Introduction
Starlink, a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, aims to provide high-speed internet access across the globe, especially in remote and underserved areas. Utilizing a vast network of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, Starlink endeavors to bridge the digital divide, offering users seamless connectivity that rivals traditional broadband services.
On the other hand, Doodle Labs' Mesh Rider radios represent a significant advancement in wireless communication technology. Designed for robust performance in challenging environments, Mesh Rider radios utilize a mesh networking approach to ensure reliable, secure, and scalable communication solutions. These radios are particularly valuable in industrial, defense, and unmanned system applications, where traditional communication methods fall short.
Fig. 1 Starlink + Mesh Rider Integration Diagram
Together, Starlink and Doodle Labs' Mesh Rider radios exemplify the forefront of innovative technologies aimed at enhancing connectivity and communication across various sectors and geographical landscapes. Mesh Rider Radios can extend Starlink SATCOM connections to base stations in up to a 20km radius, for applications in disaster emergency communications, denied environments or rural environments.
Starlink Initial Setup
Fig. 2 Successful Connection in the Starlink Mobile App
Mesh Rider to Starlink Setup ➡️ Ethernet to Router
The easiest way to integrate Mesh Rider radios with Starlink is by directly connecting via ethernet to the Starlink router’s RJ45 ethernet ports. This can be done on the nano, mini and OEM by utilizing the eval kit’s RJ45 connector or conversely just using the USB-C to RJ45 dongle on the Wearable radio.
For connecting a Mesh Rider Radio (regardless of if Wearable, OEM, mini or nano, etc.) to the Starlink Gen03 Router the setup will be the same. Note the Wearable radio does not require an eval-kit for the RJ-45.
The Starlink Dishy will connect to the far left RJ-45 Power over Ethernet (POE), the second and third middle RJ-45 ports will be used to connect to a radio over ethernet and the far-right port will be utilized to supply power to the Starlink Gen 03 Router (57V 3.42A) with the Starlink charging block.
Fig. 3 Connecting a Radio to the Starlink Router
Wearable Mesh Rider Radio Setup:
After the Wearable radio is setup with the Starlink Router, the next step is to setup your remote node which will be external to the router setup. The Wearable radio can be connected to an End User Device (EUD) such as a Tablet, PC, Laptop, etc. This connection can occur through ETH over the
ETH +USB_H port or through USB via the
PWR+USB_D port, as in Fig. 4 below.
The power supply for the Wearable radio can be the a) Battery Power Supply or b) 6-24V DC through the
PWR+USB_D port.
Fig. 4 Wearable Radio + Starlink Hardware Integration
OEM, Mini-OEM and Nano-OEM Setup:
Reference Eval Kit Connector Descriptions:
Fig. 5 Mini-OEM Radio + Starlink Hardware Integration
Networking + IP Addressing
By default, the Starlink Router starts a DHCP server on the
192.168.1.x subnet, generally where
192.168.1.23 is the first radio connected and
192.168.1.24 is the second radio connected. These addresses will depend on the number of, and order of devices connected.
Fig. 6 Example Networking and IP Addressing for a Mesh Rider + Starlink Integration
To quickly view the IP addresses of radios connected to the Starlink Network, open the Starlink Mobile App => Network => Main Router (and select device)
Fig. 7 Starlink App Network Main Router
Local Node:
The radio directly connected via RJ-45 ethernet to the Starlink Router. In this example if we click on
“smartradio-301a505d95”, we can view the IP of this radio is now
192.168.1.23 on the Starlink DHCP server as noted in Fig. 8 below.
Note if you are confused on the Local Node, you can power off the Remote Node and the single radio connected to the Starlink Router (and it’s IP Address) will be the Local Node.
Fig. 8 Clicking on “smartradio-xxx” Interface to Find Local Node IP
Remote Node:
The radio remotely connecting over Mesh Rider (RF) to the Local Node radio wirelessly. Where the Local Node connects via RJ-45 ethernet to the Starlink Router. In this example, if we click on
“smartradio-301a3a12c5” in the Starlink App, we can see the IP of this radio is now
192.168.1.24 on the Starlink DHCP server. See Fig.9 below.
