Home

Community

Wireless Community Weekend NRW Edition vom 17. - 19. August 2012

Thu, 14/06/2012 - 12:51 — Mario Behling

Der Freifunk Rheinland e.V. veranstaltet vom 17. - 19. August 2012 ein Wireless Community Weekend rund um das Thema Freifunk. Es findet in Düsseldorf statt und bietet Sessions mit Vorträgen, Workshops und Grillen.

Zeitplan

Freitag

Samstag

  • 10h Beginn
  • 1. Session 10-12:30h
  • 1 Std. Pause
  • 2 Session 13:00 - 15:30h
  • 1 Std. Pause und Fahrt zum Rhein
  • 16.30 Uhr Treffen auf der Rheinwiese
  • Feldtest, später Grillen

Veranstaltungsorte

Chaos Computer Club Düsseldorf / Chaosdorf e.V.
Hüttenstr. 25 40215
Düsseldorf
OpenStreetMap

  • Rheinwiesen, tba.

Unterkunft

Wir organisieren Gästebetten und Unterkünfte in naheliegenden Hostels. Bitte hier eintragen.

Call for paper

Wer einen Vortrag halten möchte meldet sich bitte per Mail an kontakt at freifunk - rheinland punkt net

Links

Techtorium mit Freifunk Radevormwald im Radio

Sat, 05/05/2012 - 10:56 — Mario Behling

Techtorium war neulich beim Lokalsender Radio Berg und die Gruppe hat ueber ihr Freifunkprojekt berichtet.

Radevormwald wird zum Hotspot. Die Gruppe Techtorium macht es möglich. Demnächst soll in der ganzen City kostenloses Internet zur Verfügung stehen. Techtorium ist eine Gruppe Jugendlicher Computerfreaks, die im Auftrag der Stadt an dem Freifunk arbeiten. Das kostenlose WLAN war ein Thema am Donnerstagmorgen bei Radio Berg-Moderatorin Brigitte Mackscheidt. [http://radioberg.de/berg/rb/738648/programm/am_morgen]

Link: http://www.techtorium.de/2012/05/radio-berg-bericht-uber-freifunk/

Audio: 
  • 2570 reads

Node Database and Map Server Yaffmap: Yet Another Freifunk Map

Sat, 28/04/2012 - 15:23 — Mario Behling
yaffmap is a project from Dennis Bartsch from Freifunk Berlin, which he started with a friend. It is called yaffmap. It got its name because at the beginning of the project we had many mapservers in Berlin and so it started as yet another approach for a Freifunk map. 
 
yaffmap - screenshot
 
The intention was to make a server that not just produces points and lines (nodes and their links) but to gather all information that might help to understand why a link is as bad as it is. This includes to gather wireless scan results, the effective rate chosen/calculated by the wireless driver to a specific neighbour and so on. Furthermore it had to be independent from the routing-protocol and its daemons (but needs it to gather useful info) and the IP version (or even no IP version for RPs like batman) and had to be able to upload and store data from multiple routing protocols on the same node. In order to sample so much information we went the route of scripting an agent for the map-server which runs on the nodes gathering the information and uploading it through a JSON interface to the server. For link-state-protocols like OLSR we even implemented the upload of the global topology to the server, which gave us some headache. From the beginning on the need for decentralized operation was stressed, so replication between the servers was implemented and any community which wants can have their own map data server. Moreover they cleary wanted the datacollection/storage to be independent from the frontend the map user is presented. In Berlin everytime a new map came along and an old one was gone we saw huge ammounts of data simply disappear. So the server only provides a SOAP interface for UIs and other services to use to get map data. The representation of a node in the database ist best seen on a graphic. Dennis uploaded it to imageshack, see [1]. A little bit of documentation is found under [2], but wasn't thoroughly updated after we left concept stage.
 
We got to the point where the agent (bunch of shell/AWK) for the nodes runs on openWRT (best with madwifi and ath9k/ath5k) with olsrd (other routing daemons simply need scripts for data gathering, agent is held modular), uploades many useful information to the server (or another if the first does not respond; multiple can be configured) using JSON, where it gets stored correctly into a SQL database and replicated to other servers and provided through a SOAP interface. The agent even is already provided as a package in the respected PBerg Freifunk Firmware. There also exists a 'proof-of-concept' implementation for a map frontend, see [3]. The code is hosted on github as seen und [4]. Because of the frontend development got stuck the frontend SOAP interface is not very sophisticated nor much tested as is the frontend itself.
 
The result is a database which can answer more complex question to the mesh engineer or software developer. Maybe you want to know the average effective rate on all 11n interfaces or all 5GHz interfaces? Or you might be interested in the average ETX on different channels in a certain geographic area. Or you want to compare how different routing daemons evaluate the quality of a certain link. Maybe you even want to draw a noise map. Or wouldn't it be interesting to see the correlation between the effective rate of a wifi link and the metrics which result in the routing daemons? Because the node data includes a 'misc' field through which any kind of node id or statistics could be stored/sent this is can even be integrated into existing community portals.
 
