What is a mesh network? What is a Mesh WiFi System - Equipment and Application of Mesh Networks. Have you managed to build some kind of large mesh network?

It is a distributed, peer-to-peer, self-organizing network with a mesh topology. In English, mesh means "cell".

Mesh networks differ from the usual centralized networks in that all nodes in them have equal rights, each node is a provider, a router, and a bridge (network switch).

To become a full-fledged node on the network, just install software Mesh networks on your router/phone/laptop. To connect a client to the Mesh network, no additional software is required, except for a dhcp client and system support for ipv6.

In a mesh network, you are “your own provider”; you cannot be disconnected from this network, you cannot be eavesdropped on by special equipment.

Mesh networks are the path by which humanity will build a free, censorship-resistant, decentralized Internet with End-to-End traffic encryption by default. And cryptocurrencies are the missing piece of the equation.

What is the value of a global mesh network?

In a mesh network, it is impossible to control the traffic and nodes serving the network, because there is no single center to obtain IP addresses (DHCP), all routes are distributed and dynamic, and DNS can also be decentralized;

The mesh network is optionally anonymous and always private. All traffic is encrypted by default. There are no centralized logs of user sessions and node activity. Goodbye Big Brother.

Traffic cannot be prioritized. Network Neutrality is a law that is written into the code. Goodbye traffic prioritization and lobbying for corporations and governments.

The network cannot be blocked or closed because it connects according to the principle of “everyone to everyone”, which creates a large number of connections. The loss of one or more connections will not disrupt the functioning of the network as a whole. Goodbye government firewalls.

If a natural disaster occurs, then with the help of a mesh network you can quickly build a network at the scene of the incident for communication, and with external support, connect it to the global network.

Moreover, such a network can be cheap and self-organizing, that is, connect a cable/Wi-Fi/cellular connection to the device, press a button, and you automatically become a member of the network. Also, such a network can operate in “overlay” mode, that is, on top of existing infrastructure, for example, the Internet.

Is mesh difficult?

When launching a Mesh Network, you need to solve many routing problems, while simultaneously combining this with encryption and the possibility of an overlay mode of operation.

However, the open protocol source code cjdns and the Hyperboria project based on it solve all these problems quite effectively.

There are many other protocols for building mesh networks. Below is a comparison table:

Auto address assignment- the client chooses his own address and does not have to change it when moving from one subnet to another, since there is no single center for issuing addresses;

Auto-conf. Routing- there is no need to manually configure network routing;

Distributed Routing- nodes exchange routing information;

Network interconnection- the ability to connect networks via regular Internet;

IPv4/v6- what protocol the network uses;

Auto-tuning- allows you to use the network without installing any other software;

Development- network development status;

Support- which OS can be full participants in the network.

Challenges and Obstacles for the Global Mesh Network

Compared to the usual Internet, mesh networks are often ineffective because they do not guarantee channel width and communication quality. There is little content inside and there is no huge number of familiar sites and services. It is very difficult to launch a Mesh Network at the very beginning, and efficiency is achieved only with a large number of users (nodes).

However, cjdns and other protocols have been developed and operational for about 15 years. And on our planet there are many different mesh networks organized: from New York to Afghanistan. People are building "their" Internet to escape the control of governments and Internet providers, to protect their freedom of speech and freedom of access to information around the world.

The largest mesh network in the world is called Guifi, located in Spain and has 34,593 active nodes at the time of writing.

This project started in 2004 with one Wi-Fi cell. Ramon Roca, one of the Oracle engineers, was tired of waiting for the Internet to be installed in his town of Gurb. Initially, he wanted to solve the problem for himself. But then he helped his neighbors too. By configuring the Linksys routers in a certain way, he was able to combine them into a Mesh Network, which others could join if they had an Internet connection.

The first network node started working when Roca installed a router with a directional antenna on the tallest building in the town. It was the only building in the region with a network connection. The router, using a directional antenna, connected the engineer’s house, located 6 kilometers from the building, to the Internet. Soon neighbors began asking for an Internet connection. And then neighbors of neighbors, acquaintances, colleagues. Everyone was able to connect - access was free, you just had to purchase a router. The network gradually increased in size year after year. Roca and his team of volunteers are still working, even at night. It costs them a lot of work to develop their network. All donations go towards purchasing equipment. In fact, the network is supported only by the voluntary efforts of its creators.

But how to interest all other people in joining the network if for them the problems of Internet control are not yet so relevant or simply not important? How to interest users who do not understand what a mesh is and what its advantages are, to start filling the network with content and services, if inside it is empty and there is no one except early adopters? How to interest nodes, better serve the network and provide a better communication channel?

