[MVMA] Major AREDN Production Release now available.
Chuck Gelm NC8Q
nc8q-aredn at gelm.net
Wed May 7 12:40:42 EDT 2025
On 5/7/25 12:36, Orv Beach wrote:
>
> This release heralds some major changes with AREDN® and we encourage
> you to take a moment to read about them below,
>
> Major Enhancements
>
> Babel Routing
>
> The AREDN® team is introducingBabel
> <https://www.irif.fr/~jch/software/babel/>as a replacement for the
> older OLSR routing technology. OLSR has served us well, but has many
> problems we’ve had to live with over the years. Babel, on the other
> hand, has many qualities which make it a good fit AREDN®. First, it’s
> a loop free protocol so, regardless of how the network is changing,
> routing loops will never form in the network. Second, it has a
> substantially lower traffic overhead so is good for slow, low
> bandwidth links. Third, the protocol adapts to the differences between
> wired, wireless, and tunneled links. Fourth, as a layer-3 routing
> protocol, it integrates easily with AREDN®. Fifth, it’s highly
> configurable. Finally, it’s simple. This
> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zMDLVln3XM>video is a great primer
> on Babel.
>
> In this release Babel and OLSR will run side-by-side, with Babel
> routing used where available, and OLSR used otherwise. No
> configuration is necessary. You will see a three-stars symbol on
> neighbors which support Babel, and a new three-stars symbol on the
> left-hand menu where you can see what services Babel nodes are
> advertising.
>
> It's critical to move to this production release; the more nodes are
> running it, the sooner we can remove OLSR from our network.
>
> More on the switch to Babel can be found here:
> https://docs.arednmesh.org/en/latest/arednHow-toGuides/babel.html#adding-babel-as-an-aredn-routing-protocol
> <https://docs.arednmesh.org/en/latest/arednHow-toGuides/babel.html#adding-babel-as-an-aredn-routing-protocol>
>
> Deprecating Tiny Firmware Nodes
>
> This will be the last major release to support tiny firmware builds
> for older nodes. These older nodes have too little memory for us to
> support them while transitioning from OLSR to Babel. They will not
> contain these new Babel changes and, when one day OLSR is gone, they
> will no longer be able to connect to the network.
>
> These are the models currently seen on the network that will drop off
> at some as yet undefined point in the future:
>
> *
>
> AirGrid M2 XM
>
> *
>
> AirRouter
>
> *
>
> AirRouter HP
>
> *
>
> Bullet M5
>
> *
>
> Bullet M2 HP
>
> *
>
> NanoBridge M3
>
> *
>
> NanoBridge M5
>
> *
>
> NanoStation Loco M2
>
> *
>
> NanoStation Loco M5
>
> *
>
> NanoStation Loco M9
>
> *
>
> NanoStation M2 XM
>
> *
>
> NanoStation M3 XM
>
> *
>
> NanoStation M5 XM
>
> Note that while these devices are old and slow, the XW versions of
> them have enough RAM to not have to run the tiny build and thus will
> be able to stay connected after being upgraded to this production release.
>
> Migrate Legacy Tunnels
>
> Legacy tunnels are not able to carry the Babel protocol. Everyone has
> made good progress converting legacy tunnels to Wireguard tunnels
> since Wireguard was introduced, but we want to encourage those who
> have not made the switch yet to do so. Unfortunately we cannot do this
> automatically so once OLSR is removed, legacy tunnels will no longer work.
>
> Documentation on setting up Wireguard tunnels can be found here:
> https://docs.arednmesh.org/en/latest/arednGettingStarted/node_admin.html#add-tunnel
> <https://docs.arednmesh.org/en/latest/arednGettingStarted/node_admin.html#add-tunnel>
>
> PtP and PtMP RF modes
>
> This release adds PtP (point to point) and PtMP (point to multipoint)
> RF modes to complement our existing AdHoc mode. AREDN® has always done
> mesh networking by putting radios into AdHoc mode and this remains the
> default. These additional options allow for more optimal performance
> and better network management by making use of WiFi infrastructure mode.
