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 includes the specifying of:
- WAN interface
- LAN interface
- Radio function and specifications like transmit power.
- Up to three radios can be declared.
- Radios that support Wi-Fi 4/5/6 (802.11n/ac/ax) are supported.
- 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.
- Since it it so easy to build firmware for a new hardware model, we do not keep a list of supported devices.
- We give instructions on the firmware build page on how to introduce new hardware models.
- There are 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 - however 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.
