• WeeklyMeeting20201202

Location: Jitsi
Date and Time: Wednesday, December 2, 2020, 6:30pm-8:00pm
Scribe: You
Roll Call: RussellSenior,TedBrunner,TomasKuchta,JasonBergstrom,MatthewKlug,SteveTree

Agenda

• Pick location for next weekly
• Node notes:

  • NodeMississippi:

    • Internet connection from new gateway is operational:
      • we have a port forward from the public internet side;

      • our OpenVpn tunnel is operational;

      • we can powercycle the attached Bullet M5HP using gpio control.
    • Our Ubiquiti Bullet M5HP has two problems:

      • it is OOMing because OpenWrt size continues to grow and the bullet M5HP has only 32MB of RAM (mitigated by disabling snmpd and link status statistics)

      • the commons node is seeing about 30 dB less power than I would expect, implying a problem with the bullet's power applifier (evidence is circumstantial)
    • Commons roof problems:
      • we aren't seeing the 2.4GHz radio from metrix-commons from the ground, which is weird, it shows up from the software side;
      • we have two ethernet runs to the roof from the wiring closet in the Commons building:
        • a 48V PoE injector to the metrix-commons;
        • a passive PoE injector to a ubnt loco-m9 (a 900MHz device pointing towards Grand Central which isn't there anymore).
      • The loco-m9 is emitting a CDPv1 packet every minute, but isn't pingable at an ipv4 address;

      • Maybe we can replace the metrix-commons with the ubnt rocket m5 that MattKlug has had, but that hasn't been plugged in since April 2019

      • Maybe we can replace the 2.4GHz radio from metrix-commons with a bullet m2hp and remove the loco-m9 which isn't being used
      • We need access to the building, the roof and the wiring closet, which will require contacting the building managers, not done yet.
    • Ballroom roof problems:
      • We have three ethernet runs to the roof:
        • metrix-ballroom with a 48V PoE injector;
        • nanostation-nw with a passive PoE injector;
        • nanostation-se with a passive PoE injector;

      • One of the nanostations is unreachable, these are both first generation nanostations with ath5k radios and very limited and slow flash space, we bought NanoStationLoco2's to replace these at one point. I had worked on a solution to the power problem at one point (I think it's still on my basement floor), which involved using two of the ethernet runs for just 48V power, bucking that down to 24V (with a salvaged DC-DC converter from the MetroFi network) and powering a switch and 24V passive PoE for replacement ubiquiti devices (e.g. a PowerBeam for backhaul and a few NanoStation Loco's. That might be due for some rethinking.

    • Ed Han's roof:
      • metrix-ed has been offline for a few years, since approximately when we lost the Grand Central roof;
      • Russell has email'd Ed to see if we can get it plugged back in, but:
        1. no reply yet;
        2. it might not actually still be operational; and
        3. it's not obvious that Ed even still lives there.

    • Russell has a couple PowerBeam m5's. These have 64MB of RAM which would fix the OOM'ing problems.

    • We could buy some Bullet AC's ($80-$100) which also have more RAM.
    • We could use some of the Ubiquiti Unifi AC Mesh devices, like the one Tomas funded recently for local coverage.
• PCEnginesGroupPurchase2020 -- the order of 8 APU4 boards and assorted accessories arrived on November 25th, and distribution of parts has begun:

  • GalenSeitz -- checkmark

  • JasonBergstrom -- checkmark

  • RussellSenior -- checkmark and checkmark (got two)

  • NodeKailash -- prepared, need to schedule an installation

  • NodeBrelin -- this is stockpile backfill, from a loaner several years ago

  • Alex and friend -- awaiting scheduled pickup

  One noteworthy discovery is that currently the SD cards that are sold by PC Engines for use in APU's are not stable on modern OpenWrt and APU4. APU2 with modern OpenWrt works, old (a year or so) OpenWrt on APU2 and APU4 works. Somewhat curious. Different SD cards do work. Not tragic, but curious. The APU4 can host only a single wifi radio, the center miniPCIe slot is really USB-only. Apparently the connectors are too sexy to resist and they are used for everything, the USB-only slot is apparently intended for a LTE/4G/whatever modem card (like on the APU3), presumably to provide a fallback in case of wireline outage.

• rC3 -- remote Chaos Computer Congress

• Internet Society Research Grant proposal turned down
• PCC Community Education Classes
• Municipal Broadband status
• What is "pi-hole" and what is it good for?

• Your Item Here

Notes

• Node notes:

  • NodeMississippi

    • New Internet connection up, but need to get replacement bullet-like device with more memory, then go back out with a ladder.
    • Commons roof - use M5 Rocket as it is an omni with 64MB
      • Issue is with getting access to the roof and wiring closet, also need to replace 48v feed with PoE for Rocket
    • Ballroom - replace all equipment with Powerbeam and Unifi AC

    • NodeEd - disconnected since Grand Central went away

      • Not sure if Ed is still around
      • Not sure the node will be operational if plugged in
• Buy some 64MB chips for old equipment

[CategoryMeetingNotes]