AREDN Development Plans

A heads up on AREDN software development plans

AREDN®, as we’ve come to know it, is 11 years old. In that time it has come a long way, supporting a wide variety of devices, a host of radio bands, and has been deployed across the world. The UI has evolved, tunnels have been added, bandwidth and throughput have increased, and more features and services can be supported. The one constant in all this has been how AREDN® manages the network, using a protocol called Optimized Link State Routing - OLSR. Unfortunately as networks have grown, this protocol has buckled, and sometimes broken, under the strain, as OLSR was never designed for the size or variety of the networks we have. This year we added a new modern network protocol - Babel (see the ...

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AREDN Production Release 3.25.8.0 Now Available

   

• Some new features only appear in the Babel-only nightly build and are not in this release.
• Halow/802.11ah devices are supported in the Babel-only nightly build and are not in this release.

• Ubiquiti NanoStation AC Loco

• ​​Improve location handling when map cannot be reached....

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Release Candidate Available

Nightly build 20250723 has been designated as the Release Candidate for the next AREDN production release.   If nothing weird happens, the next production release will be around August 6th.

The recent nightly builds have been very stable.  The AREDN team encourages you to wring them out and see if you can break them :-)

Enjoy!

 

Babel bug discovered

It figures...   After several months of testing, a bug in the Babel implementation surfaced - naturally after a product release.  Somewhat randomly and rarely, after a reboot or upgrade, the Babel connection between two nodes will not operate correctly. Symptoms are lack of connectivity with Babel nodes, usually in one direction rather than both. If you're experiencing this, open up the panel on a Local or Neighborhood node. The issue is evidenced by the Babel Metric in the lower right having a value of -1.

Restarting Babel at either end of the connection should resolve it, as it appears to be a boot-up timing issue. Rebooting one of the nodes is the easiest way to do this.  But consider updating to production release 3.25.5.1 which will resolve the issue.

AREDN Nightly Build Update

• a nightly build, and
• a babel nightly build.

 

• Babel-only nodes will not know about OLSR-only nodes. ...

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AREDN Production Release 3.25.5.0

Major Enhancements

Babel Routing

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AREDN Release Candidate Available

Nightly build 20250415 has been designated the release candidate for the next production release.

In it the AREDN® team is introducing Babel as a replacement for the older OLSR routing technology.   It's been seen to improve network stability and throughput.  In this release Babel and OLSR will run side-by-side, with Babel routing used where available, and OLSR used otherwise.  Already 25% of the nodes on the network are running a Babel-enabled nightly build and we've seen and heard anecdotally of significant improvements in network stability.

Additionally this release adds PtP (point to point) and PtMP (point to multipoint) RF modes to complement our existing AdHoc mode.  We’ve see notable throughput and latency improvements when using these modes, especially with 802.11ac devices. This  holds true even when mixing radios from different manufacturers.... Read More

New Experimental Radio Modes and SSID

Following on the heels of the inclusion of the Babel routing protocol to the AREDN software is another significant enhancement: nightly build 20250219 adds PtP (Point to Point) and PtMP (Point to MultiPoint) configurations. These protocols can be found in the Radio section of the AREDN UI:

 

 

Here's a brief explanation of each of them:

 

• Mesh PtMP: This makes a node act like your common access point, where Mesh Station nodes can connect to it, but not to each other, and the Mesh PtMP can only connect to Station nodes.

...

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Introducing a New Network Protocol

The AREDN team is introducing a new networking technology into the nightly builds with the ultimate long term goal of replacing OLSR.

OLSR has many faults which AREDN has lived with for a long time. For the last couple of years we’ve been looking at alternatives and making incremental steps in the codebase to allow us to introduce something new. We can finally do that by adding Babel (https://www.irif.fr/~jch/software/babel/) to AREDN.

Babel has a number of qualities which make it good for AREDN. First, it’s a loop free protocol so, regardless of how the network is changing, routing loops will never form in the network. Second, it’s primarily a reactive protocol which sends changes to neighbors when needed rather than broadcasting its state continually. Third, the protocol understands the...

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AREDN Production Release 3.25.2.0

AREDN Production Release 3.25.2.0 is now available for download.    Here's an overview of the fixes and enhancements in this release.  All of these changes have been thoroughly tested through via the nightly builds and our intrepid band of testers!

Features

• New Mobile UI

• Ability to backup and restore node configurations

• Responsive design for desktop UI on smaller screens

• Improved logged-out experience to provide more information

• Improved WiFi Signal tool which shows SNR at both ends of link

• Added support for ARDC’s 44-Net

• Upgraded to the latest OpenWRT...

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Nightly Build Firewall Behavior Change

This may only affect a few users, but the dev team thought we should put the word out so no one was surprised.

The nightly build that will be released as 20250129 changes a firewall behavior.

