Configuring New Networking Equipment - Team254/cheesy-arena GitHub Wiki
If you plan to run an event using Cheesy Arena and your own networking equipment, this page explains how to configure it.
Basic networking
You can run a scrimmage or offseason event with an off-the-shelf WiFi router that supports WiFi 6E; all robots will connect to the same SSID and all driver stations on the same wired network, instead of being isolated to their own virtual networks as is the case at an official event. Follow these basic steps:
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Configure the router to assign DHCP addresses in the 10.0.100.x range, with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0.
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Configure any SSID and WPA key on the router, and connect all driver stations to Ethernet ports on the same physical network.
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Read this guide from WPI on how to set up the FRC Radio Configuration Utility to program robot radios at such an event.
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Ensure the Cheesy Arena server is configured to have:
- a static IP address of
10.0.100.5 - a network mask of
255.0.0.0 - a gateway address of
10.0.100.3
- a static IP address of
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You must assign the driver station:
- a static IP address
10.xx.yy.5 - a subnet mask of
255.0.0.0 - a gateway address of
10.xx.yy.4
Detailed instructions are found here.
- a static IP address
Note: chances are your WiFi router/AP won’t have enough ports to connect everything so you’ll want an unmanaged switch. We used this one without any issues.
Advanced networking
Two specific pieces of networking equipment are needed to implement the setup described in Advanced Networking Concepts:
- A Vivid-Hosting VH-113 access point (or a VH-109 radio converted to AP mode by loading with the appropriate firmware as described here)
- A Cisco Catalyst 3500-series Layer 3 managed switch (Chezy Champs uses the WS-3560G-48TS-E)
The access point is available from WestCoast Products, and the switch is end-of-lifed and can be obtained relatively inexpensively from sources such as eBay.
While only the Vivid-Hosting AP is known to work well with the Vivid-Hosting robot radios and this network model, for the switch equivalent results can most likely be obtained with other Cisco models and versions of IOS but not exactly the same. The important requirements for the switch are that it support VLANs and inter-VLAN (Layer 3) routing.
Access point setup
- Update the access point's firmware to the latest version of the "Offseason AP" variant, available here.
The access point should now be reachable at 10.0.100.2. You can check its status page at http://10.0.100.2/configuration.
Switch setup
- Replace the switch startup configuration with switch_config.txt
Consult the specific device's documentation for the factory-default IP address and login credentials. See Default IP Addresses and Credentials for these values after loading the Cheesy Arena configuration.