>
> We’ve seen notable throughput and latency improvements when using
> these modes, especially with 802.11ac devices. This holds true even
> when mixing radios from different manufacturers.
>
> Documentation on these modes can be found here:
> https://docs.arednmesh.org/en/latest/arednGettingStarted/node_admin.html#mesh-ptp-settings
> <https://docs.arednmesh.org/en/latest/arednGettingStarted/node_admin.html#mesh-ptp-settings>
>
> Memory Limitations
>
> During the transition between OLSR and Babel, nodes will be running
> two sets of routing and service discovery daemons. This increases the
> memory footprint of AREDN®. On some nodes running extra services,
> especially those with active tunnels and hotspots, you may experience
> out-of-memory errors. Until OLSR is deprecated in future releases, we
> advise you to reduce this extra burden on these devices as much as
> possible. This is most likely to occur on the hAP AC Lite as they are
> a general workhorse for many and only have 64M of RAM.
>
> Known Issues
>
> *
>
> Basic mesh mode does not work with the OpenWRT One router. PtMP,
> PtP and Station modes work correctly.
>
> Other Enhancements
>
> Over and above those major additions, these enhancements have been added:
>
> *
>
> Upgrade to OpenWRT 24.10.1
>
> *
>
> Improve speed of MIkrotik AC links.
>
> *
>
> Add message encouraging backups before upgrades
>
> *
>
> Made web server available on ipv6 link local address
>
> *
>
> Improved the sysupgrade process
>
> *
>
> Decreased reserved memory
>
> *
>
> Make the “yellow” message handling simpler and more flexible
>
> *
>
> Now save a little more memory on 64 MB nodes
>
> *
>
> Added more per link babel stats
>
> *
>
> Improved ping time measurements
>
> *
>
> Added a message encouraging backups before upgrades
>
> *
>
> We no longer allow new legacy tunnels
>
> *
>
> Now display the mac address for each radio
>
> *
>
> Added 1 decimal place to azimuth and elevation
>
> *
>
> Now provide 1 decimal point of significance to maximum distance.
>
> *
>
> Optional zram swap
>
> *
>
> Converted Link Quality Manager to Link Quality Monitor
>
> *
>
> Added an error message for unsupported ssh key upload
>
> *
>
> Improved supernode detection for when there isn't a supernode
>
> *
>
> Added HW Watchdog improvements
>
> *
>
> Tweaked WiFi AP params to improve connection stability
>
> *
>
> Enabled ed25519 ssh keys<https://github.com/aredn/aredn/pull/2024>
>
> *
>
> Added a reminder to migrate legacy tunnels
>
> *
>
> LQM monitoring
> simplifications<https://github.com/aredn/aredn/pull/2017>
>
> *
>
> When we fail to download firmware, ping host to see if it's
> reachable<https://github.com/aredn/aredn/pull/1974>for better
> error reporting
>
> *
>
> Consolidated several different radio distance calculation routines
>
> *
>
> Removed Wireless Watchdog LQM
>
> *
>
> Now detect new radio modes<https://github.com/aredn/aredn/pull/1936>
>
> *
>
> Added Babel mesh page navigation
>
> *
>
> Improved grouping on Babel mesh page
>
> *
>
> Alternate mesh page using Babel data
>
> *
>
> Split out tunnel counts in JSON file
>
> *
>
> Improved compactness of mesh data
>
> *
>
> Now support luasocket library
>
> *
>
> Added ucode debug library
>
> *
>
> Now identify supernodes using Babel when available
>
> New Device Support
>
> *
>
> Added support for OpenWRT One router
>
> *
>
> Add support for Vultr VM
>
> Fixes
>
> *
>
> Publish supernodes names specifically in ArednLink
>
> *
>
> Include Babel only links in link_info sysinfo.json