As it is now by default, if your node (usually a hap of some sort) didn't have a WAN connection, it would go out over the mesh to find an Internet link.   It was difficult to make sure this wasn’t happening and not very obvious how to prevent it.

The change implemented in tomorrow's build is the addition of a new switch which will determine if LAN devices of your node can reach the Internet over the AREDN network.  And it will be defaulted to off which is a change from current behavior.

73

Orv W6BI

AREDN Project Manager

Nightly Build Update 01 December 2024

• Mobile UI. The AREDN UI is finally mobile friendly. But the developers only have a few phones, so more testing or more different phones would be a great help.
• Backup & Restore. You can now backup...

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AREDN Production Release 3.24.10.0 is now available.

 

The biggest change in this release if you haven't been keeping tabs on AREDN, is the "new UI". The User Interface or UI is how data is presented to a person. The old UI, written in LUA not only looked old, it was hampering the implementation of new features.  Now written in JavaScript, among other things it's more economical on bandwidth used to display the user interface.  It's also much easier to add new features. The new UI has taken 6 months and the work of many, many people. We’d like to thank everyone involved with developing, documenting, and especially debugging this; we really appreciate our community!

Because it's new, navigating around it may initially be a challenge. Steve, AB7PA, keeper of the AREDN docs, has done a stellar job in documenting the new UI. It's highly recommended you at least skim...

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New User Interface in Development

Coming to an AREDN nightly build near you soon - a shiny new UI :-)
This YouTube overview by Tim KN6PLV explains why the AREDN devs decided a new UI was needed for the AREDN software.  Tim goes into the reasons why, then does a deep dive into every corner the new UI.  Folks who have seen it like it a lot.   Check it out!  https://youtu.be/KG_2ploIYzg
Steve AB7PA has provided a preview of the documentation for the new UI here: https://docs.arednmesh.org  This will eventually become available under docs.arednmesh.org after the new UI appears in the Nightly Build. ​

 

New AREDN Production Release Available

AREDN production software version 3.24.6.0 is now available, with many new features and enhancements.   Besides a fix for an RF link issue that snuck past beta testing release 3.24.4.0, this release contains these fixes and enhancements:

Enhancements

• Added MTR support via installable package (mtr-nojson).

• Improved iPerf3 service to provide data line by line rather than at the end.

• Now use the closest supernode rather than first discovered supernode.

• Made LQM+OLSRD improvements where weak connections are detected.

• Now detect "leaf" nodes and prevent them being blocked.

 

...

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New AREDN Ambassador

Please welcome our newest AREDN Ambassador, Bill KM6SLF.
Bill's Bio

Changes at the AREDN Website

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AREDN Release 3.24.4.0 

AREDN production software version 3.24.4.0 is now available, with many new features and enhancements.   The AREDN team would like to thank those individuals who contributed to this release:

Tim KN6PLV; Paul K3PGM; Darryl, K5DLQ; Gerard WT0F; Jacob, KI5VMF; Bailey KK6ORT; Steve AB7PA

Go forth and upgrade - your network will thank you!

Release Candidate April 2024

AREDN nightly build 20240417 has been designated as the release candidate for the next production release.   If you haven't tried a nightly build recently, we encourage you to do so.  There's a ton of enhancement and updates.  They've all been tested, but having more people use them helps any subtle issues that might be remaining be uncovered.  Here's a list of the many changes since the last production release:

Enhancements

• Wireguard tunnels

• Configurable DHCP options

• Antenna information

• Watchdog support

• Remote logging

New Device Support

 

• Mikrotik mANTbox 2 12s

...

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AREDN Release 3.23.12.0

Here are the release notes for AREDN production release 3.23.12.0, derived from nightly build 20231018

Enhancements

Added supernode support.

"Supernodes" are specially configured AREDN nodes in various locations which support a "mesh of meshes". With this release your localnode will automatically detect a nearby supernode, if one exists, and will show a new button on the Mesh Status page, labeled "Cloud Mesh". Clicking on that button will take you to the Mesh Status page of that supernode and show you all the nodes and services on the Cloud Mesh. You can navigate to any of them as though they were on your local mesh.

The URL for the supernode map is https://arednmap.xojs.org/ Clicking on any of the node types in the upper-right-hand corner of the...

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Locations of AREDN SuperNodes

 

Click HERE to view the map and SELECT Supernode from the legend at the the top right of the map

Thanks to KN6PLV for his work on the Supernode code and map!

 

Nightly Build Status 21 Sep 2023

Since the last AREDN  software production release, there have been a number of nightly builds, some of which contain significant enhancements.  As usual, the AREDN devs would appreciate some helping testing the updates.    Here's a list of the most significant ones.