Fig. 9 Clicking on “smartradio-xxx” Interface to Find Remote Node IP
End User Device (EUD):
The End User Device or EUD, ideally must be routed to accept the Local Node IP address as its gateway and still populate the 192.168.1.x /24 subnet. It is further optimal to set the EUD Gateway IP Address to that of the Local Node static IP Address. When wanting to use the Starlink based Internet Service Provider (ISP) access to internet it, on the EUD configure the network infrastructure to use Google Public DNS addresses, such as 8.8.8.8, for their clients.
Example EUD IP Routing:
• Static IP: 192.168.1.50
• Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
• Gateway IP: 192.168.1.23
• DNS : 8.8.8.8
Fig. 10 Example EUD Network Setup (Windows 11)
Network Testing:
Open a terminal on the EUD and first test if ‘google.com’ is reachable by pinging it within the terminal. In this test we can see a 24~44ms latency to ping google, shown in Fig. 11.
sean@doodle: ping google.com
Fig. 12 Ping Testing Google from the EUD
Further analysis of internet speed testing can be achieved with the utility ‘speedtest’ on the EUD, to download this and run testing us the following commands directly below. Here we can see by default the mesh rider configuration is not optimized for high-throughput ISP internet access. In Fig. 12 below, we can see 4.25 Mbps Download and 5.76 Mbps Upload speeds for reference. Further optimization of the ISP Throughput settings can be achieved in the next section.
sean@doodle: sudo apt install speedtest-cli
sean@doodle: speedtest --secure
Fig. 12 Speed Testing Internet (ISP) Throughput from the EUD
High-Throughput Optimizations:
Since the default optimization of Mesh Rider Radios is for low latency, we can generally expect ~5 Mbps Download and ~5 Mbps Upload with default Mesh Rider settings in a basic mesh configuration or ‘simpleconfig’. If you do not require an ISP or internet access for your application this throughput may be appropriate.
However, most common web browsers i.e. Google Chrome require a minimum of 2-5 Mbps for consistent use, such that these High-Throughput Optimizations may be required to achieve 20+ Mbps.
GUI Based High-Throughput Settings:
To be configured in the Graphic User Interface (GUI) on both the Local Node (Radio 1) and Remote Node (Radio 2) for best results. In this example, Local Node IP Address:
192.168.1.23 and Remote Node IP Address:
192.168.1.24, where these would be used in two different web browser windows.
Go to Advanced ==> Network Configuration ==> Traffic Prioritization and uncheck the following: Optimize for Robustness, Optimize for Latency, Enable Automatic C&CFig. 13 Uncheck Robustness, Latency and Automatic C&C Que
Then uncheck Enable Differentiated Services:
Fig. 14 Uncheck Enable Differentiated Services:
CLI Based High-Throughput Settings:
If you prefer the Command Line Interface (CLI), you can utilize the below commands to achieve the same result. Note you will have to SSH root@LocalNode and SSH root@RemoteNode, which in our example would be Local Node: 192.168.1.23 and Remote Node: 192.168.1.24.
CLI for Local Node:
sean@doodle: ssh root@192.168.1.23
root@smartradio-301a505d95:~#
uci set diffserv.@general[0].diversity_rates='0'
uci set diffserv.@general[0].low_latency='0'
uci set diffserv.@qdetection[0].qdetection_enabled='0'
uci set diffserv.@general[0].enabled='0'
uci commit
/etc/init.d/diffserv restart
wifi
CLI for Remote Node:
sean@doodle: ssh root@192.168.1.24
root@smartradio-301a505d95:~#
uci set diffserv.@general[0].diversity_rates='0'
uci set diffserv.@general[0].low_latency='0'
uci set diffserv.@qdetection[0].qdetection_enabled='0'
uci set diffserv.@general[0].enabled='0'
uci commit
/etc/init.d/diffserv restart
wifi
High-Throughput Setting Network Testing:
As above utilize the ‘speedtest’ on the EUD, to download this and run testing us the following commands directly below. In Fig. 15 below, we can see 17.56Mbps Download and 18.71Mbps Upload speeds for reference. The throughput can be further increased by the High-Bandwidth optimizations in the next section.
