Open Mesh + Cloudtrax = WIN

I wasn't going to post any more tech tonight, but this is just way too much fun not to share...  I had the whole open mesh network up in the time it took me to unbox the nodes and get them plugged in throughout the house.  Logged into Cloudtrax, followed the CloudTrax Quick Start Guide and had my nodes configured in no time.  Then I went though the Using Vouchers Guide and got the voucher system setup.
Tested this from my laptop and its all working. W00t!

Now I am playing with the Splash Page editor.  Cloudtrax has a built in WYSIWYG web page editor to make your splash page.  There is a guide (Splash Page Editor Guide) which I am sure I will get to eventually, but for now, I am just having fun with it.   It really doesn't get any easier then this.

Hardware puzzle pieces

The art of simplicity is a puzzle of complexity. --Douglas Horton

Getting all the parts is one one thing... Getting them to all work together is where it gets interesting.  As I start putting the puzzle pieces together and getting ready for a dry run setup, I wanted to show you the parts that will help all this run...  The puzzle pieces...

A couple of days ago I posted the generic OM2P pics.  Here are the actual ones I am taking with me!

There you go...  The heart of the network sitting on my desk.  I setup the cloudtrax account (another piece of the puzzle) to run these a few days ago and have not yet had the chance to enter all the MACs.  I am going to do all that tonight.

Here are some more puzzle pieces...

I have some ThinkPenguin Wireless G USB Adapters (sure to work out of the box on Linux), some SanDisk 4G USB keys and finally some Lexar 8G USB keys ($10 for 8G USB Flash Drives at Futureshop) I am not a big fan of Lexar USB flash drives because of past experience, but the deal was good and I have the smaller SanDisk ones to fall back on should these not do the trick.
 

On a side note, I like what Think Penguin is doing with their "Hardware that just works" and Linux devices.  I hope more people pick up on the fact there is a market for this.   Lazy people who don't feel like doing the research into whats on sale that is going to work, just hop on over there and buy what you need.  That's what I did and it was delivered right when they said they would.  All in all I am really happy with them so far.  I have yet to try the keys though.  That will be the real test.

The USB flash drives  are for the live kiosk distro (that I said I would write about and have not done yet...).  As time permits tonight and through tomorrow, I am going to be installing Jacob Steelsmith's Ubuntu kiosk based on 10.04.1 iso on these keys.  I have a bunch of hardware I am going to test them on.

<gulp> The idea is I will simply pop in two USB devices, one USB flash drive to boot off of and one USB wireless adapter and I "should" have an Internet Kiosk! </gulp>


I reached out to Jacob and he did tell me that all the 10.04 drivers are on there so I should not have any issues when it comes to compatibility...  If it worked with 10.04 (which is what most of my stuff was running for a while) then it should work.  The big question will be will it work on the hardware in Zambia?!?  I have no way to find that out until I get there so I will keep preparing as much as I can here.

Open-Mesh equipment has arrived!

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. --Ephesians 5:15-16

Not much time for a real long post right now, but I am really excited the order from Open-Mesh is in!  

This is the equipment that will allow us to build out the infrastructure.  They are the Open-Mesh OMP2P.

Such small little things that do so much!

I'll get into more details later.

Getting there...

...the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. --Psalm 121:8


I had a few people today ask me about how I am getting there and where "there" is exactly.  On a side note, I feel like the perception people have is everything is Africa is 3rd world.  Africa is a pretty big place!  I can't begin to say I know anything about it.  I am just starting to figure out where it is I am going! But I can say, that is a very false perception.  Its also not a country people!!  Its a continent!!



Back to how I am getting there....  I leave on Air Canada out of Montreal, QC and fly direct to London, England.  I have a nice little 12 hour layover there.  We might try and catch a few sites or a few Zzzzz, depending on how the flight went and how we deal with luggage at Heathrow.  Then its a 10 hour BA flight from London to Lusaka, Zambia.