• If you're planning on buying a new Mikrotik device, you'll need to install a recent nightly build on it.  Mikrotik has changed their code's compression algorithm, and the AREDN code has been modified to accommodate it and allow successful software installations.
• The Search function has been streamlined
• An installable cron package has been added for people who need more functionality than the built-in cron support
• If you've downloaded and added extra packages to a node, after updating to the latest nightly build, later builds will remember those packages and download and...

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AREDN Release 3.23.8.0 Available

Enhancements

• Added Prometheus Metrics (meant for use with monitoring apps like Grafana)
• SSH, TELNET and HTTP access to a node via the WAN port can now be disabled from the advanced configuration page.
• Improved handling of unsupported hardware.
• Use wifi assoc list when looking for unresponsive nodes
• Allow MTU on wifi interface to be modified
• Minor wifi monitor improvements...

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Hamvention 2023 Recap

Thank you to all who visited us at Hamvention 2023 in Xenia, Ohio this past weekend. We enjoyed seeing you, listening to your success stories and answering your questions.

Orv W6BI gave a well-attended presentation on Saturday. Some of his past presentations are available on YouTube. Just search for Orv W6BI to find them.

A very special thanks to our local hosts and support team, Chuck NC8Q and Bill WA8APD. They were instrumental in setting up our booth. Chuck also provided access to the Miami Valley AREDN network to demonstrate live streaming video and VoIP telephony. Bill hoisted our AREDN banner high overhead so that it could be seen from most of the building. Thanks to to Kiley KD8DRX who answered a lot of...

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Like this: aredn-20230506-xxxxxx.bin

 

AREDN Release Notes 3.23.4.0

Summary

There have been over 140 nightly releases of the AREDN codebase since the last production release in December 2022. Here are the highlights:

Major Enhancements

• Support for the ‘AC’ class of radio^[2]
• Improved service validation
• Improved WiFi scanning
• Better error feedback for future upgrades
• Hidden and Exposed node handling^[3]
• Enhance AP and WiFi Client channel selection
• Support for easier “nightly build” testing
• Upgraded to OpenWRT 22.03.3; the latest release of OpenWRT with many security and bug fixes.
• Upgraded to Linux kernel 5.10.161

 
IMPORTANT NOTE!
 
Because of changes in the way OpenWRT names devices, this upgrade is not simple to revert without reinstalling your node as if...

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AREDN at SCALE 2023

Thanks to the great AREDN team led by Orv W6BI, we had a significant presence at this year's SCALE event.

Release notes for recent AREDN nightly builds (up to NB 2316)

Important note - 802.11ac equipment will not function completely properly without nightly build 2316 or later
Enhancements
Added Mikrotik QRT5 support
Added Ubiquiti Nanobeam ac gen1 xc support
Established a more consistent way to provide interface mac address in overrides
Provided a timeout on the iperf client
Now gather statistics about RF links
Updated firmware selector on web page
Set up to refresh LQM’s hostnames periodically
Made iperf3 improvements
Now ignore non-routable when calculating hidden nodes
Now handle missing IP and created more general RF/DTD identification
Now automatically enable RTS when hidden nodes detected

Bug fixes
Fixed "coverage" (distance) calculation in 802.11ac driver...

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AREDN at SCALE 20x

For the last few years, AREDN has had a booth on the expo floor at SCALE, the Southern California Linux Expo.  It's happening again at the 20th annual SCALE, March 9th through 12th (https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale/20x), at the Pasadena Convention Center.  The Expo runs from Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon, and the AREDN booth will be manned with knowledgeable AREDN users, including Tim KN6PLV, one of the principal AREDN developers. The booth dudes will be happy to chat about all things AREDN with you!

AREDN is derived from OpenWRT, which is a Linux "distribution". As you get into AREDN networking, it's helpful to know a bit more about Linux.  SCALE will be holding Linux training classes on both Saturday and Sunday.  After installing Linux on your computer of choice, a professional trainer from the Linux...

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Release notes for recent AREDN nightly builds

The AREDN devs continue to crank out changes to the AREDN code base.  Here's a summary of what's been happening in the recent nightly builds:

Devices added back into the nightly build after recent big OpenWrt update:

• Mikrotik LDF 5
• Ubiquiti AirRouter

Bug fixes

• Fixed WAN VLAN detection on hAP
• Fixed idle tunnel quality check
• Fixed IBSS (Independent Basic Service Set) problem on 2.4GHz
• Enabled  negative channels for 2.4 GHz 802.11ac devices
• Fixed negative channels not beaconing.
• Fixed PowerBridge M upgrade

Enhancements

• Merged openwrt release 22.03.3
• Added a maximum timeout for service checks
• Made the default country HX (HAM)
• Improved the...

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Release notes for AREDN nightly build 2017 and later

 

Nightly build 2017 is based on the latest OpenWRT release, version 22.03.2. (The current AREDN production release is based on OpenWRT 19.07 from January 2020). 

