Meshmerize has no theoretical limit to the maximum number of nodes per network. However, like any WiFi network (or any wireless network, for that matter), its scalability is limited by the available bandwidth and the underlying medium access control (MAC) mechanisms.
Mesh networks generally face more significant scalability challenges than cellular or infrastructure WiFi networks for the same bandwidth. This is primarily due to the following:
- Multi-hop nature: Packets in a mesh network can take multiple hops over different nodes before they reach a cabled node. For example, if all data packets have to take three hops until they reach their respective destination, the effective throughput in the network is reduced by a third.
- MAC implications: Latest improvements in the 802.11 standards, particularly the use of OFDMA in WiFi6, disproportionately improves the scalability of infrastructure wifi networks, compared to mesh networks.
While this is also true for Meshmerize to some extent, its underlying architecture is deliberately designed to scale extraordinarily well compared to other state-of-the-art mesh technologies, allowing it to have both significantly larger network sizes and longer multi-hop chains.
¶ Factors affecting scalability in Meshmerize
¶ Network traffic
The primary factor in determining the scalability is the network traffic sent by (and to) each node in the network. Naturally, Less traffic = more nodes.
¶ Density of the nodes
The node density is a critical factor in the scalability since WiFi is a shared medium. Hundreds of nodes distributed in a vast space will pose significantly fewer challenges than all of them stacked up right next to each other.
¶ Channel bandwidth
The channel width and the choice of channel ( / frequency) are configurable parameters in Meshmerize. Larger channel bandwidth will generally facilitate larger network sizes.
¶ WiFi Environment
The presence of unintended interfering WiFi networks and devices such as hotspots or neighboring networks can reduce the effective bandwidth available for the production network.
¶ Hardware related
Single/Dual radio
Meshmerize can leverage multiple radios present on the same device. It combines two (or more) channels into one logical network and utilizes them for improving both scalability (through load-balancing) and resilience (through redundancy).
Antenna choice and mounting
The appropriate choice of antenna and their respective mounting techniques, both for the stationary and the mobile nodes, play a vital role in reliability and range, and therefore also the scalability of the overall network.
¶ Example deployment
Consider an intralogistics shuttle deployment with command and control traffic to and from the robots with the following network parameters:
- WMS to shuttles - Multicast: 500bytes (every 75ms)
- Shuttle to WMS - Unicast: 100 bytes (every 75ms)
- Channel: 2.4Ghz | 40 MHz
Assuming a relatively clean wifi environment and a very dense deployment,
- Max Meshmerize nodes with single-radio hardware: 140 nodes
- Max Meshmerize nodes with dual-radio hardware: 290 nodes
¶ Tips to improve scalability
¶ Network traffic
As previously mentioned, this is the most significant (and influenceable) factor in determining scalability. Some general guidelines in shaping the network traffic wherever possible:
- Packet frequency: Prefer sending large but less frequent packets through the network rather than small and frequent ones if the use case allows.
- Broadcast / Multicast: Tread carefully with sending multicast traffic through the network. Although Meshmerize has an extraordinary broadcast/multicast routing protocol built-in, unnecessary broadcasts can steal bandwidth from the much-needed critical traffic.
- Rogue traffic: It is (unfortunately) extremely common for completely unintended and unused traffic to be sent through the production network. (*cough* mDNS *cough*). Inspect for them and disable them if it's not necessary.
¶ Choice of hardware
Meshmerize supports a wide variety of hardware, and we continually add even more devices as we go forward. If a single-radio device does not satisfy your scalability needs, pick a dual-radio device from Meshmerize authorized vendors.
¶ Reach out to us
Scalability can be a nuanced topic. We are here to help - support@meshmerize.net
We are happy to help you to get your Meshmerize deployment up and running as quickly as possible.