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Contacting Wiana[]
See FirstSteps the solution below is not entirely correct.
Your description is fairly good, except that there are not 3 networks, only two: Internet and your mesh. 1.x.x.x range is just to identify a specific mesh box, it is like an alias.
Wiana does not contact mesh, instead each mesh box contacts wiana thru gateway box. So it is not NAT, direct internet access by the box. Certainly you can put a local server but I do not recommend to do it via gateway box ie by installing a HDD in it, rather put a old, cheap computer with Linux OS and HTTP server, give it a static IP (by gateway's 192.168.x.y range) do a port map (I am not sure on this) and all mesh users can reach this server but outside users cannot. I am sure someone else may suggest better solutions than me on these. Wait the list people to respond.
I am not 100% clear on the IP addressing system. Here is what I think is the story: Proper internet addresses exist, like 203.40.218.254. One of these will be > told to me by my ISP (if I have a static address) or allocated automatically when I connect by the DHCP run by my ISP. So that is the 'real' internet address and there is only one for my mesh. Next there is a set of addresses used in the mesh network - i.e. by the MeshAP boxes and the uplink computer. These addresses are provided by Wianna to ensure they are unique (as can be) in the wireless space. These 1.x.x.x. So my uplink computer is connecting two networks - the internet (so it has an IP address for this) and the mesh - into which it is plugged by ethernet. So it needs one of the mesh addresses (1.x.x.x). I assume this is given to > me by Wiana and I enter it manually. Then the mesh box finds it somehow or I > tell it to the meshbox. > The mesh box knows (somehow) that the uplink computer address is a gateway to the internet. When it feels like it, it goes out over the internet to the Wiana server to pick up any configuration information. Client computers that want to access the mesh have a conversation with it and are given an IP address by the DHCP server in the mesh box. This IP address is in a third network and I guess it is one of the 192.168.x.x ones.
1) Is this a fair description?
2) How does Wiana contact the meshbox when it does not have a 'proper' internet address? Is this what NAT makes possible?
3) Can we serve local content over the mesh - i.e. a small http server on > the uplink computer that is not visible to the internet?