AREDN Release Notes v3.19.3.0 – 23 March 2019

The AREDN team is pleased to announce the general availability of the latest stable release of AREDN firmware.

Since our last stable release just 6 months ago, the AREDN team has made significant progress. We now fully support 55 devices from three manufacturers, and support an additional 4 devices with some cautions. This diversity of supported equipment enables hams to choose the right gear for a given situation and budget.

Our documentation has been vastly improved. If you haven't seen it recently, please look at the --ONLINE DOCS -- link under the Docs tab on the Main Menu bar. Our documentation is available to download as a PDF so that you can read it offline at your convenience. 

1. AREDN firmware is now based on the most recent stable version of OpenWRT 18.06.2 released in January 2019. This includes a current version of the Linux kernel. This improvement is significant in that it enables AREDN firmware to benefit from the many bug fixes, security improvements and feature enhancements provided by developers around the world.
    
2. Current AREDN nightly builds can be loaded onto any supported (or ‘in testing’) Ubiquiti device by using the TFTP method.   If the version of AirOS is v5.5 or lower, then the AirOS Web Interface may be used to load AREDN.   The bootloader provided with AirOS 5.6 and higher will check for official “signed Ubiquiti firmware” before loading via the AirOS Web Interface.  Since AREDN firmware is not signed by Ubiquiti, this will fail.  However, TFTP should continue to work.
    
3. New devices are added to the Supported Platform Matrix.
   • Mikrotik hAP AC Lite
   • Mikrotik QRT RB-911G-5HPnD
   • Mikrotik Lite Dish Feed LDF-5nD
   • Mikrotik Lite Head Grid LHG-5HPnD-XL
   • Mikrotik Lite Head Grid LHG5
   • Ubiquiti LiteBeam M5
   • Ubiquiti Bullet M2 XW
   • Ubiquiti Rocket M2 XW
   • Ubiquiti Nanobridge M2 13
   • TP-Link WBS210 version 1.
     (This device is a 2.4 GHz unit similar to a Ubiquiti Rocket. It has two RP-SMA connectors for attaching an external MIMO antenna, which is not included with the device.)
   • TP-Link CPE220 V2.0
   • TP-Link CPE510 V3.0
   • TP-Link CPE220 V3.0
   • TP-Link CPE610 V1.0
   • TP-Link CPE210 V3.0
   • TP-Link CPE510 V2.0
4. A new feature adds sounds, including pitch and volume control, to the real-time SNR chart page. As a device is tilted or rotated towards a remote node, the computer generated tone changes pitch based on a higher or lower SNR. This feature assists in aiming a node by indicating a better signal with a higher tone.
    
5. New features added to the firmware include:
   1. Providing advice for uploading firmware and reduce page size by removing unnecessary style info on option tags. You may receive a warning if an inappropriate firmware file is selected for upload to this device:
      “This filename is NOT appropriate for this device! This device expects a file such as: aredn-[firmware version number]- [manufacturer]-[hardware type] -sysupgrade.bin   Click OK to continue if you are CERTAIN that the file is correct.”
   2. Added an Advanced Configuration page to manage special features.
   3. Added a Reset to Firstboot button on the Advanced Configuration page Clicking the button issued the following warning:
      "All config settings and add-on packages will be lost back to first boot state. Continue?"
   4. Allow upload of ssh keys while tunnels are active.
   5. Added USB passthrough support to the Advanced Configuration page for certain devices with USB ports – Ubiquiti AirRouter and Mikrotik hAP AC Lite.
   6. Added POE power passthrough support to the Advanced Configuration page for certain devices with seconardy POE ports.
   7. Provide a reminder to disable tunnels before uploading new firmware.
   8. Enable the NanoStation M2/M5 XW devices to be fully functional with a standard AREDN port definition. The VLANs are not configured in the switch, rather acting like a dumb switch. This enables tagged and untagged packets to exist on the same switch port at the same time. This commit enables the ports on the switch to directly send all traffic to all other ports when not configured directly in VLAN mode.
   9. Enable the 5GHz LAN Access Point on the Mikrotik hAP AC Lite device
      Enable ability to bridge LAN physical ports with wireless LAN Access Point capability on the dual band hAP AC Lite used in parallel with mesh RF on 2GHz. Also enable future features on single band devices to turn off mesh RF and to be repurposed for mesh LAN Access Point.
   10. Add feature to enable/disable Mesh RF
       With this feature you can turn off Mesh RF if not in use. Once the Mesh RF checkbox is saved to disable, then another section shows a "LAN Access Point" option and settings. You can then choose to enable the wireless to be ether mesh RF or a mesh LAN Access Point (but not both at same time, unless it is the hAP AC Lite with 2 wireless adapters).
   11. Add Mikrotik hAP AC Lite access point band option
       Add option for hAP AC Lite to select which band to use for LAN AP option, either 2GHz or 5GHz.
6. The following bugs have been fixed:
   • bugfix: check to see if internet is reachable before loading resources #224
   • bugfix: Check for existing hostnames on the network in DHCP reservations #226
   • bugfix: correct improper “wrong firmware” message on Rocket #240
   • bugfix: fix reboot button #249
   • bugfix: correct poe functions in adv cfg #250
   • bugfix: correct “Bad Gateway” error on Advanced Config page #263
   • bugfix: litebeam M5 is single chain device #265
   • bugfix: suppress uhttp uci error on mesh page with no description #267
   • bugfix: README clarifications for litebeam and mikrotik devices #268
   • bugfix: AREDN standard port vlan function on Ubiquiti NS XW devices #269
   • bugfix: Found another place where uhttpd was tossing a uci error. Fixed #270
   • bugfix: correct initial values for poe and usb passthrough #271
   • bugfix: usb_passthrough script missing execute bit (+x) #283
   • bugfix: POE passthough fails on NS XM devices #285
   • bugfix: usb passthrough not initializing after reboot properly #292
   • bugfix: correct uhttpd page security on sysupgrade #296
   • bugfix: aredn: Advanced config settings not persistent though reboot #305
   • bugfix: advanced config usb passthru errors #308
   • bugfix: remove SNR from signal archive page #309
   • bugfix: helpfile spelling correction #315
   • bugfix: bogus warning when selecting firmware file to sysupgrade #316
   • bugfix: aredn sysinfo.json fails with mesh rf off #318
   • bugfix: olsrd: clean up startup warnings #320
   • bugfix: set execute bit on api script #329
   • bugfix: aredn: fix bogus nano-m-xw image upload warning #335
   • bugfix: new settings will now show after a conditional setting (advancedconfig page) #343
   • bugfix: correct spelling error #370
7. The following enhancements were added:
   • build: updates to README #273 and #274
   • build: README updates #277
   • modify the advanced config layout #247
   • adjust mesh status layout for OLSR stats #248
   • enhancement: kernel build options, additions to top/busybox, modules #253
   • build: README corrections #262
   • uhttpd: serve precompressed files #276
   • Revert: uhttpd precompression #282
   • aredn: stop cron prior to starting sysupgrade #286
   • aredn: Standardize Ethernet Port vlans for UBNT XM devices #297
   • aredn: README update for NanoStation XM Ethernet use #314
   • build: set feeds to aredn_packages develop branch
   • Some LUA Code Clean Up, API #327
   • Update Contributors #328
   • aredn: olsrd: add olsrd watchdog #339
   • aredn: clarify distance setting in help #299
   • feature: standardize browser page title on the node status page #372
8. If you are currently running a nightly build version with the experimental auto-distance feature enabled, this upgrade will revert your distance setting to 60km.

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