7 ms·

Building a Mesh Network in Rural Somaliland

113 points by benbristow 13y ago

samirmenon 13y ago
Wow! Really interesting post. I've always wanted to set up a mesh network, just for the learning experience. Just one question I've been wondering: How much do you think the whole setup would've cost if you did it yourself? I ask because I've always thought that the cost of the special hardware for a mesh network was the major limiting factor.
- benbristow 13y ago
  I didn't write this. Just found it. You'll have to ask the author.
- freifunk_berlin 13y ago
  Cost per outdoor router is somewhere around 60€.
cinquemb 13y ago
I think it's pretty amazing the way that certain technologies that might be considered bleeding edge by some, are being adopted more in the developing world out of practical needs. Even more so as the costs of maintaining aging copper/fibops grows, the less perceived incentive to move towards more modular and decentralized systems ("we invested all this money already") for the increasing burden of maintaining that would be placed upon on others in developed countries. Though this makes me wonder, the routers are running some kind of openwrts firmware[0], it would be interesting if someone had the chance to unsquash/decompile it for backdoors because from a sigint perspective (especially in the horn of africa) being able to tap into these networks (like via uav recon ops) will probably be on the table. Edit: Looks like they are funded by the New American Foundation[1] with Eric Schmidt as chairman, interesting… [0] https://commotionwireless.net/download/routers https://commotionwireless.net/download/routers [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_America_Foundation#Funding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_America_Foundation#Funding
- sOuqq 13y ago
  the project is open source so you can also take a look through the source code: https://github.com/opentechinstitute/commotion-router https://github.com/opentechinstitute/commotion-router
  - cinquemb 13y ago
    This looks like shell scrips for patches and config files. Is there another place with the source that actually used to compile the binaries like this: http://downloads.commotionwireless.net/router/1.0/ar71xx/generic/openwrt-ar71xx-generic-ubnt-bullet-m-squashfs-factory.bin http://downloads.commotionwireless.net/router/1.0/ar71xx/gen...
    - sOuqq 13y ago
      It uses the OpenWRT build system to produce those binaries. Try pulling the source code and building it yourself :) https://github.com/opentechinstitute/commotion-router#installation https://github.com/opentechinstitute/commotion-router#instal...
      - cinquemb 13y ago
        I would be more interested in the decompiled binaires at this point, you know the stuff being released directly into the wild from the site :) Unless you could point me in the direction of a repo that looks like this[0] (posted in this thread, and project I've been following along with others), that corresponds to the binary I posted above. [0] https://github.com/cjdelisle/cjdns https://github.com/cjdelisle/cjdns
        elation 13y ago
        Hey, I am one of the developers of the Commotion project. OpenWRT can be a confusing system. Let me help you find what you are looking for. The Commotion-router repo above is contains our setup scripts that make it easier for new users like you to build our software from source. If you look at the feeds.conf file you will find the exact sources we are pulling in to the openWRT build system for compilation. The most important line, for your concerns about backdoors would be the third line of that file. That line pulls in the master branch of the repo commotion-feed. This repository is full of makefiles. These makefiles specify how to build the source code into the compiled binary your pointed to before. If you follow the follow the install instructions that were poster earlier and then explore the curses (command line GUI) menu for make menuconfig you can explore the exactly what packages are going to be built for the specific architecture. (If you are curious about tampering we sadly have not had the time or funding to do deterministic builds, so I suggest you build it from source yourself so that you can examine the code.) Now, each item in the menuconfig references a "feed." You can look at the feeds.conf file in the current directory, and the various makefiles in the feeds folder to explore where exactly things are being pulled from. Our source code will use the git repo's specified in the makefiles in commotion-feed on the master branch. You can find all of those in our github, because we are an open-source project. If you have any concerns about specific lines of code that have been implemented I beg of you to submit a bug to the repo you find a problem with. We want every possible opportunity better our code. While we have done internal testing, I hope that with eyes like yours looking over the code we will find more bugs that we can address in the future. If you have any questions I will try to follow this thread the best I can, and am elationfoundation on github. You can also find most of the developers and our field experts on freenode at #commotion. I have built, and debugged, far too many openWRT images. So, If you do need assistance jump on #commotion during Americas East Coast working hours and I will be glad to help you. I hope this helped. OpenWRT's build system is a beautiful, but complex being.
salient 13y ago
Since this will end up being a sort of "new Internet", I hope they start by building this one with security in mind from the ground up. We don't want to end-up with a next-gen Internet, that's just as broken as this one, security wise, especially since you basically have to have access to someone else's phone or computer, to get in the network.
- abkco 13y ago
  While this isn't what commotion is using, its what we are using for Project Meshnet. "Cjdns implements an encrypted IPv6 network using public-key cryptography for address allocation and a distributed hash table for routing." https://github.com/cjdelisle/cjdns https://github.com/cjdelisle/cjdns
jdmitch 13y ago
> Somaliland receives its Internet connection via microwaves across the desert from Djibouti. Surely the main way people access the internet is through 3G either directly on the phones or on mobile broadband. When I was in Hargeisa in 2008, 3G connectivity was common, and I would assume that it is still the case (though its possible Abaarso doesn't have a very good mobile connection).
- Jtsummers 13y ago
  I took that to mean the region (and thus the service providers) and not the individual users.
- jlgaddis 13y ago
  > Surely the main way people access the internet is through 3G either directly on the phones or on mobile broadband. I don't know if that's true or not but I'd be willing to bet that most of the cellular towers there (providing 3G/mobile broadband) are themselves using microwave backhauls, quite possibly the same one(s) carrying the "Internet connection".
  - mattlutze 13y ago
    Yeah, even cellular data needs to come from somewhere. The towers generally connect to the same backbone used for ground line Internet. You wouldn't do satellite internet connections for cellular towers because of the awful latency.
- xtrumanx 13y ago
  Actually, what he means are the ISPs in Somaliland receive their internet from Djibouti via microwave (at least Somtel does; not quite sure about Telesom). The ISPs then distribute their internet connection to their customers via DSL, 3G, etc.
pedrocr 13y ago
The points in the network are in the range that Cat6 can handle. Wouldn't it be easier to just run cat6 between the points and put 50$ APs with gigabit in each point? You'd get wifi and gigabit for the clients and regular switched gigabit interconnect. Surely it would be much faster and more reliable. A few TP-Link TL-WDR3600 APs would do nicely and even give you a couple of USB ports to attach some printers for network printing.
- dbarlett 13y ago
  You'd have to use fiber. Copper between buildings is susceptible to ground loops and one lightning strike frying the entire network.
  - sitkack 13y ago
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RONJA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RONJA RONJA (Reasonable Optical Near Joint Access) is a free-space optical communication system originating in the Czech Republic. It transmits data wirelessly using beams of light. Ronja can be used to create a 10 Mbit/s full duplex Ethernet point-to-point link.
    - gboudrias 13y ago
      Mmm full duplex... But yeah I helped on the Montreal meshnet and I think we either have or really want to have a RONJA link, because it's cool as hell as well as very useful in general.
      - sitkack 13y ago
        I know, I drool over the http://www.canon.com/bctv/canobeam/ http://www.canon.com/bctv/canobeam/
        sOuqq 13y ago
        From what I've heard, optical wireless links are super sensitive to environmental conditions (precipitation, pollution, etc), and don't work too well in real-world deployments. I would love to hear about more people's experiences with it, though.
nkvl 13y ago
Wonderful, congratulations!

