SVWUX 802.11b/g Repeater Configuration

Currently, our "repeaters" are actually full network POP's; e.g. a router with several 802.11 radios in bridge mode and possibly some network servers. The routers are currently built with Fedora Core 9 running on any old PC with multiple ethernet interfaces. The radios are currently Linksys WRT54G routers with mostly 18db panel antennas attached. These are mainly used for full-time installations such as Emergency Operations Centers, Hospitals, and our Core Network Hill-top sites.

Another type of router that will be useful will be an ad-hoc router; e.g. a router that will be installed in a Red Cross shelter after a disaster. This computer will route between machines and networks at a Red Cross shelter and the SVWUX network infrastructure. This can be as simple as a laptop with a built-in Wi-Fi interface (to provide a local hot-spot) and a Wi-Fi card with a hi-gain antenna (to link to a hill-top site). We also hope to build a Linux-based Live-CD which will boot up a computer, ask minimal questions, and become an ad-hoc router without changing or even requiring a hard disk.

We currently have some routable IPv6 address space but no routable IPv4 address space. We will use public IPv4 address space and NAT inside our network to begin with. We intend to rely heavily on the automatic configuration capabilities of IPv6 in our network.

For the 802.11 radios that point to the valley floor, which will effectively be point-to-multi-point, we will set the RTS/CTS threshold low. This will slow down the network throughput during times of low congestion, but will allow the speed to be maintained during times of high congestion.
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