There are significant changes in this nightly build:

• All devices have been moved to the ath79 device tree (no more ar71xx).

• The ipq40xx device tree has been added.

• Each device now has its own image file.

• Some filenames have been changed.

 

As a result devices need to be tested carefully, at least initially.

 

The most current status on nightly builds can be found in the README file here:

...

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AREDN 3.22.12.0 Release

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AREDN production release 3.22.8.0  is now available
 

The AREDN development team has shifted into high gear with this third release of 2022!  This production release adds the many fixes and enhancements made since 3.22.6.0

Fixes

• Dealt with LAN on AR300M always having the same MAC address.
• Fixed default DHCP limits in NAT mode if fields are blank.
• Fixed a "do not propagate" issue when reserving DHCP names.
• Fixed tactical names.
• Fully validate node and tactical names; give better messages when invalid.
• Prevent < and > from being used in service names.
• Correct map update claiming success when it actually fails.
• Added device definition for Ubiquiti PBE M5 300-ISO.
• Some Ubiquiti Powerbeams: keep 100MB as the only port speed, but let the port auto-negotiate with the...

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AREDN production release 3.22.6.0  is now available

AREDN production release 3.22.6.0 is now available.  This is the release you've been looking for :-)

Since the last production release, there have been 136 separate ‘pull requests’ in the AREDN github repository.   Those requests pulled these significant improvements and new features into the AREDN software:
1. The conversion from Perl programming to Lua is complete - the result is a significantly smaller, somewhat faster, code base.

2. Due to the recovered space in the image, tunnels are now always installed, so nothing needs to be done with them during future upgrades.

3. After this upgrade, future upgrades should be much more reliable, especially on low memory devices.

4. Tunnels will be prevented from accidentally connecting over the mesh.

...

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Link Quality Manager (LQM)

 

Thanks to recent developments by Tim KN6PLV, we are introducing a new tool to help manage AREDN networks.

Nightly Build 1265 contains a number of improvements broadly called Link Quality Management. It’s designed to make the AREDN network more stable and improve the available bandwidth. Tests with these changes have shown improvements from modest to close to 200% in link throughput, tested end to end with iperf3.

Documentation is here

Nightly Build Reminder

The AREDN team greatly appreciates all of the testing of the nightly builds as they roll out and introduce the new code base and features. We are paying close attention to your reports of successes and problems found.

Just as a reminder:
IMPORTANT NOTE:  While AREDN encourages you to download, install and test the nightly builds and report any issues found,  DO NOT install them in any node that doesn’t have easy access (e.g., towers, water tanks or mountain tops).  By definition nightly builds are not to be considered production grade software.

 

AREDN Development Plan 2022

Following their recent code production release, AREDN has embarked on an ambitious development plan.  Here’s a basic overview of what is on their plate

Replace Perl code with Lua

The programming language for the user interface, services and many other functions is written in Perl.   The Perl libraries are very large and AREDN has embarked upon a project to replace it with Lua, a much lighter weight programming language designed to run in embedded devices.  

In steps, the team will update the “read-only” page to Lua: 

Main, Mesh Status, etc.

Then the read-write pages will be updated: 

• Basic Setup     

• Port Forwarding DHCP and Services     

...

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AREDN® Release Notes v3.22.1.0 16 January 2022

 

 

 

​

1. The AREDN  simplified firmware filename standard has been changed to the default OpenWRT convention to leverage data files created at build time for future automation of firmware selection.
   
   When installing this firmware release, from prior firmware versions, you may get an error message similar to
   
   “This filename is NOT appropriate for this device.“
   “This device expects a file such as: aredn-3.22.1.0-...

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Happy Mesh Year!   Yet another network test!

"PARDEN" the interruption!  October's Meshoween network test was so successful that, we've decided to celebrate with another one at the end of the year.  We'll celebrate New Nodes Eve and then Happy Mesh Year!

Seriously, this is an opportunity to stress the network again after the router storm mitigation patch has time to promulgate throughout the network.  Meshoween also revealed an issue with the performance of the Mesh Status page when the node count got high.  Both these patches were published in nightly builds in early November.  If your node's running a nightly build later than that, you should be good to go.   

The WWL - "World Wide Linkup" will start at 000Z on 1/1/2022  (afternoon of the 31st for the U.S.) and last at least 4 hours.  If you've brought up a tunnel that you don't normally use, feel free to drop it...

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Meshchat Usage Poll

We are considering how the future version of AREDN mesh network software might affect the use of the Meshchat application.

Please help us by responding to the Meshchat poll here.

Report on Meshoween 2021 network test

Note - this report is written from a Southern California perspective. Depending on your location, as they say YMMV!

During the test the node count on the linked networks locally rose to around 1,090.  N2MH's N2MH-Hub saw 1428, most likely a record for an AREDN network.

