Introduction

WiFi Mesh is simple/ low cost network for large scale deployment, especially in the area where Ethernet is not ready. Dragino supports WiFi mesh protocol and can be used to set up a sensor network base on WiFi mesh.

Advantage of mesh compare to normal WiFi network

A normal WiFi network is base on AP / AP client structure like what we use in home/office. In this environment, laptops work as AP clients. they all connect to the AP (WiFi router). and WiFi router manage all data traffic between these laptops.

A mesh network is combined by mesh nodes. There are two kinds of mesh node: gateway node and normal node. There is no AP in the mesh network to handle traffic. All data traffic between mesh nodes are route between the nodes itself. If a node require internet connection, it will choose the best gateway (base on route class) for internet connection.

Use Dragino to build a mesh sensor network have many advantages, especially the sensor network is in a certain area such as campus, small village. Below are some diagrams to show these advantages.

• Simple to build wider range network.

Reference

B.A.T.M.A.N. (better approach to mobile ad-hoc networking) official website: link