On the one hand, states, Internet providers and corporations themselves create incentives for the development of a free alternative Internet. Just remember the last one, when RKN blocked more than 18 million IP addresses, including Google and Amazon server addresses. Many sites and services were affected, including - Microsoft Office 365, Windows updates, Xbox, Viber, Odnoklassniki and many others. There were problems with making payments through 3DSecure MasterCard.

But negative incentives alone are not enough to create a network effect for the transition from the traditional Internet to the free global Mesh Network.

Before the advent of cryptocurrencies, the implementation of “positive” economic incentives in Mesh networks in all their flexibility and power was impossible. Simply because you would have to write code for each device to process bank-fiat payments, which is very difficult and unsafe, as well as go through bureaucratic barriers and passport identification. In fact, now we already have all the technologies to implement a global Mesh network. But let's be realistic - most likely, its alpha version.

What are mesh + cryptocurrencies? Global Mesh Network

Let's say the system of economic incentives might look something like this:

I pay the peers ( peers are neighboring nodes in a mesh network) for the traffic they route for me;

Peers pay me for the traffic I route for them;

I make a crypto deposit to my node account when the balance is zero;

There is no doubt that such a network will bring enormous benefits to absolutely everyone. Let's see if there is someone who has enough fire to make this happen.

Examples of cryptocurrency projects that make mesh networks: Skycoin, RighMesh, Ammbr, Altheamesh.

For example, the Skycoin project is developing its Skywire Mesh Network, and the plans are very ambitious. The team wants to build a global Mesh Network, and the Skycoin blockchain will be used as a payment system.

At the end of August, the Greenhouse of Social Technologies held a workshop on creating a Mesh network. We invited mesh network specialist Stanislav Slavkov, who described their benefits for the public, private and business sectors and created a real-time mesh connection.

What is a mesh network?

A mesh network is an association of computers not using traditional technology - clients and an access point - but an association in which the signal and traffic between computers or other devices is routed directly through the computers, without the participation of any centralized server.

Advantages of this technology

The advantages of this technology are quite obvious - if any emergency happens and the network central node fails, then, accordingly, communication with all network nodes is lost.

If one node fails when using mesh technology, then the network topology will simply be rebuilt. When sending a message, you will be notified that the node is unavailable and another alternative path will be selected.

CJDNS is a secure network for ordinary people

There are different types of mesh networks, such as CJDNS. This network is interesting because its structure uses IPv6 technology, a protocol that has prospects for implementation on the Internet. In addition, the CJDNS network is a secure network and is intended for ordinary people.

It is secure because all traffic within this network is encrypted using a standard private and public key protocol. Those. When one person transmits something to a second person, only the second person can decipher it.

Privacy and anonymity

Many people know about the existence of such things as SORM and PRISM. These are obviously useful practices for the state - they help track terrorists, etc. But at the same time, few people are happy that their personal information and messages can be read by the government. When using mesh networks, information reaches only the person for whom it is intended.

At the same time, the CJDNS network is private, but not anonymous. What does this mean?

Privacy is when you send a message to your friend and only your friend can read it. On the other hand, the author can be identified with sufficient accuracy. This is a fundamental difference between the CJDNS network and such anonymous networks as , Tor, etc. The CJDNS network is positioned more as an open friendly network and a replacement for existing protocols on the Internet.

Where can a mesh network be used?

Firstly, since encryption is widely used, a mesh network can be used in all areas where the transfer of information in encrypted form is critical. The advantage of CJDNS is that all traffic transmitted through it is already encrypted. At the same time, since all programs see this network as a regular network connection, if they support IPv6, they can work with this network.

Also, CJDNS has better coverage compared to regular networks. For example, if you imagine that you have one router at home, your neighbors have two more routers, etc., then you, sitting in your apartment, can see 5-6 access points, open or closed, depending on availability passwords. The downside is that you cannot connect to them if they are locked with a password, and each has its own Internet access channel. If you use a mesh network, and not necessarily CJDNS, then these points will be combined together, and if there is an overload at one point, the traffic will go to the channel of another point. Accordingly, the network coverage also increases, because auto-configuration of channels will take place to eliminate interference - so that channels do not intersect with each other and access points do not jam each other.

Features of CJDNS

The features of CJDNS are routing and DHT.

A Man-in-the-middle attack is an attack where between you and the server where you are sending data, there is another device that can listen to the traffic and transmit it further.

In ordinary networks, this is avoided in the following way: when you, for example, go to Internet banking, it uses HTTPS encryption, you see a certificate confirming that this node is really a bank and not some other node.

The CJDNS network uses slightly different technology. Since there are public and private keys on the network, when you send information that is encrypted with your private key or the public key of the person you are sending the data to, only the owner of the key can read it. There may be an unlimited number of people who want to listen to this information, but they will not be able to do this because they do not have the appropriate keys.

