View source for Wireless Mesh configuration example

==Introduction==
Wireless networks have become widely adopted in various industrial, agricultural, medical, military, scientific and many other areas, due to a widespread use of various remote sensors, monitoring and management devices as well as new, constantly emerging services. The necessity for wireless coverage has grown in both indoor and outdoor environments, as in many cases the 100 m connection limitation of ethernet cable is not sufficient to cover the required area. Wireless mesh networks basically work as a replacement of cables. The client station connects to the access point without any additional steps or requirements and without knowing if the access point connects to the wired network directly or through a mesh cloud. Mesh functionality is carried out by access points, which support additional features, functions and frame formats in order to expand wireless coverage. All stations in a mesh might send, receive and forward traffic. Mesh networks allow to transfer messages between stations that are not in direct communication through other intermediate stations. This provides a layer of robustness as, in case of a device failure, traffic can be rerouted, so, generally, mesh networks have no single points of failure. They are also relatively easy to scale, as a new device can be easily added to the mesh and underlying algorithms automatically create new links and routes between devices. The example below shows how to configure Teltonika routers for wireless mesh network functionality.   
==Prerequisites==
The configuration of wireless mesh with Teltonika devices is relatively simple and involves only a few steps repeated for multiple devices. The device count depends on the use case, however, the configuration provided can be easily scaled for many devices. For the following example, two RUTX11 and one RUT956 routers will be used:

# One router has to be connected to the internet. It will act as a Mesh ''gateway'' and DHCP server.
# Other routers will operate as Mesh ''nodes''.

==Topology==
[[File:Networking_RUTOS_Wireless_Mesh_configuration_Example_Topologija_V1.png|border|center|class=tlt-border|1100x500px]]
The test setup uses two RUTX11 routers, one RUT956 router and a smartphone for testing purposes. One of the RUTX11 devices has access to the internet. Wired WAN connectivity is used, however, any type can be employed. Upon successful configuration, all mesh devices should be able to communicate with each other either directly of through other devices in the mesh, thus allowing to increase Wi-Fi coverage radius.

==Configuration==
{{Template:Networking_rutos_manual_basic_advanced_webui_disclaimer
| series = RUTX
}}
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===Mesh gateway===
This router must have access to the internet. The following settings should be enabled by default. 
# Access router‘s WebUI. Navigate to '''Network''' → '''LAN'''. 
# Click [[File:Pencil2.png]] icon on the right of the LAN interface.
# In opened LAN Interface window select Protocol: '''Static''' (1)
# Enter IPv4 address: '''192.168.1.2''' (2)
# Enter IPv4 netmask: '''255.255.255.0''' (3)
# Enable DHCPv4: '''on''' (4)
[[File:Gateway LAN Config.png|border|700x500px|class=tlt-border|center]]
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===Common settings===
The following settings need to be applied to all of the routers in the wireless mesh network including mesh gateway and nodes.
Open router‘s '''WebUI''' and navigate to '''Network → Wireless → SSIDs''' click [[File:Pencil2.png]]on current available 2.4 Ghz Wireless interface configuration and make the following changes:

# Select Mode: '''Access Point'''
# Select Radios: '''2.4GHZ'''
# Enter SSID: '''MESH_DEMO'''
# Enter Password: '''Password'''
# Select Network: '''LAN'''
[[File:SSIDs General Settings_1.png|border|700x500px|class=tlt-border|center]]

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In router‘s WebUI, Navigate to '''Network → Wireless section → SSIDs'''. click [[File:Add Button.png]] and create new interface. Frequency band must match in all nodes.

Make the following changes:

# Select Mode: '''Mesh'''
# Select Radios: '''2.4GHZ'''
# Enter SSID: '''Demo_1'''
# Enter Password: '''Password'''
[[File:Mesh_General_Settings_1.png|border|700x500px|class=tlt-border|center]]

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Make the following changes in '''Mesh Additional''' settings tab:
# Enable Forward mesh peer traffic: '''on'''
# Enter RSSI threshold for joining: '''-80'''
[[File:Mesh Additional Settings.png|border|class=tlt-border|center]]

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In router‘s WebUI, Navigate to '''Network → Wireless section → Radio → Wifi 2.4GHZ settings'''.

Make the following changes:
# Press on dropdown arrow
# Select Channel: '''11 (2462 Mhz)'''
[[File:Wireless Mesh Radio Selection.png|border|700x500px|class=tlt-border|center]]

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===Mesh nodes===
These settings should also be set after configuring access and mesh points settings, as, otherwise, access to the router will be lost. The configuration is as follows:  
# Access router‘s WebUI. Navigate to '''Network''' → '''LAN'''.
# Press [[File:Pencil2.png]] icon on the right of the LAN interface.
# Make sure '''Enable DHCPv4/v6''' is disabled.
[[File:Disable-DHCP-mesh node.png|border|class=tlt-border|center]]

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===Additional settings===
If the mesh node needs to have internet access, you can create a static route for it. For that, follow these steps:
# In the WebUI of the mesh node, go to '''Network → Routing → Static Routes'''.
# Click the [[File:Add Button.png]] button to create a new static route under the IPv4 routing section.
# In the route setup, configure the following: Target – 0.0.0.0, IPv4 Netmask – 0.0.0.0, IPv4 Gateway – enter the LAN IP address of the mesh gateway.
[[File:Mesh-Node-Gateway-v1.png|border|class=tlt-border|center]]

==Testing the configuration==
There are several ways to check the connection. 
*Access mesh gateway's WebUI.
*Navigate to '''Network''' → '''Wireless'''. The mesh interface, in this case "1", shows the number of connected mesh nodes, which is 2 and indicates the cpnfigures RUTX11 and RUT956.
[[File:Wireless Mesh Test 1.png|border|1000x480px|center|class=tlt-border]] 
*A list of IP addresses leased by mesh gateway can be viewed by going to '''Status''' → '''Network''' → '''Topology''' and pressing on [[File:Scan LAN Icon.png]] icon. In the screenshot, IP addresses can be seen provided to the two RUT routers as well as a device, connected to the access point, which is a smartphone in this case.
[[File:Wireless Mesh Test2.png|border|1000x246px|center|class=tlt-border]]
*Those IPs can be pinged from the mesh gateway despite the fact that there is no wired or mobile connection between the mesh nodes. 
[[File:Wireless Mesh Test 3.png|border|center|class=tlt-border]]
*One more test to perform is to physically displace mesh nodes, move around the coverage area with the device connected to the Wireless AP SSID and see if Wi-Fi access to the internet remains outside of the initial router coverage radius.

==External links==
# [https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wifi/mesh/80211s https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wifi/mesh/80211s]
# [https://www.cwnp.com/uploads/802-11s_mesh_networking_v1-0.pdf https://www.cwnp.com/uploads/802-11s_mesh_networking_v1-0.pdf]