XBee Wi-Fi Over WAN IP [SPIN]
History
When Parallax started carrying the XBee Wi-Fi module, I received many questions about whether this module could send data over the internet. In fact, it can. The problem was that it was difficult to support this feature for our customers because it requires some basic knowledge of packet forwarding on your router. Most people have a router on their internal network that allows multiple devices to access the internet via their modem. The problem is that the IP addresses assigned to internal devices are intranet addresses (LAN), whereas the IP address of the modem is an internet address (WAN).
Packets coming into your WAN address (modem) have to be forwarded to the private intranet addresses on your network. Most routers support this ability via packet forwarding, however, how it works on a given router is often specific to the brand / model of your router, and there are many out there! So I decided to create a project to demonstrate this functionality to send packets to the other side of the globe. All I needed was someone with networking skills in another country who could do something with the data I would be sending. Since the original article, code and hardware are gone, I am rebuilding this project from scratch.
Collaboration
The original project was a collaboration between myself and a member of my original website named, Luc Zontrop (Tumbler), who also did many of the graphics for my vBulletin website. In the original project, I built a small demo which simply counted from 0-65535 and sent these packets out over the internet to his IP address in Belgium, where Tumbler lives. The current counter was displayed on an LCD screen on my end. On the other end was a similar board that would receive the packets and then acknowledge the packet by the unique number. This allowed me to easily track packet / data loss in the communication and established two-way communication with the remote board. The original demo board is no longer around, however I do plan to recreate the project purposes of rebuilding this article.
When the packets reached Tumber’s system, they were displayed on a large, lighted sign he created using LED strips. Each of us recorded video in real time of the packets being sent from my end in the United States (California), being received in Belgium and displayed on his sign. I created a split-screen video showing my end and his end, however all videos on my YouTube channel were lost, so the only video left is the one he did, which can be seen above on his channel.
Current Project Plan
Since I no longer have the original demo board and have lost touch with Tumbler, I have decided to recreate the project here in the United States by sending data from another city, over the internet to my city, using two XBee Wi-Fi modules; one on the sender side, and one at my place. I figured it would be easier to find someone who could create the sender-side board (or I could send them one) and leave the networking part to me. The trick will be getting the recordings for both sides again.
I chose to be the receiver this time, because it is far easer to send, than to receive. When you’re the sender, you need only connect the XBee Wi-Fi to your network and set the destination IP address. As the receiver, you must connect the XBee Wi-Fi to your network, but you would also need to forward packets coming into your WAN IP address to the XBee module on your network. The way to do this varies with different router brands / models. You also have to be able to determine your WAN address.
Getting Started
The first thing I need to do is recreate both boards (sender and receiver) in my own office. This way I can create the demo board wiring diagrams for both boards, as well as develop the code for each side. Then I need to find someone who is willing to build the sender demo board on their end, and coordinate a live demo with me.
Building the Base Unit
For the base unit, I will be using a
Building the Remote Unit
For the remote unit, I will be using a
Return to Sender
Although we’re referring to one side as the sender and the other as the receiver, the fact is that the communication is 2-way.
THIS ARTICLE IS STILL BEING RECOVERED AND RESTORED. PLEASE CHECK BACK LATER! Why is the article being recovered?
Resources
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Released under MIT License
Copyright (c) 2004 Chris Savage – Savage///Circuits.
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