Observations:

As we hoped, network storms never appeared from our West Coast point of view, and none have been reported to date.  Network traffic was not substantially higher than normal. Using KN6PLV's Mesh Monitor, messages per second were averaging about 600 before the test.  During the test it hovered closer to 700. Most of the increase in traffic was due to OLSR routing broadcasts, which each node has to handle.

As we expected, older devices struggled. Many wound up with a load significantly greater than 1 (which is a full...

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Meshoween test results

We've wrapped up the Meshoween network abuse test  :-). 
If you participated and have any specific observations, please pass them along to me (orv.beach@gmail.com) and they'll be rolled them into the report on the test. 

tl;dr - it went pretty well - a few surprises.

Network Test Saturday, October 30th

As an AREDN network grows in size and/or complexity, it will eventually encounter a packet storm that would pretty much cripple its traffic-carrying capabilities until the storm fades out, which could be hours.  (The writers of the OLSR mobile routing protocol probably never envisioned it having to handle networks of the size amateurs are creating.)  This is significantly limiting the growth and performance of our networks.

Recently released nightly build 571 provides a substantial amount of resistance to these storms.  As a test of the network's robustness (or not) Saturday October 30th at 9 a.m. local we'll attempt to link as many AREDN networks together as possible.  

We did a 'test test' earlier in the week on the West Coast when the Southern California and Bay area networks were linked.  Node counts got up to a bit over 800 and few reports...

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Meshoween is in a week!

Folks, next Saturday is Meshoween, where nasty packet storms strike terror into the most experienced ham network user :-)

Seriously, we'll be linking up big and small networks to see how our ham radio networks handle huge routing table broadcasts.

If you haven't yet updated your node(s) to nightly build 571 (or later), please seriously consider doing so.  It will  help your node fight off any scary packet storms!

Monitoring instructions will be promulgated a day or two prior to Meshoween.

It's Linktober!  "Meshoween" is coming :-)

We've found that as networks grow both in node count and complexity, it's almost inevitable that they'll suffer from a packet storm (or storms) eventually.

Now that the patch for mitigating those network packet storms has been rolled into an AREDN nightly build, we've decided that it's time to stress-test our network.  On October 30th (starting at say, 9 a.m. local time) we'll attempt to link as many networks together to see how the network behaves.  If you have a long-haul tunnel that you can bring up, feel free to do so.

HOWEVER, if you decide to participate in the test, or think you might be on a network that gets linked in, it's highly recommended that you update your node(s) to nightly build 571 or later to "inoculate" them against a possible incoming network storm.

Before...

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AREDN Conference 

The AREDN team decided to revisit the idea of an AREDN Conference in the Spring of 2022. There are currently a lot of tasks in progress with few of them far along enough to be interesting topics for a presentation.
Continue to watch the AREDNmesh.org website for updates.

 

AREDN® Release v3.21.4.0 is Available

• Fix spike to zero in SNR Chart #90 (ab7pa)
• Execute Button Description #86 (ab7pa)
• Add Rocket XM ar71xx image to support older models with USB port #83 (ae6xe)
• Fix tunnel server clients accidentally limited to 9 #82 (pmilazzo)
• Add “none” type advanced config options to simplify the UI #81 (dman776)
• Update banner #80 (dman776)
• update login banner #79 (dman776)
• Add mesh gateway setting to sysinfo.json #77 (dman776)
• Add advanced config option to purge AREDN Alert msgs #76 (dman776)
• Update alert banner background color #72 (ab7pa)
• ...

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YAAC - "Yet Another AREDN Conference"

Last fall's on-line AREDN Conference went so well that the AREDN team will hold another one this fall.  We're soliciting your ideas for interesting topics for the conference.

Your suggestions requested!  Send to Orv W6BI (orv.beach@gmail.com)

AREDN 2020 Conference Recap

The AREDN team thanks all who attended our 2020 conference to make it a big success.
We also thank Orv W6BI, our AREDN Ambassador, for managaing the event and recording the presentations.
We have started a YouTube channel where we we will post the presentations, Please subscribe.
AREDN YouTube channel link

AREDN® Overview on YouTube

Steve AB7PA just released a YouTube video that he produced to explain the basics of establishing an AREDN mesh network. In just over 17 minutes, Steve answers all the questions you might have if you are new to mesh networking. Take a look at Steve's video here.

 

AREDN® Release Notes v3.20.3.1 – Preliminary 9 July 2020

The AREDN® team is pleased to announce the general availability of the latest stable release of AREDN firmware. We now fully support 70+ devices from four manufacturers. This diversity of supported equipment enables hams to choose the right gear for a given situation and budget.

