Frank Keeney wrote:
>802.11b does not include mesh technology. So Mesh Networks is not
>compatible with 802.11b.
But standard 802.11b cards can participate in a Mesh network. They just
can't do the forwarding that makes the network useful. They can only be
leaf nodes, so to speak.
>If they're all close, then why have the mesh?
Each is within a short distance of at least one other, but not necessarily
close to all others. The whole idea is that the nodes forward messages so
that the actual transmission distance is always short.
For example, given a physical arrangement similar to the diagram below,
M3 (mesh node 3) might be so far from the access point that 802.11b would
transmit at 1Mbps. But Mesh won't send from M3 to AP, it will send from
M3 to M2, M2 will send to M1, and M1 will send to AP. Each of those should
be close enough to achieve an 11Mbps speed. You can still have SN (standard
node) participate in the network and it might send to M2 or to AP. But it
couldn't relay for M3. (Warning, diagram is intended for mono-pitch display.)
AP M1 M2 M3
SN
If you put this sort of arrangement on a factory floor, you've sped up your
network considerably. As I said, Mesh is not targeting open networks. For a
network entirely within a single company's campus or building, there are
some major benefits.
I carry no brief for Mesh Networks and I understand that their gear is not
standard (yet). But the question of compatibility with standard gear was one
of the key questions everyone asked at the show. The answer was as I have
explained above.
--
Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA +1 714 434 7359
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"No woman in my time will be Prime Minister." -- Margaret Thatcher, 1969