Once in Lusaka, its a 5 hour drive north to Kitwe.   Five hours is what our hosts told us and google maps agrees so it must be true.  We are lucky enough that they will be coming to pick us up so we don't have to deal with that last leg except be there.  Come to think of it, I am not even sure if they drive on the right or left side of the road...

Door to door, if you take into account, I will leave my place a few hours before my flight, and some time in Lusaka to get luggage and get to the car and all, I think we are looking at a total of 38 hours, with 21 of those hours moving between cities.  I figure if I can sleep half the time we are moving, I will be content.

The travel is only parts of whats needed to get there.  I have been to the travel clinic twice so far for a total of 7 shots, a few prescriptions, some pretty intense mosquito repellent and a few pills.  Just thought I would toss this in for good measure.

Title change....

This being my first blog and first time using blogger and all, I am still a little unsavvy to the smaller details...  Like the title of the blog does not need to be the same as my domain... It can be something descriptive..  Go figure!!  :)  However I am still unsure how this affects anything else, so I might change it again.  We'll see...

The Internet Cafe for the geek, Part1

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. -Reinhold Niebuhr



Considering the many technical challenges completely outside of my control, I am going to concentrate this post on the technical issues I do have a say on.

I will leave power issues and ISP issues out of this for now because really...  I can't do anything about it... unless of course SP was right about the internet.



Requirements:

There are three main technical challenges to deal with for the Internet Cafe.

1. Network infrastructure
2. Internet Management system
3. Workstation setup and upkeep.

For the network infrastructure, the setup of the space can be seen as a giant U shaped room on the outside of an inner room.  The tables have since all been re-enforced and the electrical run all the way around.  There are going to be 10 permanent workstations (we'll talk about those later) setup all around the room on these tables at about 10 foot intervals.
Originally I wanted to run cat5 to each station and make a simple star network map, but that means about 1000ft of cabling and I don't think we will be up for that.


Then I thought of star behind a star network, run a couple of cables all the way and run small switches in between them and patch the computers in that way. This may still be the case, but I have never been a fan of putting switches at end points and into view and physical access of the users.

Right now though I am considering a hybrid wired and wireless because of the possibility of using Open-Mesh.


I will say this about the ISP, we will be using a cellular based ISP solution that I hear is doing pretty well.  The nice thing about this is we can deploy the cell modems anywhere we need.  I am still concerned about physical security though so this is something I am going to have to look into.  Maybe making a lock box for the equipment.  (Added to my todo list)

So back to the idea of using Open-mesh as the Internet management system...



The basic requirements for this point are:
- simple management UI
- control individual access by a username and password
- each user would be allowed a certain amount of time and/or bandwidth
- extendable to multiple ISPs to grow bandwidth

I started by looking at using just straight up DD-WRT and Coova.  I like this system but two things bother me...  The lack of commercial support and this is not the simplest system to get off the ground and fix when things go wrong.  So I started looking at commercial packages.  I really liked Sputnik.  It has all the features and then some however it also has a yearly subscription fee.  This is not out of the question, but not ideal.  Then someone on MLUG pointed me to Open-Mesh.  I like the simplistic approach and the business model was they sell you equipment once and the service in included.  My question is now, do they have the feature set...

...

I just finished reading the Open-Mesh Using Vouchers Guide and I do think the feature set is going to be OK for Internet Cafe.  I also read though all the other guides, Network Planning, Quick Start, etc... and this system does seem perfect for the job.  So if I was to use it, my setup might look something like this...

This is what I am going to go for.  I'll order 3 of the OM2P tonight.  And considering the time, that's the last thing I do tonight!

The backup plan will be the star behind the star network and dd-wrt with coova running on a good ol WRT54GL.

I have not talked about the workstations yet, that will come soon.  If you have read all the way to the bottom of this post, give yourself a star and post a comment.  I'll be collecting the stars and giving out prizes.  Thanks for reading and feedback is always welcome.