Here is a summary of the significant changes since 3.20.3.0 was release:

• Migrate all remaining TP-Link models to ath79 target
• Fix CPE510 v3 image not installing
• Fix Ethernet port to fully conform with AREDN expected usage on NanoStation M5 XW
• Added ability to change and revert firmware and package download paths
• Added target type info (ar71xx/ath79) to admin page
• Fix issue with the map on the setup page PR #501
• Added "aredn alerts" feature in header
• Fix firewall blocking traffic...

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AREDN® 2020 Conference

Our energetic AREDN® Ambassador Orv Beach W6BI is organizing our first conference. The planned date is Saturday, October 24, 2020 beginning at 08:00 PDT (1500 UTC). The event will take place on a video conference facility.
Watch for further details here and on our Facebook group.

The Call for Papers will go out and registration will start in early July.  It will be held via Zoom webinar with 500 attendee slots available.

Thanks Orv for getting this event rolling!

AREDN Release Notes v3.20.3.0 – 27 March 2020

The AREDN team is pleased to announce the general availability of the latest stable release of AREDN firmware. We now fully support 70+ devices from four manufacturers. This diversity of supported equipment enables hams to choose the right gear for a given situation and budget.

AREDN firmware is now based on the most recent stable version of OpenWRT19.07.2 which was released in March 2020. This improvement is significant in that it enables AREDN firmware to benefit from the many bug fixes, security improvements and feature enhancements provided by OpenWRT developers from around the world.

The latest AREDN firmware contains features inherited from the newest OpenWRT upstream release (19.07.2). One important change is the inclusion of a new target (architecture) for the firmware, labelled “ath79”, which is the successor to the...

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Ham Radio Now on FCC Reallocation of 3/5 GHz

David Goldenberg W0DHG interviews Andre Hansen K6AH, David Erickson KB5UGF and Jim Aspinwall NO1PC to discuss the spectrum defense and proposed changes to the 3GHz and 5GHz bands. These changes will affect current AREDN networks across the nation.
Please remember before you respond to the FCC, make sure you write professionally and to the point. And please reach out to your served agencies and representatives.

Ham Radio Now episode 415
Call to Action
AREDN Comment Template
AREDN High-Speed Data...

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ARRL Call to Action in Defense of Part 97 Allocations in the 3 and 5 GHz Bands

The FCC WT Docket 19-348 and WT Docket 19-138 will severely curtail growth of one of the newest and most effective means for Amateurs to support emergency communications.  Existing installations will be severely curtailed or, with no reasonable alternatives, be forced to cease operations.  Thousands of hams have built or are in the process of constructing high-speed data networks in the 3 & 5 GHz ham microwave allocations.

Background

AREDN (Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network) was an outgrowth of the ARRL working group on High-Speed Multimedia (HSMM).  It has evolved over the past 10-12 years from its first implementation by Broadband Hamnet (BBHN).  Over the years the AREDN Project has developed software support for nearly 70 commercial wireless routers---moving them from their Part 15 allocation into adjacent Part...

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AREDN Receives Grant from Yasme Foundation

The AREDN Project was recently honored by the Yasme Foundation with the award of a $7000 grant for the purchase of a 20 GHz spectrum analyzer.  The analyzer will be used to understand the characteristics of 802.11 protocols in the unique, long-distance mesh, configurations of AREDN implementations.  It will also afford us the ability to measure, and perhaps, improve the quality of transmissions emanating from AREDN-supported devices.

The AREDN Project team is grateful to the Yasme Foundation for taking the time to consider its need for a spectrum analyzer.  Andre Hansen, K6AH, in speaking for the entire team said, “To be awarded this grant is particularly gratifying for us because it acknowledges the value the AREDN Project affords Amateur Radio.”

The Yasme Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation organized to support scientific and...

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AREDN® Ambassadors

The AREDN® team is pleased to announce the start of a new program to recognize people who are actively contributing to spreading the word about how hams can use our 21^st century mesh networking technology to provide high-speed data communications when disasters strike.

We call these special people “AREDN® Ambassadors”.

These are key members of our community who:

• Perform a significant amount of testing to help us verify new features and bug fixes and uncover new flaws.
• Improve feature sets
• Identify new equipment which extends our supported platforms
• Donate their time and effort to building and operating mesh networks
• Promote the AREDN® Project through presentations to clubs and hamfests
• Engage local government, hospitals and other served agencies in discussions about how hams can provide 21^st...

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AREDN at Hamvention 2019

It is finally here! We are looking forward to seeing you at Hamvention in Xenia, Ohio this Friday through Sunday, May 17-19.

We are in booth #1001. We will have a lot of equipment on display, including some of the newest gear from Mikrotik and our  fourth supported manufacturer GL-iNet.

In addition to the new hardware, we have made a lot of improvements in the firmware. We want to hear your comments and questions on the recent changes. As always, your ideas help us set the direction for future enhancements.

