Casey Halverson, SeattleWireless

Mon, 23 Oct 2006

Field Day Tents

I have two 10 foot by 10 foot tents for field day sites Magnolia and Alki. Looks like we can't get rained out now ;)

Custom Cellular Prototypes

Thu, 28 Sep 2006

One of several projects i am working on...I'm not really permitted tell you what it does though.

If you have a project in mind, even if its something a little out of the box, let me know. Development cycles can be very short.

[/cellular] permanent link

Wed, 16 Aug 2006

SeattleWireless Field Day (Picnic) - October 28, 2006

Field Day is happening this year! The SeattleWireless Field Day is officially scheduled for October 28, 2006 from 10am to 2pm. We will be featuring three locations: Gas Works Park, Alki, and Magnolia Park. We will be interconnecting at several facilities in the Seattle area, but these will not be available to the public. Our Seattle connection will also double as our access to the internet.

And while Field Day will be similar to our event in 2003, we will be featuring a few new, exciting technologies:

OLSR Mesh Networking

VoIP

Video Conferencing

Interactive Art

And the following creature comforts:

FOOD - ITS A PICNIC!

Tents

Tables

Chairs

Catalytic Heaters

And like 2003, field Day will still operate "off grid" with quiet, small, gas generators.

We Still Need Your Help!

What can you do to help out field day? Check out our CheckList!

We still need additional generators, wireless gear (any will do), tents, or any contribution you think could help us out. We may need some of your network gear during some of the trial runs (which you are welcome to participate in), as well as the day of the field day. All gear will be turned to their owners after the field day.

And probably most important, if you would like to bring food for the picnic, please do so. The more, the better. Remember that we do not have access to the cooking sites, so a small grill is also recommended.

Please contact me at maokhian@hotmail.com if you have something you would like to contribute. Check out the wiki page 2006wirelessfieldday to assist in planning.

Otherwise, I hope to see everyone there!

Field Day Network Diagrams

Wed, 09 Aug 2006

I have a Layer 3 diagram for our 2006 Field Day in October. It is currently still in design because there are a couple of unknowns for the segments between Gasworks and our Alki/Magnolia side. I suspect that most of the remaining details can be hammered out during tonight's hacknight, as the owner of this "missing link" is still researching several of our connectivity options. This is okay, because I am going to treat his network as transit.

It is also looking like Internet access is more and more of a reality. While we will not rely or plan on having this service available, I am certain that a lot of attendees would not mind actual internet access.

As you can see above, both Alki and Magnolia will be linked at sort of a condensed "Core" layer. The blank spot near the top is our edge with our city-wide transit / internet provider. Gasworks will have its own condensed edge/core/access layers. All access layers will be flat, and a combination of wireless and wired LAN. The actual topology of this is not important until we have 100% commitment of all hardware pieces. And even then, it can be a bit dynamic.

Addressing is situated so a simple 10.128.0.0/22 can be advertised on the Magnolia/Alki side, reducing the amount of routes our transit provider will have to carry. 10.128.4.0/22 is the gasworks side. Link addresses use /30's out of the bottom part of each CIDR block.

Field Day - Current Equipment Checklist

Tue, 08 Aug 2006

Field Day will need a wide assortment of equipment to support each of our sites. This equipment will be watched over (to the best of their abilities) by various site leaders, and returned at the end of field day. If you plan on donating hardware to field day, remember that we may need it for some of the trial runs before the field day. We will return it after each borrowing. Items like chairs and tents are not required until the actual field day :)

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list. As more planning is done, we may expand on untouched areas. I am seeking your feeback on this list. Send comments to casey@seattlewireless.net

Alki Site

Fully equiped

Basic Facilities

Power Facilities

Casey

Access Layer (Alki Beach Coverage)

Casey

Core Layer (Towards Magnolia)

Casey

Distribution/Edge Layer (to Provider)

Magnolia Site

Fully equiped

Basic Facilities

Power Facilities

Access Layer (Magnolia Coverage)

Core Layer (Towards Alki)

Gas Works Site

Fully equiped

Basic Facilities

Power Facilities

Access Layer (Gas Works Coverage)

Distribution/Edge Layer (to Provider)

Linksys Community Network

Thu, 20 Jul 2006

"Gadgets"

Alright, so these aren't really physical, actual gadgets, but I have been working on some pretty crafty code sniplets for people to throw on their blogs, myspace, etc. They are preview only, but soon will be accepting users on a sort of limited beta program.

