresses and t ose for any ot er device on t e network. In t is example t e router
offers DHCP addresses starting at 192.168.1.100, w ile t e MPs ave been assigned static
addresses below t is range.
P one calls may e made between MP devices eit er by dialling t e last octet of t e required MP
address (e.g. '10'), or by dialling t e full address (e.g. '192*168*1*10').
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Network 2
In t is network, MP devices ave been assigned static IP addresses t at are not part of t e LAN
address space. Instead t ey ave been assigned IP addresses in t e address space 10.130.1.xxx.
T is means t at t e MP administration interfaces (LUCI web interface and ss command line) will
not be accessible from workstations connected to t e LAN wit IP addresses assigned in t e LAN
address space.
Administration of t e MP devices may be undertaken from a workstation assigned a static address
in t e same range as t e MP devices and attac ed via Et ernet cable or WiFi to any MP device in
t e network.
W en a workstation is attac ed to t e network eit er by Et ernet cable or WiFi, it will acquire an IP
address from t e router in exactly t e same manner as if it was connected directly to t e router.
In t is example t ere is no need to manage t e LAN address space to allow for t e MP addresses as
t ey are allocated in a completely different address space (10.130.1.xxx).
P one calls may e made between MP devices eit er by dialling t e last octet of t e required MP
address (e.g. '10'), or by dialling t e full address (e.g. '10*130*1*10').
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4. Setting Up MP Devices
T is section will describe ow to set up MP devices for use on your mes network. After flas ing
t e required firmware, t ree different met ods are available to configure t e device:
•Minimum Setup using telep one Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
•Basic Setup using t e OpenWRT LUCI browser interface.
•Advanced Setup using a ss terminal session and command line.
4.1 Flash the Firmware
If you ave purc ased a new MP device, it will normally be delivered from t e factory wit
firmware version rv233 installed. To operate t e SECN configuration, you will need to flas t e MP
wit rv278 firmware.
T ese instructions assume t at you are running Ubuntu or ot er Linux distribution on your PC.
1. Set up the potato-flash application on your PC
Download t e potato-flas file from:
http://elektrad.info/download/MESH-POTATO/potato-flash
Save t e file into /usr/lo al/bin
Make t e file executable:
hmod +x /usr/lo al/bin/potato-flash
2. Download the firmware
Download t e required firmware from:
http://elektrad.info/download/MESH-POTATO/
Download t e .img .squashfs .lzma files for t e rv278 firmware version and save to a
working directory.
. Set up networking on your PC
T is step will ensure t at potato-flash as proper access to t e PC network.
Connect t e MP directly to your PC wit an Et ernet cable with the MP power off .
In Ubuntu Gnome desktop, rig t click on t e Network Manager icon and desele t 'Enable
Wireless'
Left click on t e Network Manager icon and Dis onne t any 'Wired Networks' t at are
active.
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4. Flash the MP
Refer to t e general instructions in Upgrading Mesh Potato Firmware HowTo on t e Village Telco
Wiki. Following is a brief description of t e flas ing process.
•Connect t e MP directly to your PC wit an Et ernet cable wit t e MP power off
•Execute potato-flas :
$ sudo potato-flash eth0 openwrt-atheros-root-rv278.squashfs openwrt-atheros-vmlinux-
rv278.lzma
•Wait for t e program to start looking for t e MP device - a series of dots will appear on t e
screen.
•Switc t e power on to t e MP.
•Wait for t e flas ing process to complete and for t e MP to fully restart.
This will take several minutes. T is is a good time to ave a coffee.
•Wait for t ree minutes after t e MP WiFi led starts to flas to ensure t at flas is complete.
Sample MP Flash Session
$ sudo potato-flash eth0 openwrt-atheros-root-rv238.squashfs openwrt-atheros-vmlinux-
rv238.lzma
Reading rootfs file openwrt-at eros-root-rv238.squas fs wit 3801088 bytes ...
Reading kernel file openwrt-at eros-vmlinux-rv238.lzma wit 720896 bytes ...
Note: T e device as to be connected directly (not via switc / ub)
Device detection in progress..........................................................
<<< Turn the power to the MP devi e ON at this point >>>
….....................device detection: non-arp packet received..
Peer MAC: 00:09:45:58:1c:e7
Peer IP : 192.168.1.184
Your MAC: 00:ba:be:ca:ff:ee
Your IP : 192.168.1.0
Connecting to Redboot bootloader
WARNING: UNPLUGGING POWER WHILE FLASHING MIGHT DAMAGE THE
BOOTLOADER
HOWEVER: IF YOU SEE NOTHING SHOWING UP BENEATH THIS LINE
FOR MORE THAN A MINUTE, START AGAIN...
A flas size of 8 MB was detected.
rootfs(0x006a0000) + kernel(0x00100000) + nvram(0x00000000) sums up to 0x007a0000 bytes
Setting IP address...
Initializing partitions...
Now uploading kernel...
Sending kernel, 1408 blocks...
Flas ing kernel...
Loading rootfs...
Sending rootfs, 7424 blocks...
Flas ing rootfs...
Flas ing process completed...
Restarting device...
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4.2 Minimum Set-up
T e minimum set-up process uses t e telep one IVR facility to simply set a unique IP address for
t e br-lan bridge interface in order to allow telep one calls to t e device using t e IP address.
T e default setting for t is IP address w en t e device is flas ed is 10.130.1.20 and you s ould
c ange at least t e last octet of t e address in order to make t e address unique on t e mes .
In a simple mes arrangement, all MP devices on t e mes are assigned addresses in t e same
address range (ie only t e last octet of t e address is c anged) so telep one calls can be made to all
devices on t e mes wit abbreviated dialling using just t e last octet of t e MP device's bridge IP
address.
If you are intending to connect t e mes to a LAN, you may c oose to assign addresses from t e
LAN address space to t e MP devices so t at t ey will appear as static IP devices on t e LAN.
In t is case, just set t e Ipv4 address field to t e required IP address. You will need to ensure t at
t e address t at as been assigned will not be used by any ot er device on t e LAN in order to
avoid IP conflicts.
Set the br-lan IP Address
Connect a telep one to t e MP device and wait until t e device as fully restarted.
Pick up t e telep one, c eck for dial tone and dial 2663 (C-O-N-F)
Follow t e voice prompts and enter t e IP number in t e form
10*130*1*21 (For an IP address of 10.130.1.21)
T e number entered will be read back to you and t e MP will reboot.
After t e device as rebooted, you s ould be able to make a call to t e device using eit er t e full IP
number, or abbreviated dialling using just t e last octet of t e address.
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