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STEP 1: Google Earth
Download Google Earth and find your Coordinates http://earth.google.com
STEP 2: Wugplotter
Register on wug.za.net and plot your location in the wugplotter (Copy/paste the coordinates directly from Google Earth into the add location page)
 Fig. 1: Add placemark in Google Earth to obtain your coordinates
 Fig. 2: Click add location once logged into WugNet on wug.za.net
 Fig. 3: Copy coordinates from Google Earth
Please note the Height you enter would be the height of your roof + tv pole, 8 is a good average
STEP 3: KML
Download the KML file from the wugplotter menu and open it up in google earth to see any operational nodes near you
 Fig. 4: Download the KML
STEP 4: Line of sight
Finding someone you can connect to includes doing a line of sight (LOS) test to that node.
This may be done from the wugplotter menu:
Fig. 5: Line of sight visualisation
Select your node and the node you wish to connect to and click calculate. The black area represents the topology of the land and the red line - the line of sight.
You can conclude that you have possible line of sight if the red line remains above the black area between the two nodes. This is theoretical as it does not
take into account buildings and other structures and trees. In google earth you will see different coloured beams extending from the various nodes. These are estimates of the wifi coverage
from that node.
Fig. 6: Clear line of sight
Fig. 7: No line of sight
Before deciding on your wifi equipment we suggest you climb onto your roof and take some photos of your panorama and upload them to the wug.za.net gallery.Notify us so that we can take a look and
make sure that the connection is possible. You will need to re-register for the gallery as it is not linked to you wug.za.net login.
STEP 5: Wifi Router
If you have LOS, the next step is to buy your equipment, we strongly suggest buying one of our kits. However any wifi equipment that can do client (managed/infrastructure) mode may be used.
The node you wish to connect to most likely uses one of two frequency ranges; 2.4 or 5.8 Ghz and this ultimately determines the equipment you need.
Here are a few guidelines:
Any home router such as a dlink, netgear or linksys only does 2.4 Ghz. Please make sure the router supports OpenWRT (http://toh.openwrt.org/) OR can do client mode and an external antenna can be fitted to the device.
The Mikrotik RouterBoard running RouterOS supports both 2.4 and 5.8 GHZ depending on the type of radio fitted to the routerboard. If the radio does 5.8 Ghz it will also
do 2.4.
RouterOS may run on almost any platform so it is possible to convert an old PC you have lying around into a full blown wug router.
STEP 6: Antenna:
Every antenna has its strong and weak points.
Directional antennas such as grids, dishes and flat panels (low beamwidth, high gain) are used for users connecting TO a highsite.
Sectoral antennas are used for transit and highsite nodes. These offer a higher beamwidth so as to accommodate for a larger coverage area
Omni directional are the worse performing antenna and should only be used as a weapon or if you have only one radio and need to cover an area all around your node.
OMNI's should never be used to connect TO a node. They should only be used as an Access Point providing access TO others
Recommended distance and antenna:
up to 3km: flat panel, yagi or grid(small gain)
up to 5km: flat panel, yagi or grid(medium gain)
greater than 5km: grid(medium to high gain)
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2.4 Ghz Yagi |
2.4 Ghz Flat panel |
2.4 Ghz grid |
STEP 7: Hardware Setup of Wifi Router
A few concepts need to be introduced; In order to maximise signal strength the router is usually situated within 1m of the external antenna, which means it needs
to be housed in a waterproof external enclosure usually also mounted to the pole the antenna is mounted to.
It is recommended to use Power over Ethernet to power the devices. This eliminates the need to run seperate power wires to the units. In a network cable there are 4 wires that are not used, these are used for power
Check out Power over ethernet (PoE): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet for further info.
As can be seen from the following pictures all routers are kept as close as possible to the antennas.
Routerboard Wug Kit (recommended) You dont need to do anything just follow the instructions for mounting the unit to your TV pole.
 
Any platform running RouterOS Click HERE to see an example for putting a PC in your roof to connect to the WUG.
  
Loose components with Routerboard HERE are some examples of user installations
   
Loose components with WRT54GL Here are some pictures of user installs using WRT54s
  
STEP 8: Software installation on Wifi Router
If you Have a routerboard or have a WugKit you can skip this step
Download one of the following openwrt distributions:
Freifunk: http://download-master.berlin.freifunk.net/ipkg/_g%2bgl/openwrt-g-freifunk-1.6.29-en.bin
(recommended)
DD-WRT: http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/down.php?path=downloads%2Fstable%2Fdd-wrt.v24+SP1%2FBroadcom%2FLinksys/
http://downloads.openwrt.org/whiterussian/rc6/bin/openwrt-wrt54g-squashfs.bin
(more advanced users with linux knowledge)
Please ensure you select the correct WRT version with DD-WRT.
Make sure that your computer has an ip such as 192.168.1.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 or similar.
NB DO NOT MAKE YOUR PC IP 192.168.1.1 - THIS IS THE WRT54 ADDRESS
Turn on your linksys and open up the Web interface for it. (Usually http://192.168.1.1 in your web browser).
In the interface find the upgrade Firmware page and select the option to upgrade the firmware and select the .bin file you have just downloaded. Upload the file and wait approximately 5mins.
DO NOT REBOOT YOUR ROUTER EVEN IF YOU SEE PROGRESS BAR HAS COMPLETED.
Once you are presented with the new web gui you may proceed to the next step.
STEP 9: Configuration of Wifi router software
Below are links or the various operating systems. Each is on a separate page to make this page more readable.
Before proceeding you need to make contact with your WUG administrator for IP address settings.
You may do this by either submitting the form at the bottom of the wug.za.net page (once you have logged in) or click on the various chat options (IRC) at the top of this page.
RouterOS (recommended)
Download Winbox
Open Winbox and click on the  button, you should see your router MAC address in the list as illustrated below
Click on the MAC address (not the 0.0.0.0 ip) put admin as the Login and leave the password blank, click Connect
If you do not see your router in the list, check your cable and power connections.
Once you are connected with winbox click on Wireless in the side menu bar, double-click wlan1, then click the Wireless tab at the top.
Verify you are in 'station' mode and that you have selected the correct frequency range for the node you are connecting to (2.4GhzB/G or 5Ghz) click apply.
Click on the Scan button in the same window on the right hand side. Among the SSIDs you should pick up the WUG SSID. All WUG SSID's start with the web address such as www.jawug.za.net/Xxxxx or www.ptawug.za.net/Yyyyy, click on the ssid and click connect
Click Close and then OK
FreiFunk (Recommended WRT software)
under construction
DD-WRT
under construction
OpenWRT (for advanced users who dont like GUI)
under construction
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