The phone one

This one is simple. Type in your phone number, it calls the blog owner. The number of the blog owner is never disclosed, which can be useful. I haven't decided if it will be limited to 5 or 10 minutes. I am limiting to US 253, 206, and 907 termination for just this demo. Feel free to call me, i'll probably get a kick out of someone actually using this thing. Want to be a sponsor? Contact me offline. Its cheap and you get your own voice ad before the call starts, with optional features.

Get a Free 10 Mintute Phone Call to Casey!
All you have to do is enter your phone number, and it will call both of you! Our sponsor foots the bill.
Your Phone Number:

Send images to a phone one for like your band, etc.

User can upload up to 3 images/audio clips, put the code sniplet up, and send images and ringers to various carriers. Demo is limited to images and SprintPCS only. Mobile WAP and banner sponsorships. Contact offline.

Get a Free Phone Background!
	Hawaii
	Jasmine
	Josh
Cell Phone Company:
Phone Number:

[/gadgets] permanent link

Sun, 02 Apr 2006

I had to go without my mobile for a little over a week. Thankfully the Linksys Community Network provided adaquate roaming coverage for my WiFi phone for this not to really be a problem.

It is also interesting to note the amount of WEP encrypted access points vs. open access points within London. Nearly all access points are encrypted, with the exception of a very small few. This is entirely opposite in the Seattle area, where just about anything is wide open without any sort of measure of deterence.

[/wifi] permanent link

Fri, 24 Mar 2006

London

I'll be in the UK for the next week or so ... I am leaving this Saturday. I guess i'll see everyone in a couple weeks!

[/travel] permanent link

Tue, 28 Feb 2006

Cheap Alaska Minutes

It seems from provider to provider, these minutes vary wildly. I have found them between 2.29 and 8.89 cents a minute. What gives? Has anyone seen cheaper?

America's Best Mobile Pix

Mon, 27 Feb 2006

While there is certainly better applications about to hit handsets across the globe, America's Best Mobile Pix is still a quick fix for your social ranking needs on the go.

This software is a mobile HotOrNot / RateMyFace style application, which allows you to rank (between 1-5 stars) girls, guys, cats, hairstyles, and other random topics that change month to month. The winner of each social contest recieves a $100 visa gift card or something of the sort. Not too shabby.

America's Best Mobile Pix claims to be "family friendly", but I really doubt it. Some of the photo submissions are very edgy, which makes you wonder if they do any filtering or approval at all. I tested this application today while on the bus, and I was supposed to be ranking "interesting pictures". These images ranged from sunsets, artistic images, trees...and up pops up something that exceeds my "PG" rating I try to keep my blog entries at. Very embarrasing.

Nethertheless, most of the content is pretty tame, especially in the "baby" and "cat" section. You can simply flip through images and rank for hours and never get bored. Its a real time killer and my wife gets a kick out of all the dorks in the guy section. If you have seen the intro to "MySpace The Movie", you probably could relate.

Sometimes the application is slow and hangs while it is waiting for a response from the server. While the application is very chatty with data services, Vision really isn't this slow, so I suspect it has something to do with their "pix" servers.

Oh, yeah, and you can tell a bunch of clueless bastards without any pop internet culture in their blood wrote this software. Apparently, they think that "pix" is singular form for one picture...sorry guys...its "pic", pural is "pix". It also sports this really nutty softare description on the website, which is down right confusing. I wonder if they know what the purpose of a "?" is...or maybe people really talk like this on IM and i'm just too old for this.

"New! See & vote for America's Hottest Girls, Hunkiest Guys, Cutest Babies, Funniest Kids and More!? Submit your own pix and WIN prizes!? Easy & fun to use.? As featured in USA Today - you can also rate all pix and be the contest judge!? Download now!

This wonderful piece of software is $2.99/mo (free, thanks to my monthly vision credits -- suckers).

P.S. The last post from me (Voip Bounce Back) was written from my MM-7400, MidpSSH, and Pico -- on a 1.5" x 2" screen. Oh and there is no keyboard on the phone either. Mobile blogging at its absolute worst.

