The ethoscope mesh must be handled by a router with WIFI capabilities. The router will distribute IP addresses to each ethoscope and will handle communication with the node. In most university settings, you will NOT want the router to be connected to the Internet but you will want the node to. If you want your node to be accessible from the internet (for instance for remote controlling of the platform), then you will want to equip it with a second ethernet card. USB3.0 to Ethernet adapters are a good way to do that and can be bought at any electronics store (e.g. Amazon).

If you plan to have only a few (less than 10) ethoscopes, then any router should work. For a medium setup, we would recommend a more powerful router. If you plan to have more than 20 ethoscopes in your network, I would strongly recommend a more professional Access Point (AP) solution which does not break the bank (see below). The AP will take care of the wireless aspect and the router will simply assign addresses and route connections.

If you are shopping for hardware, these are good solutions:

For a system with only a few (1-3) ethoscopes, I recommend a small and inexpensive TP-Link TLMR3020 (amazon). This works well and it is what I use in my home setup. It costs about £35.

For ~10 ethoscopes, a decent router will be a better choice. The WRT1900ACS is a good router (amazon) and costs £120-150.

For a full system, you definitely want something with greater performance. I have experience with two choices: TP-LINK (which I currently recommend) or Ubiquity/Unifi. Both have excellent value for money but the TP-LINK is much easier to setup. You will want to buy:

For Tp-LINK

• A wireless access point (about £100 on amazon)
• Optionally, a cloud controller (about £50 on amazon)

For Unifi

• A Unifi security gateway (about £100 on amazon)
• A Unifi wifi access point (about £100 on amazon)
• Optionally but recommended, a Unifi controller (about £150 on amazon)

The Unifi controller is not necessary and you can install the system without it.

Configuration of a typical UNIFI Network - for most users, the Gateway will not be connected to a Modem so ignore the schematics on the left. The controller cloud key is optional and can be replaced by a software controller running on the node. For larger systems, one can add multiple Access Points.

WIFI Configuration

Unless you have an extremely good reason you should be adopting the following settings to configure your WIFI: