free
/
freedomboneeee
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull Requests Releases Wiki Activity

mesh documentation

This commit is contained in:
Bob Mottram 2016-08-30 14:24:10 +01:00
parent 35aca6b7fe
commit 4115b41f48
2 changed files with 19 additions and 25 deletions
Show Stats Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files

2
doc/EN/mesh.org
View File

@ -113,8 +113,6 @@ On first boot you'll be asked to set a username, and then you can open the chat
Rinse, repeat, for any number of laptops that you want to get onto the mesh or to build out coverage within an area. There are no servers. Just peer-to-peer communications routed through the network which are end-to-end secure after a friend request is accepted. By default the chat client doesn't log anything.
*No logs, no masters.*
You can also use single board computers (SBCs) such as the BeagleBone Black to make mesh routers which can be bolted to walls or the sides of buildings and consume minimal electrical power, so could be solar or battery powered for short term events such as festivals. To do that use the following command to make the image:
#+begin_src bash

42
website/EN/mesh.html
View File

@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
<head>
<!-- 2016-08-30 Tue 14:15 -->
<!-- 2016-08-30 Tue 14:23 -->
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
<title></title>
@ -255,12 +255,12 @@ for the JavaScript code in this tag.
Mesh networks are useful as a quick way to make a fully decentralised communications system which is not connected to or reliant upon the internet. Think festivals, hacker conferences, onboard ships at sea, disaster/war zones, small business internal office communications, protests, remote areas of the world, temporary "digital blackouts", scientific expeditions and off-world space colonies. The down side is that you can't access any internet content. The upside is that you can securely communicate with anyone on the local mesh. No ISPs. No payments or subscriptions beyond the cost of obtaining the hardware. Systems need to be within wifi range of each other for the mesh to be created. It can be an ultra-convenient way to do purely local communications.
</p>
<div id="outline-container-orgc18d328" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="orgc18d328">Ready made images</h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgc18d328">
</div><div id="outline-container-org9484ffd" class="outline-3">
<h3 id="org9484ffd">Client images</h3>
<div class="outline-text-3" id="text-org9484ffd">
<div id="outline-container-orgbc5a33c" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="orgbc5a33c">Ready made images</h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgbc5a33c">
</div><div id="outline-container-orgbaf4365" class="outline-3">
<h3 id="orgbaf4365">Client images</h3>
<div class="outline-text-3" id="text-orgbaf4365">
<p>
"Client" isn't exactly the right term, but it's a mesh peer with a user interface. These images can be copied to a USB drive, then you can plug it into a laptop/netbook/desktop machine and boot from it. You will probably also need an Atheros USB wifi dongle, because most built-in wifi usually requires proprietary firmware. In the commands below substitute /dev/sdX with the USB drive device, excluding any trailing numbers (eg. /dev/sdb).
</p>
@ -301,16 +301,16 @@ sudo dd <span class="org-variable-name">bs</span>=1M <span class="org-variable-n
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-org7df286a" class="outline-3">
<h3 id="org7df286a">Router images</h3>
<div class="outline-text-3" id="text-org7df286a">
<div id="outline-container-orgea8cc1c" class="outline-3">
<h3 id="orgea8cc1c">Router images</h3>
<div class="outline-text-3" id="text-orgea8cc1c">
<p>
Routers are intended to build network coverage for an area using small and low cost hardware. You can bolt them to walls or leave them on window ledges. They don't have any user interface and their only job is to haul network traffic across the mesh. Copy the image to a microSD card and insert it into the router, plug in an Atheros wifi dongle and power on. That should be all you need to do.
</p>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-org3280d98" class="outline-4">
<h4 id="org3280d98">Beaglebone Black</h4>
<div class="outline-text-4" id="text-org3280d98">
<div id="outline-container-orgb0adbc4" class="outline-4">
<h4 id="orgb0adbc4">Beaglebone Black</h4>
<div class="outline-text-4" id="text-orgb0adbc4">
<div class="org-src-container">
<pre class="src src-bash">sudo apt-get install xz-utils wget
@ -332,9 +332,9 @@ If you have a few Beaglebone Blacks to use as routers then repeat the <i>dd</i>
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-org7dd57b1" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="org7dd57b1">To build the disk image yourself</h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org7dd57b1">
<div id="outline-container-org2a13627" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="org2a13627">To build the disk image yourself</h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org2a13627">
<p>
It's better not to trust images downloaded from random places on the interwebs. Chances are that unless you are in the web of trust of the above GPG signatures then they don't mean very much to you. If you actually want something trustworthy then build the images from scratch. It will take some time. Here's how to do it.
</p>
@ -409,10 +409,6 @@ On first boot you'll be asked to set a username, and then you can open the chat
Rinse, repeat, for any number of laptops that you want to get onto the mesh or to build out coverage within an area. There are no servers. Just peer-to-peer communications routed through the network which are end-to-end secure after a friend request is accepted. By default the chat client doesn't log anything.
</p>
<p>
<b>No logs, no masters.</b>
</p>
<p>
You can also use single board computers (SBCs) such as the BeagleBone Black to make mesh routers which can be bolted to walls or the sides of buildings and consume minimal electrical power, so could be solar or battery powered for short term events such as festivals. To do that use the following command to make the image:
</p>
@ -429,9 +425,9 @@ The resulting image can be copied to a microSD card, inserted into a Beaglebone
</div>
</div>
<div id="outline-container-org269d397" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="org269d397">How to use it</h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org269d397">
<div id="outline-container-org1f9b400" class="outline-2">
<h2 id="org1f9b400">How to use it</h2>
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org1f9b400">
<p>
When you first boot from the USB drive the system will create some encryption keys, assign a unique network address to the system and then reboot itself. When that's done you should see a prompt asking for a username. This username just makes it easy for others to initially find you on the mesh and will appear in the list of users.
</p>