[/cellular] permanent link

Voip Bounce Back

I have been playing with a voip-based call back system. It's a little bit evil because it uses an 800 number to capture your caller id without answering the call. It then stores your origionating number, calls you back at a very cheap rate, and gives you a dial tone.

This is very useful for payphones, because 800 numbers from payphones can be very expensive. Just as long as they are the inbound type.

So far, so good. It's making a cheap calling card. Too bad i didnt have it last week. This week i have a working phone.

SeattleWireless VoIP Status

Sun, 26 Feb 2006

Broken Technology

My wife's phone broke after about 3 years of life. The hinge gave way, and it was in two pieces. She usually takes the car during the day, and I just gave her my cell phone for "just in case" purposes. At least it sounded like a good idea at the time.

After work, I took the bus home, stopping at Frys to pick up a replacement handset for my wife. I jumped back on the bus and then realized something really silly: she has no idea where I am going to be and at what time I need to be picked up. No worries, I can just find a payphone, right? HAH! Bzzzt...WRONG!

I got off the bus at Kent Station, a new shopping center in the Kent area. Someone thought it was a bright idea to build a completely outdoor mall with no covered walkways in the Northwest. Its winter, its raining, and nobody wants to really be there. The only good thing is in the middle of the plaza is a giant gas firepit that becomes almost the centerpiece of all activity.

The Kent Station shopping center lacks a lot of things. There are no ATMs. There are no payphones. Infact, its amazing how hard it is to find a payphone these days. They are all gone.

Thats okay, I have the internet, right?

Kent Station is supposed to have WiFi, but it doesn't work. The coffee shop has WiFi, but it doesn't work. There are no outlets to plug my WiFi/cellular hotspot into, my PCMCIA slot isn't working, and I have 5 minutes of battery left.

And there I was, in the rain, with a cell phone box in hand, uncharged of course, and no way to activate it even if it was.

Spent a few hours combing Kent for a damn payphone, and I finally found one. Dialed my 800 number, which is forwarded to all my phone numbers. Guess what answers first? Yup -- the broken cell phone's voicemail popped up before it even could ring any of the other numbers in the list. Great, now I could talk to no one.

But it also has a credit card slot. I swipe my card, it wants to bill $7 for 4 minutes. Uh..no.

But thats okay, I have change. Now its just $1 for 4 minutes. Come on guys...I can buy those minutes for $0.01-0.02/min with 6 second rounding from like 20 different providers...I bet they get it even cheaper. What made me even more mad is that I spoke of changing my 1-800 number to our dial back system on the VoIP server during hack night -- and just didn't get around to setting that up :/

But, I was able to get ahold of someone and have someone finally pick me up.

What really upset me is how disconnected and isolated someone can be without their cell phone. It seems like the world does not work without them.

[/thoughts] permanent link

I have been battling a couple of issues on our VoIP server. Its actually quite funny, because when I started this project, I figured I would be able to get this out of the box and going in production in about a weeks time. That doesn't really seem to be the case. Just when I thought I had asterisk mastered, I realized how taking it out of your home and putting it into a multiuser service environment changes everything.

Outstanding issues:

SWNV PSTN inbound numbers don't pass DTMF, user given useless dialtone, times out

Strange issues implementing IAX in star topology (hub and spoke)

Need to work on a better end-user basic configuration

Need an automated system to add/modify/delete users for auto-registration

Need a good way to map DID's to end users

Okay, and now its time to speak of a very embarrassing story about what not to do with asterisk..

I have an asterisk server at home, and the sip.seattlewireless.net server up in the Westin. Things were going great, and I had a wonderful _X. line in my configuration that would route all the calls from my SIP phones to Seattle, because this is where I wanted all my calls to be handled and processed for PSTN/other users/etc.

What I totally forgot was there was an inbound SIP number from the past pointing at this asterisk box (KGRG streaming audio) with IPKall. The extensions.conf configuration was completely different than what had the streaming audio, but the contexts matched up to make this call complete. At the time of the IPKall number setup, I thought it might be a good idea to set the IPKall number to dial on my asterisk box the same as the PSTN number (ie: dial extension 3601112222). You might see where this is going.

One day, my brother decides to call in to listen to KGRG on his phone. Naturally, my home asterisk box is going to match the number dialed (3601112222) to _X. because I deleted the streaming audio number out of the inbound call context I use. This sent the call to Seattle. Seattle goes, "Oh hey! 3601112222! that goes out to the PSTN through VoIP provider X". It routes the call to 3601112222 over the PSTN, and goes back to the asterisk box at home. It did this over and over and over and over because neither provider apparently has any simultaneous call limits.

Several hours later, I attempt to make a call, and VoIP provider X mentions that my prepaid minutes are all gone. I look at the logs..and yeah...lots and lots of calls for a long period of time..each stacked up against the other. DAMN!

Moral of the story: Don't set yourself up for call routing loops. There's no TTL!

VoIP server installed

Wed, 22 Feb 2006

XM Surfing

With the popularity of XM and Sirius growing, there is something interesting taking place on our roadways. To find out what I mean, tune to 87.9 FM on your dial. Give it a good listen for about 20 minutes.

This is a popular pirate frequency, so I always check it from time to time, but I usually hear somehing completely different: A bunch of XM radio!

Now, you would have to follow someone's car around for a while to really even listen to one song, but its kind of fun to do. Give it about 20 minutes, and count how many XM car transmitters you hear!

[/thoughts] permanent link

Sun, 19 Feb 2006

The SeattleWireless VoIP server is installed and running. I am currently importing the required base config to make this system operational, as well as working on the account creation webpage.

Fri, 17 Feb 2006

SeattleWirelessVoIP
The Seattle Wireless VoIP is almost here. Tonight, I finished up a pretty cool dial plan along with accompanying sounds. It should make the service sound very sharp when people use it.

I have been looking at IAXTel, and they are offering toll-free outbound service for free. If all goes well, the default SWNVoIP user class will at least be able to make toll-free calls, along with the traditional internal SWN/CWN dialing.

Inbound dialing will also be available using ipkall.com 253, 425, 206, and 360 numbers. A default set will give SWN dial tone, but we will also let people map these numbers to their own SWN numbers if they wish.

I have been making frequent updates to the Wiki, so check it out. Also, I highly suggest to visit the Phone Book and assign yourself a number, so I can put you in.

Radio Stations Number

Thu, 16 Feb 2006

I setup an additional number for the radio station stream (KNHC and KGRG), per request. Nobody was local to the 360 number previously setup. The number is 253-397-1239 (this should be operation by Feb 17th)

VoIP Server Install on Saturday

Wed, 15 Feb 2006

I have worked out all the particulars with SCCP and we should have some hardware in place this Saturday. This means the SeattleWireless VoIP server is only a couple weeks away from going live.

When stuff is up and running, expect an official announcement in the next couple of weeks.

Radio stations via phone

Call 360-382-2103 for two live radio stations. I have KNHC and KGRG as menu options.

New Podcast Service for Any Cellular Phone

Get audio podcasts while you are on the go. I have been playing around with this service and I want people to try it out to see if its worth pursuing further. If people like it, I am planning on building a menu system, include many more different podcasts, and expand capacity.

Call 360-519-5949 for Slashdot Review
Call 253-397-1236 for Daily Source Code

These should all be up to date when you call. Multiple users can call into these numbers.

If you want me to add your favorite Podcast, shoot me an email.

[/podcast] permanent link

IPKall has new area codes

IPKall, provider of free PSTN inbound VoIP numbers, has expanded their service area to area codes 206, 425, and 253 in addition to their 360 kitsap numbers.

I have just signed up for a 253 number (since i live in this area code), and i was given an Auburn, WA number (253-397-xxxx).

I have been waiting a long time for a service expansion (especially since 360 is long distance to me from my land line), but now I can't even remember what I was trying to do in the first place with a 253 number. Oh well.

SeattleWireless and Community Wireless VoIP

Mon, 13 Feb 2006

About ready for testing. Anyone who is interested in an IAX or SIP intertie with SeattleWireless, please contact me directly. Big or small, it's not important. Looking for asterisk experimenters.

Mon, 06 Feb 2006

SeattleWireless VoIP

There was a little chatter last HackNight about Asterisk and VoIP in SeattleWireless. Although we have played with VoIP over SWN many times in the past, an actual structured VoIP system -- similar to our existing Jabber and TLD root -- would be something new and exciting.

