Support for Morse Micro 900 MHz Halow node

Select the Babel only build for the Morse Micro Halowlink1 from the repository.
Upload the firmware to the Halowlink1 and remember to UNCHECK the Keep Settings box.
Everything else proceeds as with any other AREDN sysupgrade.
 

OK, help me out on this.  What is the use case for this device on this band?  It looks like an indoor rated router with a small omni antenna.  What am I missing here?    Ed

The use case for this as it relates to AREDN, is probably to provide a link through trees (albeit with a relatively low throughput).    Given the frequency, you'd use a pair of them with high-gain Yagi antennas in a point to point configuration.

Rumor has it that a later release will have somewhat increased power output.

Orv W6BI

So here's an open ended comment/question.  Are there any 900mhz outdoor rated devices that are powerful enough to provide a ptp link through trees?  I'm talking not about a device that has Open WRT so it can also be a router, I'm asking about devices that are just radios that can be paired with a hAP ac2 or hAP ac3 to do the router function.  There are a lot of cases here where the last mile (literally) is a real pain with topography and trees, can we make an rf link using a non AREDN device appropriate for the ham slices of the 900 band where we can punch thru for the last mile?  This seems to be alluded to in the docs regarding using an xlink.

Ed

edit PS ... add on question.  I haven't yet fooled around with the virtual machine AREDN nodes, but can the X86 VM version of firmware run an xlink so we could just add this onto a site with an existing managed switch with the router on the VM?

It looks like this device has a 2.4GHz and HaLow radio.  Can the 2.4 interface with AREDN just like a device with 2.4 and 5GHz?  Or asked another way, if I get one and flash it, will it join up just like any other node, and mesh over 2.4GHz, or must it be DTD linked via the ethernet port?

Also, do we have any idea the expected range in a real world AREDN use case?  When they first released I saw their standard marketing range video.  Line of sight it can go a really long way, but that isn't the use case for this device.  Under ideal circumstances, with directional antennas, can we expect a block? A few blocks? A mile?  I'm not as familiar with 900MHz, as I am with UHF, VHF, 2.4 and 5GHz.  I have a buddy that is about a half a mile away.  We can both get up high, but in Chicago there is probably a tree in the way every few blocks, so we are probably shooting through like 5 trees.  Is there any chance this would make it through?   I have no intuition for 900MHz.  If someone has done some testing, please share.

Poking around online shows me the Ubiquity Rocket 900mhz is discontinued, and a few places are selling remaining stock between $600-1000 each.  Ouch.  A few used but this is not viable.  Ubiquity still shows stock of a very nice looking pair of yagi antennas meant to work with this radio for a few hundred. 

I guess this device was selected for us to consider because it is affordable.    Ed