We will hold some short classes on a variety of topics to help get you started or to extend your capabilities.

Stop by our booth and say hello.

Hamvention® 2019 Theme Promotes Mentoring the Next Generation

Hamvention, the largest annual Amateur Radio gathering in the U.S. and the ARRL National Convention will share a joint theme, “Mentoring the Next Generation” of Amateur Radio operators.

Hamvention will host the 2019 ARRL National Convention in Xenia, Ohio, May 17-19, 2019. The joint announcement was made Nov.1 by Jack Gerbs, WB8SCT, Hamvention General Chairman; Rick Allnutt, WS8G, Assistant General Chairman and Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, ARRL Marketing Manager. The location is the Greene County Fairgrounds on May 17 – 19 in Xenia, Ohio.

The AREDN® team and the Miami Valley Mesh Alliance  will again be in booth #1001. The team is working ardently to mentor hams about the 21^st century applications of mesh networking. We will have a lot of new devices, new firmware enhancements and new ideas...

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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...

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AREDN Release Notes v3.18.9.0 – 26 September 2018

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

This release includes many significant improvements in the underlying OpenWRT code during the last 4 years, from July 2014 to August 2018. It also introduces a major upgrade in OLSR from version 0.6.7 to version 0.9.6.2.

Details of the OpenWRT changes are found at the following links:
OpenWRT 18.6.0 – First Stable Release – July 2018
OpenWRT 18.06.1 Service Release
OpenWRT Version History
 

List of Changes

1. AREDN firmware is now based on the most...

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​ARRL Awards 2018 Microwave Development Award to AREDN Team

​The ARRL announced that The Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN) project team was named as recipient of the 2018 ARRL Microwave Development Award for its initiatives to utilize Amateur Radio’s microwave bands. These included extending the network’s high-speed multimedia capabilities from solely 2.4 GHz to 900 MHz, 3 GHz, and 5.8 GHz, and adding 802.11n protocol to improve data throughput. The Board also acknowledged the efforts of the many AREDN implementation groups around the country who are building networks based on this technology and who stand ready to utilize them to serve the needs of their communities in times of disaster. 

​AREDN Project Announces Strategic Changes

AREDN forms a non-profit corporation to ensure continuity

The project saw the need for more formal governance and as a result, took the strategic step of organizing as a non-profit corporation.  This will help protect the user-community investments in mesh networking by setting up the framework for long-term resource management, research, and development. 

Our mission is still focused on providing the Amateur Radio Community with software, education, and support to enable them to aid public safety, emergency response and disaster relief agencies with high-speed multimedia data networks.

Continuing to rely on the financial support of a few individuals is not a sustainable means of supporting the project. Without more widespread support, the community’s growing investment in network equipment and...

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AREDN code repositories on GitHub

The AREDN source code repositories are now accessible on GitHub at https://GitHub.com/aredn/aredn_ar71xx .   GitHub is one of the largest open source hosting services with over 40 million users.   Anyone with basic knowledge of Linux and git can now compile AREDN images and contribute changes.   If you have a background in application or firmware development, the hurdle to get started and contribute to the ham community is now much lower.

GitHub also includes an issue tracking feature to capture feature requests, bug reports, and other issues.  This immediately replaces our former defect tracking tool (Bloodhound).
 

​AREDN GitHub Activity

The GitHub setup is intended to jump AREDN forward to stay current, and benefiting from, the 1000+ developers of Linux and...

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​AREDN Donates Mesh Networking Equipment to ARRL

 

High-Speed Multimedia Mesh (HSMM) technology has evolved rapidly in recent years due to the development efforts of the Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN) open source project. This has changed the complexion of mesh implementations from an experimental, hobby-oriented, novelty into a viable alternative network suitable for supporting high-speed emergency communications and Internet connectivity when “all else fails.”

The AREDN project team recently donated the following equipment to the ARRL Laboratory:

• Two Ubiquiti Nanostation M3’s for 3.4 GHz
• Two Ubiquiti Nanostation Loco M5’s for 5.8 GHz
• One PowerBeam PBE-M5-300-ISO for 5.8 GHz
• One AirRouter HP (combination 2.4 GHz and Ethernet switch)

The AREDN (pronounced “r-den”) project is working with ARRL, the national...

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​Hamvention® 2018 Theme Promotes Community Service

As reported by the ARRL, the theme for Hamvention® 2018 is “Amateur Radio...Serving the Community.” Ron Cramer, KD8ENJ, Hamvention General Chairman, said the theme acknowledges the role that ham radio operators play in their communities, especially in times of emergencies.
 
“During recent disasters, hurricanes in Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico and wildfires in the West, Amateur Radio operators were once again called upon to provide emergency communication assistance when regular services failed or were overtaxed,” Cramer said.
 