 

International Community Map Project and Node Database

Fri, 27/04/2012 - 09:18 — Mario Behling
One of the things every community would like to see are maps of their network. There are many initiatives and map projects around, but how much more progress could we make, if we work together? This is why a group of free networks contributors started a group to work together on a common project. We started a mailing list to coordinate efforts and welcome everyone who would like to collaborate: https://lists.funkfeuer.at/mailman/listinfo/interop-dev
 
The current goal is to define a basis for a common map. We are looking at different map solutions and try to find out how we can merge the best of each into one. The best approach seems to be a modular system. In the following three great projects of different communities.
 
Nodeshot comes from the community in Italy and is widely being used there (map.ninux.org). The main developer is Federico Capoano. The goal of the Django application is to have "a nice snapshot of your wireless community network". Nodeshot is a web tool for wireless community network. It allows members to add their node and to share and manage information about their configurations like devices, ip addresses, wireless parameters etc. In this way, newcomers can easily contact/connect with them. Internal scripts will update the topology and retrieve nodes information via snmp, or parsing routing information given by olsr, batman or whatever. It is super-fast, nice and easy to use. It rises from the ashes of WNMap (sourceforge.net/projects/wnmap/), powered by django, released under GPLv3 and tested inside the Ninux wireless community network (wiki.ninux.org). How to install: A basic guide on how to setup nodeshot for your community is available here: wiki.ninux.org/InstallNodeshot
 
Nodewatcher, another Django based application was started in Slowenia by Mitar. Its main goal is the development of an open source network planning, deployment, monitoring and maintanance platform. The project is divided into multiple components:
* node telemetry provider: A simple shell script that is accessible via HTTP interface and is used for node status data acquisition that is performed by the data collection system. Its role is similar to the one of SNMP, however it uses less resources (CPU-wise and, mostly, when it comes to memory and flash space). Our firmware has this preinstalled, others can follow these instructions to install it.
* data collection system: A daemon written in Python that periodically collects data regarding the OLSR topology, active HNAs, node telemetry and performs active reachability tests for visible nodes. Using rrdtool it can then generate graphs that are used by the web interface.
* web interface: A web-based application, written in Python and using the Django framework. It is used by the users to monitor the status of the network and individual nodes and by the node owners to manage their nodes.
* firmware image generator: A daemon that handles per-node configuration and firmware image generation via the OpenWrt buildroot using our custom firmware. It receives requests from the web interface. Live version We use nodewatcher in wlan slovenija network (this is why we are developing it), so you can see a live version of nodewatcher for real deployed network here
 
yaffmap is a project from Dennis Bartsch from Freifunk Berlin. He is working on an implementation of a node database he started with a friend. It is called yaffmap. It got its name because at the beginning of the project we had many mapservers in Berlin and so it started as yet another approach for a Freifunk map. The intention was to make a server that not just produces points and lines (nodes and their links) but to gather all information that might help to understand why a link is as bad as it is. This includes to gather wireless scan results, the effective rate chosen/calculated by the wireless driver to a specific neighbour and so on. Furthermore it had to be independent from the routing-protocol and its daemons (but needs it to gather useful info) and the IP version (or even no IP version for RPs like batman) and had to be able to upload and store data from multiple routing protocols on the same node. In order to sample so much information we went the route of scripting an agent for the map-server which runs on the nodes gathering the information and uploading it through a JSON interface to the server. For link-state-protocols like OLSR we even implemented the upload of the global topology to the server, which gave us some headache. From the beginning on I stressed the need for decentralized operation, so replication between the servers was implemented and any community which wants can have their own map data server. 
 

Freifunk Google Summer of Code: Guifi.net and QMP

Thu, 26/04/2012 - 17:25 — Mario Behling

Hakais has put up some info about student projects that were accepted as Freifunk Google Summer of Code projects and which are taken care by Guifi.net. Two students involved in Guifi.net have been accepted for the Gsoc 2012.

Google Summer of Code is a global program that offers students stipends to write code for open source projects. We have worked with the open source community to identify and fund exciting projects for the upcoming summer. One of these projects is named Guifi.net integration for QMP system, which has been applied by Joel Espunya and mentored by Pau Escrich. The main objective of it is to provide an easy way to use the QMP Mesh firmware inside the Guifi.net community network. (http://guifi.net/en/node/47699)

More info on the projects:

State of the art

The main purpose of QMP (Quick Mesh Project) is to provide an open and free software solution for the quick deployment of a WiFi network based on Mesh/MANET technology. It is focused to be useful mainly in the wireless community network. It is based on OpenWRT Linux and it is completely OpenSource.

The QMP project was drafted by Guifi.net (http://guifi.net/en) active members during year 2010. It was started on the beginnings of 2011 thanks to the funding of a local fundation named puntCat (http://www.fundacio.cat/en_index.html). This funding was ended on december 2011. However the project development still alive by a volunteers team.

