RADIUSdesk

Trace: › rd_full_hardware

This is an old revision of the document!

Table of Contents

Hardwares

Introduction

  • MESHdesk and APdesk allows you to centrally define hardware that are select-able when you add a device to either a Mesh or AP Profile.
  • The Hardware applet include the specifying of:
    • WAN interface
    • LAN interface
    • Radio function and specifications like transmit power.
    • Up to three radios can be declared.
    • Whether the hardware can can be selected in MESHdesk and / or APdesk.
    • Include a photo of the hardware.

Add New Hardware

  • Before you can attach a device to a Mesh network or AP Profile, you need to have a MATCHING DEFINITION for the hardware in the Hardware applet.

  • We use convention of Name = Vendor + Model
  • Firmware ID needs to match the value in the MESHdesk firmware (inside /etc/config/meshdesk file)
  • WAN Port also is unique to the hardware used.
  • LAN Port is optional and might not be available for hardware with a single Ethernet port.
  • There is a dedicated page where currently supported hardware and their values are listed.
  • This is a growing list and if your hardware can run OpenWRT we should be able to add support for it.
  • There is three additional options
    • Make available to MESHdesk.
    • Make available to APdesk.
    • Make available to Sub Providers.
  • After you added the new device you need to optionally specify the radio specifications. (Some devices might not have any radios - we can still control them under APdesk)

Add Radios to Hardware

  • When you edit an existing hardware the tab offer you a slider to specify how many radios the device contains.
  • We support up to three radios.
  • The order of the radios are very important and has to match the order in OpenWRT.
  • In the above screenshot we see that Radio0 is the 2.4G radio and Radio1 is the 5G radio.
  • Refer to the following table for recommendations on what to select with single, dual and three radio devices.

Single Radio

  • Since there is only one radio it has to be used for both mesh and access point when doing mesh networks.
  • The config SSID is required for the mesh to fetch its config through the wireless network.
Item Value Comment
Mesh Interface Select If you will use it in MESHdesk
Access Point Select
Config SSID Select If you will use it in MESHdesk

Dual Radio

  • We typically use the 5G radio for the mesh network with the option to have it also function as an Access Point.
  • The config SSID is required for the mesh to fetch its config through the wireless network.
  • We use the 2.4G radio for the config SSID for various reasons, however the 5G radio can also be used for it.

2.4G Radio

Item Value Comment
Mesh Interface DON'T Select
Access Point Select
Config SSID Select If you will use it in MESHdesk

5G Radio

Item Value Comment
Mesh Interface Select If you will use it in MESHdesk
Access Point Select
Config SSID DON'T Select

Three Radio

  • Some hardware's 5G radios serve different bands so you need to determine if the different 5G radios only work on certain bands and adapt your hardware definition accordingly.
  • We typically use one 5G radio for the mesh network.
  • The second 5G radio function as an Access Point.
  • The config SSID is required for the mesh to fetch its config through the wireless network.
  • We use the 2.4G radio for the config SSID for various reasons, however the 5G radio can also be used for it.

2.4G Radio

Item Value Comment
Mesh Interface DON'T Select
Access Point Select
Config SSID Select If you will use it in MESHdesk

First 5G Radio (Prefer Upper Bands)

Item Value Comment
Mesh Interface Select If you will use it in MESHdesk
Access Point DON'T Select
Config SSID DON'T Select

Second 5G Radio (Prefer Lower Bands)

Item Value Comment
Mesh Interface DON'T Select
Access Point Select
Config SSID DON'T Select

Edit Photo

  • The hardware will include a generic default photo.
  • To replace it simply select hardware from the grid and click the Edit Photo button on the toolbar to open a dedicated tab where you can replace the image.
  • The ideal image should be 64×64 pixels and in png format with transparent background.
  • Below you can see where this photo is used elsewhere in the program.

Last modified: 2021/07/02 21:01