113 points by benbristow 13y ago

Wow! Really interesting post. I've always wanted to set up a mesh network, just for the learning experience. Just one question I've been wondering: How much do you think the whole setup would've cost if you did it yourself? I ask because I've always thought that the cost of the special hardware for a mesh network was the major limiting factor.

benbristow 13y ago
I didn't write this. Just found it. You'll have to ask the author.
freifunk_berlin 13y ago
Cost per outdoor router is somewhere around 60€.

cinquemb 13y ago

I think it's pretty amazing the way that certain technologies that might be considered bleeding edge by some, are being adopted more in the developing world out of practical needs. Even more so as the costs of maintaining aging copper/fibops grows, the less perceived incentive to move towards more modular and decentralized systems ("we invested all this money already") for the increasing burden of maintaining that would be placed upon on others in developed countries. Though this makes me wonder, the routers are running some kind of openwrts firmware[0], it would be interesting if someone had the chance to unsquash/decompile it for backdoors because from a sigint perspective (especially in the horn of africa) being able to tap into these networks (like via uav recon ops) will probably be on the table. Edit: Looks like they are funded by the New American Foundation[1] with Eric Schmidt as chairman, interesting… [0] https://commotionwireless.net/download/routers https://commotionwireless.net/download/routers [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_America_Foundation#Funding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_America_Foundation#Funding