I am not certain on the exact details of the system, but here is some brainstorming:

Deploy asterisk at various SWN nodes (where it makes sense)

Use IAX for inter-ties between nodes

Create a policy for routing calls within the network

Experiment with dynamic/mesh call routing protocols¹

Dynamic dial plans¹

Automatic peering system¹

Policy for routing inbound/outbound PSTN calls

Policy or method for turning on PSTN routing in emergencies, if people hate idea above

Standardized hardware platform, distro, etc. -- likely Soekris or old PC's
¹ Doesn't exist -- need to write it

Maybe im getting a little ahead of myself...at the very least, we could just pop one up on the network to allow SIP registration of handsets and phones. That sounds nice. Maybe once I get my tunnel up (or a direct connection into UPN) i'll be able to facilitate some of that.

Ringback Tones and Call Tones in Asterisk

Thu, 02 Feb 2006

At some point, you may have dialed someone's cell number, only to hear a Neil Diamond song in replacement of the all-to-farmilar ringback tone. When they answer, the music goes away. The owner of the cell phone can even configure what song will play for who. That way, you can set the hit Venga Boys "Boom Boom Boom" for your girlfriend, without any embarrassment when that important business client calls.

Fad? Probably not. People are apparently becoming sick of the ol' ma bell ringback, as thousands flock to purchase ringback tones for this new service. It also seems that carriers will do just about anything to profit in times of unlimited data plans, cheap minutes, and falling margins on other premium services.

Run a VoIP service? Run Asterisk at home? Feel left out of all the fun? Fear not, you too can implement this over-glorified customizable Music on Hold system.

First, find set of trendy clips for your ringback tones. Equalize them to your liking, chop them down to about 30 seconds, and make sure they are encoded in MP3 format. We will make three example rings: hiphop_ring.mp3, pianosong_ring.mp3, and vengaboys_ring.mp3.

Next, drop the following mp3 files into the respective directories. You need to remember that when you create different "Music On Hold" profiles, you must create different directories within mohmp3. It will cycle through every file within this directory from this point on. If you wanted to be even more crafty, you could create various groups of songs instead of individual rings for each caller.

# mkdir /usr/share/asterisk/mohmp3/hiphop
# mkdir /usr/share/asterisk/mohmp3/piano
# mkdir /usr/share/asterisk/mohmp3/gf
# cp ./hiphop_ring.mp3 /usr/share/asterisk/mohmp3/hiphop
# cp ./pianosong_ring.mp3 /usr/share/asterisk/mohmp3/piano
# cp ./vengaboys_ring.mp3 /usr/share/asterisk/mohmp3/gf

Edit the asterisk configuration file "musiconhold.conf" and make sure it displays the following:

[classes]

default => quietmp3:/usr/share/asterisk/mohmp3  ; leave the default alone for now
hiphop => mp3:/usr/share/asterisk/mohmp3/hiphop
piano => mp3:/usr/share/asterisk/mohmp3/piano
gf => mp3:/usr/share/asterisk/mohmp3/gf

Now we have configured several different mp3 files to play depending on the music on hold "class". We can now refer to these three mp3 ringbacks as "hiphop", "piano", and "gf" within the extensions.conf. You may notice quietmp3 and mp3 above. This is an alias to either play the MP3 at full or half volume. I like my ringbacks nice and loud so people can hear them, so I used "mp3".

For our example, I am just using my FreeWorldDialup account. I actually have a free inbound DID with www.ipkall.com that ties into this FWD account, so I get caller ID.

We are going to have 3 numbers:

253-555-1000: Girlfriend
253-555-2000: Cool Friend
253-555-3000: Boss

And then, of course, we will have a condition to send unknown numbers to a real ringback.

Edit extensions.conf with:

[fromiaxfwd]

