We’ve been testing out some cheap LibreMesh WiFi nodes. Today we did a range test on two directional nodes.
Both nodes used $39 GL.iNet GL-AR300M16-Ext WiFi routers flashed with LibreMesh. These routers were chosen because they are the cheapest, lowest-power WiFi nodes capable of running LibreMesh. We’ve successfully solar-powered them using a $30 12-watt solar panel and a $45 Voltaic V25 6,400mAh battery – they run indefinitely with this setup.
The first node used a $49 15dBi panel antenna.
The second node used two 12 dBi directional PCB antennas ($14 for both).
Test Results:
Farthest distance: 600 feet (-83 dBm)
Farthest reliable distance: 400 feet (-78 dBm)
Speed test at this distance: 0.6 Mbps (normal speed is 6-10 Mbps - internet is coming from a cell wifi hotspot)
Conditions: through a bunch of wet trees
Vertical and horizontal polarization didn't seem to affect dBm at max distanceHere’s what a 400 foot diameter hexagon overlay on DuPont Circle looks like:
Conclusion:
It’s prohibitively expensive to run a WiFi mesh network using LibreMesh.
Covering a neighborhood like DuPont Circle would require 100 nodes, with a cost of about $4,000 for nodes powered by wall plugs without directional antennas, and about $20,000 for solar-powered nodes with better antennas.
The only way a WiFi mesh network would pencil out is if we deployed “super nodes” on top of tall buildings like NYC Mesh does – but the cost would still be thousands of dollars.
We’re going to stick to expanding our Meshtastic and Meshcore meshes for now!