Moncton Area Amateur Radio Club

WAN for HAM

Moncton Area Amateur Radio Club

● TEK TALK – Presentation by Matthieu Dugas● VE9MDB

● Who am I?– Hamradio operator since 1993 under old callsign VE1MDB

– Graduated as a Network Administrator / Integrator● Certified under Network+, A+, MCSE, MCP+i

– Currently working in IT field at UdeM

– Getting old; 40 years – could be part of Old Timer Club

– Have a too busy familly life to be really active in HamRadio● And have other good hobbies which I combine with hamradio

WAN for HAM

● What do I define as « WAN for HAM »– The use of amateur radio equipement and/or

frequencies to achieve a WAN network.

● What is a WAN?– WAN stand for Wide Area Network and is usually

refered as distant connection of multiple systems as compared to the LAN which is a Local Area Network.

WAN for HAM

● I renamed the project from Mesh Network to Hamnet network, because it’s a network built by hams; so I though Hamnet was appropriated.

● Purpose of this network?– Provide a link in-between QTH and other agencies

– Provide services as in the old days with packet radios (think about BBS).

WAN for HAM

– Provide services to our served agencies via CARG

– Provide an alternate route to internet in the case of a regional or local outage

● The HAMNET’s primary purpose is NOT to provide internet to hams on a regulary basis even though it could handle it very well.

WAN for HAM

● Mesh network– Topology

– Performance

– Data handling

– Issues with the current system

WAN for HAM

● Proposed Topology– Star Topology

● Downside – more equipements needed – costs● Upside – Faster and more functionnality

– Better routing– VLANs

VLANs

● Vlan are Virtual Network, using the same transportation media, you can have multiple network traveling, thus isolating each network from another one; this reduce unwanted trafic as well.

WAN for HAM

● What are the services provided by the hamnet?– Currently, I’m working at adding more and more services.

We currently have 3 computers acting as servers on the network and there is space for more redundancy.

– The services provided are :● Emails● Instant communication system (chat)● Web publications● Storage● DNS

WAN for HAM

● Each services are available inside the network without any connection to the Internet.

● Each services are currently accessible via Internet, which give a way to exchange informations with people outside our network.

Email server

● EMAILS : Accessible by typing http://mail.ham-net.ca or http://www.ham-net.ca/webmail from INSIDE or OUTSIDE the network!

Email Server

● Emails can be configured using MsOutlook or any emails client, including your smartphones.

● Smartphone -->

Email Server

● Live Demo of the Webmail Server via Internet

Instant Communication

● Instant Communication can be achieved by connecting with a web browser at http://irc.ham-net.ca:3000 from INSIDE or OUTSIDE the network.

Instant Communication

● You can connect using your favorite web browser OR you can use the Rocket.Chat application for PC / MAC / Linux.

Instant Communication

● Live demo using the web browser

Instant Communication

● What I haven’t told you yet … you can actually share files inside the Chat Server with someone not logged into the Chat Server using the following link : http://www.ham-net.ca/files

● Any files shared in any conversations can be accessed by that link, making it easier to fetch files in the case of a real emergency where you need to transfer pictures from multiple applications , ie : Emails

Web Publications

● Inside the network, we have three (3) web servers that can be accessed from http://www.ham-net.ca , http://www2.ham-net.ca , and http://www3.ham-net.ca ( www – www2 – www3 ).

● Outside the network (internet), you can only access to www.ham-net.ca

Web Publications

● WWW– This server would be our MAIN publication server,

where we can have a blog style publishing system. This could be used to share news, share informations about events or any other type of publications. It is powered by WordPress, a publication system

● WWW2 and WWW3– Those are Intranet servers, only accessible inside the

network, for more confidential informations/publications. They have plain Apache service for HTML/PHP.

Web Publications

● Live Demo of the www server accessible via Internet.

Other Services

● It’s possible to install a MySQL database server and other services as per request.

● Servers are located at the following sites : – WWW is located at the VE9TCR repeater site

– Email server is located at my QTH until we get a compatible switch at the club house

– WWW3 ( and NS3 ) server is located at UdeM

WAN for HAM

● If provided with Internet, each server location can also provide Internet to the network.

● The servers also host other services which are mainly for the administrators to use;– 1 Primary DNS (ns1)

– 2 Secondary DNS (ns2 and ns3)

WAN for HAM

● Through a console, an administrator can see the active connections and activate or deactivate internet access or change the vlan settings of the network.

WAN for HAM

● If you see this, don’t try to login ;)

Ham-Net network

● We currently have 8 wireless points connected together.– VE9ML / VE9SF / VE9MDB / VE9SHM / VE9UDM /

VE9MSR / VE1EV / VE9ROC

● Each access point have their own IP starting by 172.16.12.X

●

Ham-Net network

● When you get connected to the network, you’re automatically given an IP in the 172.16.16.x

● It is possible to login onto an access point to see how healthy is our connection to the next neighbor, like the old system.

● You can use « ubnt » as login, no password, to access the basic interface.

Ham-Net network

● This system have a spectrum analyzer, perfect for an admin who wish to fine tune. Here is a view from VE9SHM from 2300 Mhz to 2450 Mhz.

WAN for HAM

● Costs– Approximately same as the current Mesh Network

– Type of equipements● Compatible with the current equipement in place ( Ubiquiti or

Mikrotik radios )● Would be improved with new line of equipement● Use of Bullet is acceptable but performance is achieve with

Nanostation, Nanostation Loco, Rocket, PowerBeam etc.

– Network Switch● Manageable Network Switch ( TP-Link does some for cheap )

WAN for HAM

Recommended Network switch : manageable● Model : TP-Link TL-SG108E (45$ on Amazon.ca)

Nanostation M2 (or Loco M2)

Rocket M2

PowerBeam M2 (PBE-M2-400)

Ham-net Network

● Recommended product : If you could afford it, get a PowerBeam M2 … it sell for about 125$ but you get reliable connection up to 50 KM (and more). A 150 Mbps link up to 25 KM is easy with a clear view and this antenna.

● Second choice; go with a Nanostation M2 (105$). If you’re close enough, you’ll get a strong and fast connection

Ham-Net network

● Third Choice : Get a Nanostation Loco M2 (65$). They are good if you can actually see the access point you’re trying to reach.

● And last choice ( but not the least good ) if you can afford two pieces of equipments, we would need some Rocket M2 to serve as Access Point. The Rocket M2 serve very well an omnidirectional antenna.

Ham-net Network

● Tips : Very Important tips … DON’T buy in the USA. The USA models of Ubiquiti are locked within channels 1-11 while the Export version we get in Canada are unlocked in the amateur radio band of the WIFI.

● If you want to try a new product in the Ubiquiti line of products, make sure it is compatible with AIRMAX. If not, you won’t get the maximum speed available.

Ubiquiti

● The current products marked as AirMax ( bullets aren’t airmax technology ) are dual polarity and often carry high power. Rocket M2 & PowerBeam have 630 mw of power output while the NanoStation M2 Loco have 200 mw.

● The Nanostation M2 have 630 mw but integrated 8 dBi gain antenna. The PBE-M2-400 have a 18 dBi gain antenna and the Rocket well… you choose the antenna you want.

Ham-Net Network

● Anyone can join us! It’s an open network… and you don’t wait you get younger to have fun behind a computer!

● My installation at work –>>>– Using a Nanostation M2