sOuqq 13y ago
the project is open source so you can also take a look through the source code: https://github.com/opentechinstitute/commotion-router https://github.com/opentechinstitute/commotion-router
- cinquemb 13y ago
  This looks like shell scrips for patches and config files. Is there another place with the source that actually used to compile the binaries like this: http://downloads.commotionwireless.net/router/1.0/ar71xx/generic/openwrt-ar71xx-generic-ubnt-bullet-m-squashfs-factory.bin http://downloads.commotionwireless.net/router/1.0/ar71xx/gen...
  - sOuqq 13y ago
    It uses the OpenWRT build system to produce those binaries. Try pulling the source code and building it yourself :) https://github.com/opentechinstitute/commotion-router#installation https://github.com/opentechinstitute/commotion-router#instal...
    - cinquemb 13y ago
      I would be more interested in the decompiled binaires at this point, you know the stuff being released directly into the wild from the site :) Unless you could point me in the direction of a repo that looks like this[0] (posted in this thread, and project I've been following along with others), that corresponds to the binary I posted above. [0] https://github.com/cjdelisle/cjdns https://github.com/cjdelisle/cjdns
      - elation 13y ago
        Hey, I am one of the developers of the Commotion project. OpenWRT can be a confusing system. Let me help you find what you are looking for. The Commotion-router repo above is contains our setup scripts that make it easier for new users like you to build our software from source. If you look at the feeds.conf file you will find the exact sources we are pulling in to the openWRT build system for compilation. The most important line, for your concerns about backdoors would be the third line of that file. That line pulls in the master branch of the repo commotion-feed. This repository is full of makefiles. These makefiles specify how to build the source code into the compiled binary your pointed to before. If you follow the follow the install instructions that were poster earlier and then explore the curses (command line GUI) menu for make menuconfig you can explore the exactly what packages are going to be built for the specific architecture. (If you are curious about tampering we sadly have not had the time or funding to do deterministic builds, so I suggest you build it from source yourself so that you can examine the code.) Now, each item in the menuconfig references a "feed." You can look at the feeds.conf file in the current directory, and the various makefiles in the feeds folder to explore where exactly things are being pulled from. Our source code will use the git repo's specified in the makefiles in commotion-feed on the master branch. You can find all of those in our github, because we are an open-source project. If you have any concerns about specific lines of code that have been implemented I beg of you to submit a bug to the repo you find a problem with. We want every possible opportunity better our code. While we have done internal testing, I hope that with eyes like yours looking over the code we will find more bugs that we can address in the future. If you have any questions I will try to follow this thread the best I can, and am elationfoundation on github. You can also find most of the developers and our field experts on freenode at #commotion. I have built, and debugged, far too many openWRT images. So, If you do need assistance jump on #commotion during Americas East Coast working hours and I will be glad to help you. I hope this helped. OpenWRT's build system is a beautiful, but complex being.

salient 13y ago

Since this will end up being a sort of "new Internet", I hope they start by building this one with security in mind from the ground up. We don't want to end-up with a next-gen Internet, that's just as broken as this one, security wise, especially since you basically have to have access to someone else's phone or computer, to get in the network.

abkco 13y ago
While this isn't what commotion is using, its what we are using for Project Meshnet. "Cjdns implements an encrypted IPv6 network using public-key cryptography for address allocation and a distributed hash table for routing." https://github.com/cjdelisle/cjdns https://github.com/cjdelisle/cjdns

jdmitch 13y ago

> Somaliland receives its Internet connection via microwaves across the desert from Djibouti. Surely the main way people access the internet is through 3G either directly on the phones or on mobile broadband. When I was in Hargeisa in 2008, 3G connectivity was common, and I would assume that it is still the case (though its possible Abaarso doesn't have a very good mobile connection).

Jtsummers 13y ago
I took that to mean the region (and thus the service providers) and not the individual users.
jlgaddis 13y ago
> Surely the main way people access the internet is through 3G either directly on the phones or on mobile broadband. I don't know if that's true or not but I'd be willing to bet that most of the cellular towers there (providing 3G/mobile broadband) are themselves using microwave backhauls, quite possibly the same one(s) carrying the "Internet connection".
- mattlutze 13y ago
  Yeah, even cellular data needs to come from somewhere. The towers generally connect to the same backbone used for ground line Internet. You wouldn't do satellite internet connections for cellular towers because of the awful latency.
xtrumanx 13y ago
Actually, what he means are the ISPs in Somaliland receive their internet from Djibouti via microwave (at least Somtel does; not quite sure about Telesom). The ISPs then distribute their internet connection to their customers via DSL, 3G, etc.

pedrocr 13y ago

The points in the network are in the range that Cat6 can handle. Wouldn't it be easier to just run cat6 between the points and put 50$ APs with gigabit in each point? You'd get wifi and gigabit for the clients and regular switched gigabit interconnect. Surely it would be much faster and more reliable. A few TP-Link TL-WDR3600 APs would do nicely and even give you a couple of USB ports to attach some printers for network printing.

dbarlett 13y ago
You'd have to use fiber. Copper between buildings is susceptible to ground loops and one lightning strike frying the entire network.
- sitkack 13y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RONJA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RONJA RONJA (Reasonable Optical Near Joint Access) is a free-space optical communication system originating in the Czech Republic. It transmits data wirelessly using beams of light. Ronja can be used to create a 10 Mbit/s full duplex Ethernet point-to-point link.
  - gboudrias 13y ago
    Mmm full duplex... But yeah I helped on the Montreal meshnet and I think we either have or really want to have a RONJA link, because it's cool as hell as well as very useful in general.
    - sitkack 13y ago
      I know, I drool over the http://www.canon.com/bctv/canobeam/ http://www.canon.com/bctv/canobeam/
      - sOuqq 13y ago
        From what I've heard, optical wireless links are super sensitive to environmental conditions (precipitation, pollution, etc), and don't work too well in real-world deployments. I would love to hear about more people's experiences with it, though.

nkvl 13y ago

Wonderful, congratulations!