Open Solutions: Using Many Connections As A Backhaul
Many common wireless mesh network hotspot solutions are supported in open source router firmware including DD-WRT, OpenWRT and derivatives. Sputnik Agent, Hotspot System, Chillispot and the ad-supported AnchorFree are four examples that work even with lower end routers like the WRT54G. The IEEE 802.21 standard specifies basic capabilities for such systems including 802.11u unknown user authentication and 802.11s ad hoc wireless mesh networking support. Effectively these allow arbitrary wired net connections to be teamed or ganged into what appears to be a single backhaul - a "virtual private cloud". Proprietary networks from Meraki follow similar principles. The use of the term backhaul to describe this type of connectivity may be controversial technically. They invert the business definition, as it is the customer who is providing the connectivity to the open Internet while the vendor is providing authentication and management services.
Read more about this topic: Backhaul (telecommunications)
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