[olpc-nz] diagnosing ad-hoc network activity sharing problems

[James Cameron]

On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 08:38:01PM -0500, Martin Langhoff wrote:
> With 10.1.3, we've found it to be reasonably reliable in groups of
> <10.i

I guess a limiting factor will be the NetworkManager scan spread
randomly across ten laptops.  During a scan packets are dropped, for
about 3s.  I also wonder if the ad-hoc master will shift to another
laptop.  You might be able to achieve more if scans were turned off.

> What was the size of the group?
> 
> Any sources of interference?

Tabitha, that reminds me, a limited but not entirely useless measure of
the interference heard by a laptop can be obtained using iwconfig during
a ping.  Look at "Signal level" and "Noise level".

Here I have a noise level of -94 dBm, and with laptops side by side a
signal level of -6 dBm and -13 dBm.

Also have a look at my Signal Strength Meter, a python script that can
be run from Terminal to rapidly display these values.

http://www.linux.org.au/~quozl/ssm/

-- 
James Cameron
http://quozl.linux.org.au/