exten =>${FWDNUMBER},1,Answer
exten =>${FWDNUMBER},2,Wait,1
exten =>${FWDNUMBER},3,GotoIf($["${CALLERIDNUM}" = "2535551000"]?7)
exten =>${FWDNUMBER},4,GotoIf($["${CALLERIDNUM}" = "2535552000"]?9)
exten =>${FWDNUMBER},5,GotoIf($["${CALLERIDNUM}" = "2535553000"]?11)
exten =>${FWDNUMBER},6,Goto(17)
exten =>${FWDNUMBER),7,SetMusicOnHold(gf)
exten =>${FWDNUMBER),8,Goto(14)
exten =>${FWDNUMBER),9,SetMusicOnHold(hiphop)
exten =>${FWDNUMBER),10,Goto(14)
exten =>${FWDNUMBER),11,SetMusicOnHold(piano)
exten =>${FWDNUMBER),12,Goto(14)
exten =>${FWDNUMBER),14,Dial(SIP/wifivoip,60,m)
exten =>${FWDNUMBER},15,Voicemail(1000)
exten =>${FWDNUMBER},16,Hangup
exten =>${FWDNUMBER},17,Dial(SIP/wifivoip,60)
exten =>${FWDNUMBER},18,Voicemail(1000)
exten =>${FWDNUMBER},19,Hangup

There are some more elegant ways to handle this, and I encourage you to explore into what you can do. Easier customization via web interface, AGI scripting, etc. could be some possible improvements.

Wed, 01 Feb 2006

Node A-Toys

Today was the first day I got to see the completed Node A-Toys install. The facilities were impressive, and I felt very special pulling up through the secure gate and parking inside! The gate also closes and locks, which is always good too. Last time I was at the site, there were some..well...strange people wondering about.

To see what we were competiting against, I threw a spectrum analyzer on the heliax. It was amazing how much noise and spurious emissions popped up on the display -- both WiFi from around Seattle and noise from other non-WiFi operations on the tower.

I found a couple holes in the noise, and passed them onto Rob. I suspect that things will be a little cleaner into the tower now. Pictures to follow.

Planet.seattlewireless.net

Tue, 31 Jan 2006

Check out planet.seattlewireless.net. This is a aggregation of all SWN blogs, and a great way to see what everybody is up to.

~~For some reason, I am stuck with this stereotypical blogger/mac user icon for all my blog entries on this site. Perhaps someday i'll figure out how to set this @#$@# icon.~~ Okay, looks like i figured this one out.

In unrelated news, I went down to Phoenix for the weekend. It was great to get away from the insane amount of rain pounding the northwest. The papers in Phoenix were reporting inverse records -- 110+ days of no rain. There was simply too much sun -- oh darn. Highs were in the mid 60's.

I rented a convertible and discovered it was just a little too cold to drive on the freeway with the top down this time of year. But I did it anyway -- why rent a convertible if you are going to drive with the top up all the time?

My daughter did not like the roofless vehicle, but just put up with it. I made a point not to show her that it had a retractable roof that folded up in the back.

Eventually, she figured out that it, indeed, had a roof--or in her words--a "house". After she saw that, I was nagged nonstop to tell the car to "make a house". Instead, we bought a large winter coat on clearance for $10 and bundled her up. She liked that.

Tower Project Complete

Fri, 27 Jan 2006

As you may remember, SeattleWireless embarked on a tower node project in the start of december. I am happy to report that this project is now complete. The gear is on top of the UPN tower on Capitol Hill and is fully operational. The ESSID is "SWN-NodeAtoys", and is currently a 6dBi omni antenna. The UPN tower is the southwestern tower on top of madison.

NodeAtoys, on top of the UPN tower, runs DHCP, OLSR (a mesh routing protocol), and is available to anyone who wants to connect. I highly suggest a high gain directional antenna, as it will take a little bit more power than normal to light up this small omni. This was actually done on purpose to reduce the heavy amounts of interference in seattle area. 2.4GHz is a jungle, as you probably guessed.

Inital surveys using Kismet indicated that we are pulling in a couple of stray signals. One of the most interesting is a signal originating from an antenna located at a marina at the base of Magnolia. A non-directional antenna not really pointing at our tower that is several miles away (line of sight) is a very good sign that things are going to be great for people in the Seattle area who can see this tower.

I was not able to make it out today for the install, but check out Matt Westervelt's Blog for more details. Also, check out the NodeAtoys wiki page for official node-related information.

Sun, 01 Jan 2006

MT/MO SMS Testing

I am playing with some MT/MO SMS. Feel free to send a test "text message" or email to 3603822103@nwrs.net. There is no SMSC setup, nor do i "own" this DID to the extent where someone can SMS directly to the phone number...but most carriers will support email anyways so it should work fine for most.

The text message limit seems to be around 373 characters, which is well above the typical SMS user data size of 160. Not certain if its a limitation of the phone, protocol, or sending software I am using. Still, quite nice!