>
> *
>
> Better compatibility with babel only neighbors
>
> *
>
> Restart Arednlink when we restart Babel
>
> *
>
> Suprenode prefix cleanup
>
> *
>
> Fixed missing .local.mesh on various Babel dns names
>
> *
>
> Fixed check-service array reuse bug
>
> *
>
> Fixed pasting into lat/lon fields
>
> *
>
> Supernode prefix cleanup
>
> *
>
> Now handle missing LQM info from older neighbors
>
> *
>
> Sysupgrade was failing to backup directories, only choosing files
> - now fixed
>
> *
>
> Fixed how we read the active tx radio power
>
> *
>
> Fixed tunnel link-local (IPv6) addresses
>
> *
>
> Now we don't set country in wifi config as it sets flags we don't
> want set
>
> *
>
> Fixed arping link test
>
> *
>
> Now only run wireless monitor in adhoc mode
>
> *
>
> Fixed metrics error when bandwidth not set
>
> *
>
> Fixed identification of Ubiquiti AC radios when auto distancing
>
> *
>
> Fixed setting LAN addresses when DHCP is
> disabled<https://github.com/aredn/aredn/pull/1950>
>
> *
>
> Fixed firmware download progress parsing
>
> *
>
> Fixed up the wifi address when missing
>
> *
>
> Fixed firmware upload typo
>
> *
>
> Now don't forward AAAA requests upstream
>
> *
>
> Now filter out AAAA dns responses
>
> *
>
> WiFi WAN mode now overrides any WAN port settings
>
> *
>
> Mode 44net setup more configurable
>
> *
>
> Now only do adhoc reset when actually in adhoc mod
>
> *
>
> Blocked the use of certain channels in PtxP modes (for now)
>
> *
>
> Added patch to work around pipe+lines EINTR LUA bug
>
> *
>
> Restricting valid wifi channels for wide bands
>
> *
>
> Refixed the LZ77 decompression for Mikrotik
>
> *
>
> Fixed occasional parse error when OLSR returns nothing
>
> *
>
> Removed dummy localap hostname
>
> *
>
> Fixed dialog close race condition
>
> *
>
> Lowered min_free_kbytes to 1M (from default of 16M
>
> *
>
> Avoid possible memory leak when retrieving babel host routes
>
> *
>
> Improved babel/lqm interaction when starting up ac
> nodes<https://github.com/aredn/aredn/pull/1949>
>
> *
>
> Tiny builds do not support Babel. Made sure all the various extras
> handle this
>
> *
>
> Now hide unreachable services from AREDNlink like we do for OLSR
>
> *
>
> Fixed babel device count
>
> *
>
> Now handle missing IPs from tunnels and xlinks.
>
> *
>
> Disable wifi scan option for some mesh
> modes.<https://github.com/aredn/aredn/pull/2003>
>
> *
>
> Switch to using reload script for AREDNlink updates
>
> *
>
> Improved selection of the radio band assigned to a radio
>
> *
>
> Don't support some wifi modes on tiny builds
>
> *
>
> Fixed layout of icons next to no-link services
>
> *
>
> Now update the mac allow every time LQM updates (it gets
> overwritten sometimes)
>
> *
>
> Now capture mac filters in support data
>
> *
>
> Fixed radio1 typo (had used radio0)
>
> *
>
> Removed code to disable mesh-to-wan when in NAT mode (why was this
> a thing?)
>
> *
>
> Improved bandwidth options for OpenWRT One
>
> *
>
> Added OpenWRT One to Ethernet port usage
>
> *
>
> Fixed identification of mesh
> rf<https://github.com/aredn/aredn/pull/1967>
>
> *
>
> Reduced parallel requests on devices < 64M (temp)
>
> *
>
> Rework default setup of radios when switching
> modes.<https://github.com/aredn/aredn/pull/1903>
>
> *
>
> Now try link-local address for data fetch if other ip fails
>
> *
>
> Made sure we keep the supernode name when checking services
>
> Enjoy!
>
> The AREDN Team
>
>
>
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