In addition, I would like to note that DPI technology cannot be used in this network in principle. DPI is a technology that deals with deep traffic analysis. For providers it is very profitable, for ordinary people it is not.

Providers using this technology can lower the priority for torrent traffic, and when certain phrases or search queries are detected, they can either save history or even replace search results.

With CJDNS, since all packets are encrypted, it is basically impossible to analyze what is inside the packet. In this way, the secrecy of correspondence, the secrecy of any information and the impossibility of prioritizing traffic are achieved.

Who needs mesh networks?

1. Business

First, mesh networks can be used in business. For example, there are now many payment terminals and ATMs on the streets, and they all somehow connect to the Internet. Basically, these are 3G or 4G modems from cellular operators. On the one hand, this is, of course, a simple and good solution, but, on the other hand, their prices are usually greatly inflated, and the speed of receiving and transmitting information is very low.

When using a mesh network, if the area is already covered by a mesh network, the additional installed node will not only gain access to the Internet and the CJDNS network, but will also act as a repeater and, accordingly, improve the overall network signal.

In addition, in the CJDNS network, channel reservation is possible - in a situation where the network is overloaded, the direction of traffic can be changed, and thus we get load diversity, which ensures that communication is not lost due to network congestion (as, for example, it happens on New Year’s Day).

2. To the state

It would seem, why does the state need mesh networks if they are, in fact, uncontrolled? Because, at the same time, it is the cheapest access to the Internet. Essentially, if we install one access point to the CJDNS network in one house, and then, according to a social program, we distribute routers to each apartment, then this greatly simplifies the installation and connection of new subscribers, and also increases the network capacity and overall increases the network speed.

Then, since it is beneficial for the state that electronic services are simple and accessible to citizens, citizens using the network will be able to access such services quite quickly. And, again, it's free.

3. To the provider

The advantages for providers are the ease of setting up the network. Demonopolization will also be carried out, because if this network exists, it will, in fact, be united, but the problem of the last mile can be solved by providers who will establish connections between segments of this network, increase the capacity of this network by laying additional channels, or installing access points that will be available to consumers. In addition, no one is stopping the provider from creating a CJDNS network with a password and providing access to it for little money. But in the future, as I already said, this may disappear, because open analogues will appear.

Points can work in a MESH network either independently (for example, smart points - Motorola) or as thin client under the control of a controller (Blusocket).

Smart access points can dynamically redistribute the load. If one point is overloaded, it reduces power and transfers some of its subscribers to neighboring points, which increase power.

Modern points can use additional radio interfaces (2nd or 3rd) as a sensor of the surrounding radio air, which allows automatic mode select optimal radio channels and radiating signal power to reduce the influence of interference. The sensor can also register the connection of unregistered points, inform the network administrator about this, and also use active suppression of radio signals from illegally installed points (radio perimeter protection).

This greatly simplifies commissioning work. Often this technology eliminates the time-consuming and expensive procedure of radio planning.

Using a VLAN with multiple SSIDs allows QoS to prioritize latency-critical traffic for business users by cutting the bandwidth for guest access.

The main advantage of MESH networks is their mobility and high deployment speed. When moving to a new office, a company can take the access points with them and deploy them Wi-Fi network in a few hours.

MESH technology is actively used not only in office buildings. MESH is convenient to use for organizing public Internet access in open areas, squares, parks and stadiums.

A separate area of ​​MESH networks is the organization of uniform coverage in large warehouse areas.

Thus, Wi-Fi has ceased to be a toy for home use. Nowadays, professional Wi-Fi solutions are used by businesses as the main working IT tool.

There are network analyzers that are easy to use, such as the NETSCOUT AirCheck G2. This is a smartphone-like device with support Wi-Fi standards 802.11a/b/g/n/ac. With this portable device, you can walk around all the rooms, measure the signal level and plot the boundaries of the coverage area on a map, including those linked to GPS coordinates.

NETSCOUT AirCheck G2 Portable Network Analyzer

The NETSCOUT AirCheck G2 analyzer can solve many problems at once. In particular, you can make sure that the Wi-Fi network covers the entire required space, but does not extend beyond the controlled area, for example, onto the street. You can also check network performance, seamless roaming, presence of interference sources, etc.

Partially connected topology.

All other options are based on partially connected topologies when data exchange between two computers may require transit of data through other network nodes.

Let's look at some types partially connected topologies. Let's highlight several basic technologies: tire, star, ring, mesh. On our own basic topologies are not complicated, but in practice quite complex combinations of them are often found.

