I have returned from YAXWE with very good impressions about mash networking. I did some reading and in theory I already knew how this works, but to see actual implementation of idea in form of Freifunk Firmware was both useful and impressive :-)
On the other hand, installing OLSR on Debian boxes is so easy that there is no excuse in becoming local mash node:
- Install packages
$ apt-get install olsrd olsrd-plugins
- Put your card in adhoc mode
This part might be specific to your card, but for my atheros card it's something like:
$ wlanconfig ath1 create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode adhoc
$ iwconfig ath1 essid olsr.example.com
You should also probably run dhclient or ifconfig to setup your IP adress depending of configuration of your local mash network
- Change network interface in configuration
$ vi /etc/olsrd/olsrd.conf
Something like: Interface "ath1"
- Start it automatically
$ vi /etc/default/olsrd
Change line to START_OLSRD="YES"
- Start daemon
$ /etc/init.d/olsrd start
And that's it!. You are now part of mash network.