The Blog of Ian Mercer.

Open-Mesh routers provide an outdoor link

To get wifi access in our barn I wanted an affordable outdoor wifi link.  During my research I came across http://open-mesh.com and purchased a couple of their wireless access points.  Not only are they very affordable ($49) but they have great functionality.  Setup was easy using their web-based management console.  It even includes a map view which shows the location of each node and its current status and the status of all links.  My current 'mesh' network isn't much of a mesh since it only has two nodes so I'm not likely to need the map view to track them down.  Open-mesh will release a transparent bridge option soon and then I'll be able to stream video from barn to house and out to the internet, until then their excellent security means I'm unable to stream video out to the internet.  Apart from that one missing feature it does everything I want and a whole lot more.  One nice feature is the ability to have two SSIDs - an open one that anyone can use and a private, secure one.  You can even set up billing and charge your visitors or neighbors to use your open wifi connection.

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