[MLB-WIRELESS] building a mesh

[Craig Ambrose]

Hi Everyone,

I've just joined the list, and despite a look over the archives and the wiki, 
this question may well be obvious and often repeated, so apologies in 
advance.

I'm interested in how a wireless mesh works. I've got two active wireless 
access points in my home town (Hurstbridge), and some local cafe owners are 
interested in having a few more (if I set them up). However, I need some 
consistant strategy for this if I want to end up with the town eventually 
covered in a wireless mesh of compatable nodes.

The AP's I'm currently using are build into Billion (BIPAC-743 GE) Wireless 
ADSL Firewall Routers. As you're possibly aware, these don't have the ability 
to connect to other AP's, except when in Bridging mode (when I think they are 
useless for everything else). 

I've read the MobileMesh stuff on the wiki, and it seems like I might have the 
wrong routers for the job. My current goal is to gain a full understanding of 
these issues before doing more wireless stuff in Hurstbridge, so that I can 
add equipment and AP's with a consistant plan towards covering the town in a 
coherent mesh.

I've also been intruiged by some of the stuff on this site 
(http://locustworld.com/) and I'd love to hear from anyone if this is 
particularly revolutionary, or just something that can be done with any old 
wireless gear.

If anyone can point me at some online resources, or offer some advice to get 
me started, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm a programmer, with a good 
knowledge of linux and so forth, so technical responses are fine.

thanks,

Craig

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