Currently the recommended node software is still to be decided.
The most promising options available are described below.
There seems to be three incompatible choices for node software:
It is not clear what is best at present.
The first option is quick to set up, but is not flexible enough to adapt to future uses and would not interface to other Consume nodes. Also most/all? commercial APs do not interface to APs of other makes. Currently only a few of the (lower price) APs available have software that will communicate AP-to-AP, so buy with care.
The second option (standard Consume node) has the flexibility but runs on rather overkill PCs with higher power consumption and will be difficult to manage for users unskilled in Linux or FreeBSD (there is no Consume software for MS Windows). It uses fixed IP addresses for each node. These are allocated from a list on the Consume website. It is incompatible with the other options.
The third option is experimental but has advantages in that it lets new nodes join/leave the network dynamically. Also installation is by booting from a single CD. It is incompatible with the other options.
Consume Nodes
At the Consume meeting (before 10 Jan 01), various people present took it upon
themselves to provide node set up details on the Consume website for software for:
Free BSD (available now)
Linux (tbd)
Windows (tbd)
So far nothing exists for MS Windows
Warning Note: Some node setup details for Free BSD and Linux did appear on the website (e.g in file Linux-Access-Point.txt) but have subsequently been removed. So, as far as I can tell, there is no agreed way to make a "Consume node" and hence only ad hoc nodes are in existence!
Alternative Instructions for setting up a Linux node using RedHat 7.1 can be found on Lyndon David's website at: http://www.sentinet.demon.co.uk in a file called ServerBuildD.pdf (20pages)
You might also want to take a look at Mike Saywell's:
http://www.sown.org.uk/index.php/HowTo
He says (14 Jan 03), "It's by no mean complete, and currently quite vague but hopefully will
give you some form of starting place".
Client software is provided by PC Card vendors and should work for all of the above node options. The client may need to be configured to use "AP mode" for use with propriatory access points (option 1 above) or configured to use "Ad Hoc Mode", also referred to as "peer-to-peer mode" for use with the Consume and Mesh Network nodes (options 2 and 3 above).
17 Jan 03