My "Going to Africa" FAQ

Here is a simple FAQ page to get the basics out of the way.  I think I have been asked these questions by pretty much everyone I have spoken to about my trip.  I hope you will find it useful...  Please feel free to ask more questions in the comments.  This should be good for everyone to see so I can get them all answered for everyone.

Where are you going?

• Kitwe, Zambia

View Larger Map


What are you going to do there?

• We are going to install an Internet Cafe in a training center that is connected to a school in Kitwe. That means everything from wiring, and hardware to all the software and setup. There are lots of challenges presenting themselves.  So its going to take a lot of work to say the least.

When are you leaving?

• We are leaving on Mar 22, 2012.  We will be back On April 6th, 2012

Are you going alone?

• I am going with a close friend and someone a respect tremendously.  However I don't know if he wants his name posted here so for now I won't name him.  

How are you going to do it?

• There are going to be a lot more elaborate posts on this particular question and as this is currently a work in progress, this might change between now and when we go...  I do want to keep it simple and easy to maintain.  Right now I am planning on using a router based management solution.  Probably something along the lines of dd-wrt and Coova either open source or a commercially supported version.  And use a live CD/USB key Kiosk OS like  Jacob Steelsmith's Ubuntu Kiosk for the end user stations.

Why are you going?

• The simple answer is I heard the need for this Internet Cafe by the people who were dreaming of putting it together and I felt like I could help make it a reality.  I do believe being connected with everyone today, both near and far, will help us all in ways we can barely begin to understand tomorrow.
  
  I know God calls all of us to go out and talk about His word:
  He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. -Mark 16:15
  
  And he also tells us to act on our faith:
  What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? -James 2:14
  
  And he also tells us to work like everything we do is for Him:
  Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, -Colossians 3:23
  
  So to answer the question as to why am I going...  God's given me the skill to do this work; I believe the Internet is one of the greatest means of communication we have today; The Internet cafe and the people running it and the people it will serve will help tell more people about God and Jesus; and this is a small way I can act on my faith in God and work for Him as well as help so many people that this place will serve.  

Have to start somewhere

"Most small problems, when nourished with procrastination, will grow bigger and bigger."  
- Zig Ziglar

I have been putting off starting to blog for too long now.  I hate seeing so many empty and half started blogs and I know I am not one to post updates often.  So I decided not to start something I won't keep up...  I have enough with Facebook, Linkedin, Google+ and Twitter to ignore... I did not need anything else to make me feel guilty about not keeping up.     But now I do have a very good reason to start this blog!!!

My upcoming trip to Africa!!!  
I AM SO EXCITED!!!  I have so much I want to share and talk about!  And I get so many questions about it, I figured I would start here.  Start a blog and start posting!!


FYI...  3 types of topics... and 5 Ws...
There are going to be three major types of topics in this blog as it pertains to Africa...
1- The Tech! I am a geek and I am going for tech reasons... so What I am doing there..
2- The Spiritual! I am also a Christian which is a major reason as to Why I am going...
3- The Trip itself!  The Where and When...  Hopefully these posts will be full of pictures..


And well the last W is me and if you don't know that...
well then what is it you think you are reading about anyway..?
(That was I joke... I don't care if you don't know me..  I am happy someone read down this far on the page)  So in all seriousness, I should probably start with a little about me...
My name is Jimmy.  I am #^ years old, going to be #& in may. (no, that's not a typo)
I am a member and attend LCA.  I also like to think of myself as someone who once brought something to MLUG back in the day... (As I am going to be posting tech questions to that mailing list, I had to figure a way to link that somewhere in this blog post...  that seemed OK).

Last notes on my first post...
I am not going to talk about my professional work at enVu or anything to do with my daily life surrounding Digital Signage (at least for now).  As a side note...  There are already numerous good blogs about Digital Signage like Sixteen:Nine, DailyDOOH and Digital Signage News that I would highly recommend if you are into that sort of thing.

Hopefully there will be much more coming soon....   (If on the off chance you see this post a few years from now nothing else ever followed...  please feel free to write me a Howler!)