A mesh topology is obtained from a fully connected topology by removing some connections. The mesh topology allows the connection of a large number of computers and is typically characteristic of large networks. A mesh network has high redundancy and reliability because each computer on the network is connected to every other individual cable. The signal from the sending computer to the receiving computer can travel along different routes, so a cable break does not affect the performance of the network. The main disadvantage is the high cost of laying the cable, which is compensated by high reliability and ease of maintenance.

Fig.4.2.1 Mesh topology.

Mesh topology is used in combination with other topologies to build large networks.

4.2.2. Star.

With a star topology (Fig. 4.2.2), all computers are connected using cable segments to a central device called hub(hub). The function of a hub is to direct information transmitted by a computer to one or all other computers on the network. It can act as a concentrator general purpose computer, and a specialized device.

Currently, the hub has become one of the standard network components. In networks with a star topology, for example, it serves as the central node. Concentrators are divided into passive And active. Active regenerate and transmit signals in the same way as repeaters (repeaters). They are called multiport repeaters. They usually have 8 to 12 ports for connecting computers. Active concentrators are connected to the electrical network. TO passive Hubs include mounting or switching panels. They simply pass the signal through themselves without amplifying it or restoring it. Passive hubs do not need to be connected to the mains.

Fig.4.2.2 Star topology.

Flaws this topology: high cost of network equipment due to the need to purchase a specialized central device. In addition, network expansion is limited by the number of hub ports. Main advantage This topology in front of the bus means higher reliability. The failure of one or more computers does not affect the operation of the network. Any problems with the cable affect only the computer to which this cable is connected, and only a malfunction of the hub leads to a network failure. In addition, the hub can play the role of an intelligent filter of information coming from nodes on the network and, if necessary, block transmissions prohibited by the administrator.

Manufacturers are constantly working to improve the performance of their WLAN routers. New ones appear functionality, throughput increases, but at the same time devices become cheaper and cheaper.

Problem: long distances and massive obstacles such as walls often leave only a small fraction of the theoretically possible data transfer speed. The connection between the router and the computer in the living room may be great, but will your kids be able to use it in the upstairs bedroom or, for example, will the signal reach the smart freezer in the basement - that is the question.

The answer to this is usually: you need to use a WLAN signal repeater, a so-called WLAN repeater. It creates a wider range of the router and generally works flawlessly. An alternative solution to increase the range of the router is. But they may not be applicable everywhere and sometimes they lack reliability.

Many WLAN coverage extenders are quite compact and can be easily placed throughout the apartment, like the TP-Link Deco stations shown here

Unpretentious WLAN extenders

So-called Mesh-WLAN systems promise even greater success in this matter. They can basically consist of as many “radio stations” as you like, which you strategically place around your house or apartment.

Stations are connected to each other via own network and each serves as an access point to a common, home WLAN network. It is important that the system controls itself and the transfer of data between individual points and end devices almost independently.

The user is not required to intervene in the configuration when starting work; only minimal actions are required in the Andoid or iOS application. Only when choosing the location of the points will you need to think a little.

Our advice, based on practical experience: the higher the better. On the top side of a cabinet or at the very top of bookshelves, the system is able to provide the most high speed data transmission.

Google Wifi: trendsetter

The most famous representative of this new family of devices is the . In addition, it is one of the most inexpensive systems: a “radio station” costs about 130 euros, which is quickly set up, although it offers virtually no configuration options, and everything is done only through the application.

From nominal bandwidth at 300 Mbit in the 2.4 GHz range, with practical measurements on a tablet in good conditions, there is still a good 165 Mbit/s. Behind a thick wall and at a distance of 19 meters, this figure drops to 72 Mbit/s, but a regular WLAN connection under the same conditions would hardly be capable of more. Compared to other systems, this is in any case an average-to-good performance.

What's somewhat annoying here is being forced to use a cloud service. To use Google Wifi, you will definitely need a Google Cloud account, which will cost you a few euros per month and will also make open questions security of personal data.

Netgear Orbi: Sets the Pace

Of all the systems we tested, we liked the one the most, and above all because of its performance in the field of data transfer speed: even under difficult conditions it reached at least 124 Mbit/s. During testing, none of the competitors came close to such indicators. In the best case, we measured a record 191 Mbit/s.

Additionally, setting up the system is really easy, with the user having the choice of managing it through an app or a web interface. Netgear also offers additional functionality that other solutions do not have. In particular, you can arrange additional home network or integrate Orbi as an access point into your existing existing network. Moreover, no cloud services not needed here. But the solution itself is really expensive: basic equipment with a router and one satellite will cost approximately 27,000 rubles.

WLAN Mesh systems: overview of all tested models

The review shows all the pure Mesh systems we reviewed during hands-on testing and includes a comparison of measured versus rated data transfer rates, as well as cost and configuration data.

Photo: manufacturing companies