Configuration and Set-Up

Table of Contents

• Raspberry Pi
• Arduino
• Non-Raspberry Pi (Linux etc) Devices
• Accessing External Systems: Forwarding and Routing
• Advanced (uIP) Configuration and Info

RF24Ethernet requires the RF24 and RF24Network libraries (optionally RF24Mesh)
See http://tmrh20.github.io for documentation and downloads

See this video walk-through of the software setup with Raspberry Pi and Arduino.

Raspberry Pi

On the Raspberry Pi, a companion program, RF24Gateway must be installed along with the RF24 and RF24Network libraries

1. Enter the following to download an install script that will build and install the needed RF24* libraries:

   wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nRF24/.github/main/installer/install.sh
   chmod +x install.sh
   ./install.sh

2. Next, build and run the RF24Gateway_ncurses example

   cd rf24libs/RF24Gateway/examples/build
   make
   cd ncurses
   ./RF24Gateway_ncurses

3. The application will require the user to specify an IP address and Subnet Mask: 10.10.2.2 and 255.255.255.0 are the defaults with RF24Ethernet examples, but this only works when running as root. Run the following commands to configure the interface and IP, where pi is your username:

   sudo ip tuntap add dev tun_nrf24 mode tun user pi multi_queue
   sudo ifconfig tun_nrf24 10.10.2.2/24

4. Raspberry Pi defaults to the master node (00) using RF24Mesh. Secondary Raspberry pi nodes need to specify their RF24Network address or RF24Mesh nodeID.

Arduino

1. For Arduino devices, use the Arduino Library Manager to install the RF24Ethernet library and all related dependencies
2. Open the included Getting_Started_SimpleServer or Getting_Started_SimpleClient example
3. Configure your chosen CE and CS pins for the radio connection.
4. Configure the IP address according to your preferences, (last octet must == RF24Mesh nodeID) with the gateway set to the chosen IP of the RPi.
5. Connect into your nodes web-server at http://ip-of-your-node:1000 from the RPi or configure the client sketch to connect to a server running on the Raspberry Pi. Users should also be able to ping the IP of the node from the Raspberry Pi.

Note

To minimize memory usage on Arduino, edit RF24Network_config.h with a text editor, and uncomment #define DISABLE_USER_PAYLOADS. This will disable standard RF24Network messages, and only allow external data, such as TCP/IP information. Remember to comment for normal operation!

Non-Raspberry Pi (Linux etc) Devices

Arduino can also function as a gateway for any Linux machine or PC/MAC that supports SLIP.
See the SLIP_Gateway and SLIP_InteractiveServer examples for usage without the need for a Raspberry Pi.

Accessing External Systems: Forwarding and Routing

In order to give your network or nodes access to your network or the internet beyond the RPi, it needs to be configured to route traffic between the networks.

1. Run

   sudo sysctl -w net.ipv4.ip_forward=1

   to allow the RPi to forward requests between the network interfaces
2. Run

   sudo iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -j MASQUERADE

   to allow the RPi to perform NAT between the network interfaces

Note

This configuration is generally for initial testing only. Users may also need to add a static route to their local machine, or configure port forwarding on the RPi.
See the following links for more information on configuring and using IPTables:
http://www.karlrupp.net/en/computer/nat_tutorial
http://serverfault.com/questions/326493/basic-iptables-nat-port-forwarding

Warning

Note: Users are responsible to manage further routing rules along with their IP traffic in order to prevent unauthorized access.

Advanced (uIP) Configuration and Info

See the User Configuration section for modifying uip-conf.h