[MLB-WIRELESS] Node Classification, costs and alternatives

[David Ashburner]

changed subjects from:  WRAP kits - Bulk Buy expressions of interest sought!

Dan said:
>
>We need to be up-front and honest with people as to how much they are going
>to need to spend if they want to go the whole nine yards with their node.
>Some people get into wireless networking thinking that they can spend under
>$200 and have a long-range, high-speed, multi-linked node in their bedroom.
>They buy some gear and then realise that they need to buy more and more and
>more.  Meanwhile, they still aren't sure about what they need so they might
>buy the wrong gear, wasting their money.
>
>This isn't the right way to go about getting people into participating in
>this network.  We need to tell people what their options are - be it a 
>cheap
>single-radio node (a good starting point, recommended for newbies), or a
>more expensive multi-radio routing node, and then show them ways of
>achieving these options - practical examples and hardware recommendations.
>We could recommend an upgrade path for a node - start out with a single
>WRT54G in a box, then add another AP, then either repeat that or buy a WRAP
>kit.  While the up-front cost may be hefty, newcomers can be reassured that
>they are buying the right gear, they will be able to participate straight
>away (if they are in range of another node) and any additional future costs
>will be known from the beginning.
>

Some good points,
I agree, there should be some clear information on what a Node is and how 
someone can get one up and running. Providing information about the 
different approaches ( get it up or hacking) in the form of a flowchart is 
probably a good way to do this.  Perhaps also if we adopt a common 
nomenclature for node types then people can see what they are aiming for and 
what they should be thinking about in terms of cost.


One thing that I tried to do a while ago was a wiki page that kind of laid 
out what a node was and then how to put one together, I only got so far 
though.

http://www.melbournewireless.org.au/wiki/?NodeTypes

I think it may be useful with a bit of rearranging, maybe split it into 3 
parts:
1. Node Classification
2. Net Map - this is kind of a logical map like a Radio net diagram. Shows 
who is connected to who.
3. Node Implementation options (and include cost comparisons)


any thoughts? suggestions?



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