He said that in keeping with the theme, Hamvention is planning to have forums on emergency communication and displays of Amateur Radio emergency communication vehicles. Disasters are not the only times that Amateur Radio operators contribute to their communities. 

For more information see the...

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​AREDN Group in South Africa Responds to Fire Disaster

A group of amateur radio operators in South Africa known as the the Mossel Bay Mesh Network responded to a call for emergency communications assistance in the recent fire disaster in the Western Cape area. 

After the fires began on 7 June, a call went out for amateur radio assistance on 8 June when cell phone, landline and Internet services were lost.Hams responding to the call include: ZS2I, ZS1Q, ZS1ZS, ZS1HB, ZR1AOC and ZS1I. These radio amateurs worked around the clock to assist their local communities. Johan Terblanche, ZS1I, an administrator of the AREDN Mossel Bay Mesh Network reports that disaster communication links remained active until normal telecommunication service was restored on June 11, while the local hams remain on high alert.

It has been reported that the widespread fire caused a number of fatalities, destroyed over...

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QST Magazine Article - AREDN A High-Speed Data Network

Andre Hansen, K6AH wrote an article, published in the June 2017 edition of QST, offering a thorough discussion of a high-speed multimedia network for public service applications..

​We present the full article here, which was reprinted with permission from the June 2017 issue of QST, a publication of the ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio^®

Announcing the Availability of Release Candidate #1 of Our Upcoming v3.17.1.0

AREDN encourages users to load (http://www.arednmesh.org/content/software click Release Candidates) and test version 3.17.1.0RC1 and report any issues to the Forum.
 

​Release Notes 3.17.1.RC1

These notes accompany our 3.17.1.0 Release Candidate-1 and describe changes since our last major production release, v3.16.1.0.
 

New Device Support

Added support for additional Ubiquiti devices which are now flagged as “In testing”:

• AirGrid M5 (XW)
• NanoBeam M5-16 (XW)
• NanoBeam M5-19 (XW)
• NanoStation Loco M5 (XW)
• NanoStation M5 (XW) (in 3.16.1.0)
• Rocket M5 (XW)
• Rocket M5 (with GPS)
• ...

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CQ Magazine Article - Mesh Networking and AREDN

Don Rotolo, N2IRZ wrote an article, published in the January 2017 edition of CQ Magazine, updating readers on the world of mesh networking.

​We present the full article here, which was reprinted with permission from the January 2017 issue of CQ magazine, copyright CQ Communications, Inc.
 

 

Development Code Branch Now Available

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HTML Map Contest

Hi AREDN Meshers!

The AREDN Team is looking for a few good men (and ladies)!  The new mapping feature that is in 3.16.1.0 needs your help.
As some of you have seen, we have a good, workable KML map file.  We would like to hold a contest to use that KML to create the best HTML based map that we can host on the www.arednmesh.org website.

CHALLENGE:
To create an HTML embedded map that utilizes the AREDN kml files that can be hosted on www.arednmesh.org.

SKILLS REQUIRED:
Front-end web development: Javascript, CSS, etc.

AREDN PROVIDED SERVICES/FILES:

• Full map with all bands:   http://data.arednmesh.org/map.kml
• 900Mhz band map: ...

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New Paper on AREDN Published by TAPR

The Proceedings of the 2015 Digital Communications Conference include a paper, The AREDN Project by Andre Hansen, K6AH, which introduces AREDN, describes implementation techniques and concludes with a roadmap for the future.

Abstract

Mesh technology has been around for ten years or more. Over the past two years a team of developers has advanced the art by porting Broadband‐Hamnet’s extremely popular mesh firmware to the Ubiquiti airMAX line of commercial Wireless ISP routers and expanded its utility across a wide range of microwave bands. This has literally changed the complexion of mesh technology from an experimental, hobby‐oriented, novelty into a viable alternative network suitable for restoring some degree of Inter/intra‐net connectivity “when all else fails.”

In the midst of...

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AREDN at SCALE 2023

Thanks to the great AREDN team led by Orv W6BI, we had a significant presence at this year's SCALE event.

​ARRL Awards 2018...

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AREDN™ - The Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network

Mesh technology has evolved over the years.  Most notably, Broadband-Hamnet™ (BBHN) has made substantial progress over the past 2 years in expanding their unique approach to environmentally robust, commercially available, Ubiquiti, hardware.  This has changed the complexion of mesh implementations from an experimental, hobby-oriented, novelty into a viable alternative network suitable for restoring some level of Inter/intra-net connectivity when “all else fails.”

Recently, the developers of BBHN software have kicked-off a new project focused on taking this technology to the next level.  Comprised of the project manager, developers, and several of the testers who brought BBHN to Ubiquiti hardware, this team is geared to pick up where BBHN left-off.

The AREDN Project mission is to provide the Amateur Radio Community with a quality solution for...

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