  • Mesh Network

Strictly speaking, a Mesh network is one where all nodes (participants) are routers, meaning that all the nodes accept and forward packets from other nodes according to the routing rules. Thanks to this property the physical topology of the network is only restricted by the need of all nodes to be connected through at least one link.

  • Community Network

A community network is a network made and maintained by the same participants. Unlike the model used by the global telecommunication companies (which are business-focused), each user is owner of his stretch following the philosophy make-it-yourself. Using some agreements and organizations (e.g web site) they are able to connect with neighbours, neighbours of the neighbours and so on.

Project description

  • Summary

The objective of the project is to provide a software solution to easy integrate the Guifi.net characteristics into the QMP system.

  • Why this is needed

Currently QMP is a working system, that can be used to easy deploy a Mesh Network but there are several missing features. One of them is the integration with the Guifi.net community. It can also be used as a template for the integration of other Network Communities like Freifunk, Funkfeuer, AWMN, etc.

Freifunk in Bielefeld

Thu, 26/04/2012 - 09:38 — mwarning
Seit Anfang 2011 gibt es auch in Bielefeld eine kleine Freifunk-Community. Nach einem initialen Vortrag auf der Netzwoche Bielefeld im Mai 2011 wurde mit der Entwicklung einer eigenen Firmware begonnen. Die bestehende Freifunk Software auf Basis von OLSR erschien uns als nicht mehr zeitgemäß. Deshalb versuchen wir unser Glück mit einer Konfiguration auf Basis von B.A.T.M.A.N Advanced.
 
Die erklärten Ziele unserer Konfiguration sind es eine komplett dezentrale und unkomplizierte Netzwerkkonfiguration bereitzustellen. Viele andere FF Firmwares verwenden eine statische IP Vergabe für die Nodes (Wiki-Listen lassen Grüßen) oder
verwenden spezielle Nodes um IPs zu vergeben (z.B. Gateways). 
 
Für weitere Informationen besucht unsere Seite, besucht unseren Jabberchannel oder sendet uns eine Email.

Viele Grüße und bis bald,
Freifunk Bielefeld.

Hier noch ein Foto von unserem gut befestigtem Wunsch-Standort aus. :-)
Sparrenburg Bielefeld

Freifunk at the Linuxtag

Wed, 25/04/2012 - 02:03 — Mario Behling

Just after the Wireless Community Weekend 2012 at the c-base, the next event is approaching. Starting Wednesday May 23 till Saturday May 26, 2012 the freifunk community participates in the Linuxtag Berlin. There is space for community members available and the opportunity to present own projects. Depending on the level of participation of the community we can showcast freifunk projects on a shared booth or get our own booth. Please add your name to the list of potential participants in the wiki and add how long and how you would like to contribute to this event.

When

  • Date: 23 – 26 May 2012
  • Opening hours for visitors: Wednesday – Friday 09:30 - 18:00, Saturday until 09:30 - 17:00
  • Conferences: daily 10:00 – 18:00

Where

  • Messe Berlin
  • Berlin Fairgrounds Hall 7 (Messedamm 22, 14055 Berlin, Germany)
  • Venue: Hall 7 (Station S-Messe Süd)

Locations

  • Shared Booth

Links

http://wiki.freifunk.net/Linuxtag_2012

Freifunk Wireless Community Weekend 2012

Thu, 19/04/2012 - 03:38 — Mario Behling

Starting Friday May 18 till Sunday May 20, 2012 freifunk.net, c-base and the German community invite you to the "Freifunk Wireless Community Weekend" at the c-base space station in Berlin.

when

  • 18.-20 May 2012 at c-base berlin

where

topics

  • B B Q
  • Störerhaftung myass --> reto
    • Die aktuelle Rechtslage
    • Unsere Forderungen
    • Das freifunkVPN
  • Freifunk in den BVVs von Berlin (Bezirksübergreifender Austausch/Perspektiven) -->
  • socialAPP für Dezentralenetzwerkstrukturen --> carlo
    • SecureShare, peer-to-peer social network with end-to-end encryption talks, workshop
  • Protokollentwicklung NEWS olsr, B.A.T.M.A.N.  ???
  • openWRT Now and Beyond --> nbd
  • was andere Leute denken und schreiben, was wir machen (Presseschau) --> wetterfrosch & cven
  • community best practice presentation --> YOU!
  • ad-hoc und olsr mit Android --> sven-ola
  • Möglichkeiten im 800MHz ISM-Band / wifi im TV-whitespace
  • Joint Rate and Power control - Performance of Minstrel-Blues --> Bluse, TU-Berlin & FF Sundhausen

links

Updated Info in the wiki: http://wiki.freifunk.net/Wireless_Community_Weekend_2012

Sign in at: http://wiki.freifunk.net/WCW12:participants

Syndicate content