Hi Max -
this is solely a issue of malfunctioning drivers/ WiFi cards in ad-hoc mode. The proprietary Broadcom driver for 2.4 Linux kernels shipped with devices like Linksys WRT54GL, Buffalo WHR-G54S, Asus WL500GP works flawlessly.
The Madwifi driver for Atheros cards works but still has issues that developers are working on. The best working Madwifi driver seems to come with OpenWRT.
This is basically what works at the moment. Most Intel drivers have issues (there are firmware issues as well, as I have experienced with IPW2200). IPW2100 seems to work, IPW3945 works more or less with some tricks (and occasional firmware errors).
Marvel drivers are nowadays shipped with the Linux kernel, but because I lack Marvell hardware I couldn't test it in ad-hoc mode.
In general the ad-hoc mode has been widely neglected by manufacturers and developers. From the first day I started to work on mesh networks I have been battling with firmware/driver issues. But as more and more people start using mesh networks the demand for working drivers is increasing. So we can expect that - finally, after many years - the situation will improve quickly.
cu elektra
hi
will it be some day technically possible to use the marvel wifi chip of the laptop to join the mesh network or is always a router needed?
Why can´t that drawn to the laptops with a software solution ?
Max
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