sean@doodle: speedtest --secure
Fig. 15 Speed Testing High-Throughput Settings from the EUD
GUI Based High-Bandwidth Settings:
We can further increase the throughput +20Mbps by increasing the bandwidth from the default 10MHz to a larger 20MHz - 40MHz (note larger bandwidth may be more susceptible to noise, especially at the 2.4-GHz frequency). In general, it is not always recommended to operate 2.4-GHz at >20MHz so these High-Bandwidth settings are more beneficial to M1-M6 Hex bands, 915-MHz or other bands that are not co-populated with Wi-Fi interference.
In the Graphic User Interface (GUI) on both the Local Node (Radio 1) and Remote Node (Radio 2) , required to change to the same bandwidth on both nodes or nodes will not connect. In this example, Local Node IP Address: 192.168.1.23 and Remote Node IP Address: 192.168.1.24 , where these would be used in two different web browser windows.
Go to Advanced ==> Network Configuration ==> Wireless ==> Edit (wlan0) and select the following: Bandwidth = 40MHz
Fig. 16 Change the Radio’s (i.e. wlan0) Bandwidth to 40MHz
CLI Based High-Bandwidth Settings:
Note you will have to SSH root@LocalNode and SSH root@RemoteNode, which in our example would be Local Node: 192.168.1.23 and Remote Node: 192.168.1.24 .
CLI for Local Node:
sean@doodle: ssh root@192.168.1.23
root@smartradio-301a505d95:~#
uci set wireless.radio0.htmode='HT40'
uci set wireless.radio0.chanbw='40'
uci commit
wifi
CLI for Remote Node:
sean@doodle: ssh root@192.168.1.24
root@smartradio-301a505d95:~#
uci set wireless.radio0.htmode='HT40'
uci set wireless.radio0.chanbw='40'
uci commit
wifi
High-Throughput + High-Bandwidth Network Testing:
In Fig. 17 below, we can see 23.50 Mbps Download and 25.15 Mbps Upload speeds for reference.
sean@doodle: speedtest --secure
Fig. 17 Speed Testing High-Throughput + High-Bandwidth Settings from the EUD
Unlicensed vs. Licensed Frequency Performance:
The previous testing has been done on unlicensed 2.45GHz Channel 7 or 2.442GHz which is heavily impacted by background and environmental 2.4GHz Wi-Fi interference. The following test below utilizes the licensed 2.245GHz Channel 51 or 2.25GHz (M3 Hex Band, 2200-2290 MHz) to avoid Wi-Fi or noise interference with the same settings as above.
In Fig. 18 below, we can see 31.62 Mbps Download and 31.89 Mbps Upload speeds for reference.
sean@doodle: speedtest --secure
Fig. 18 Speed Testing Unlicensed Frequency (i.e. 2.25GHz)
Mesh Rider to Starlink Setup ➡️ Wearable or OEM Wi-Fi to Router
The Wearable and OEM Mesh Rider Radios also have an onboard Wi-Fi radio (wlan1) which can be used as alternative to connect to the Starlink Router in the absence of wire access. The wlan1 instance has a range < 50m and can act as Client to connect to the Starlink Router which acts as an Access Point (AP). The name of the Starlink AP can be configured in the Starlink App, but in this example is “DoodleSATCOM”.
Note: Wi-Fi Client access to the Starlink Router will not work with the Mini- or Nano-OEM who do not have a secondary Wi-Fi radio (wlan1) that the Wearable and OEM radio have.
Fig. 19 Wearable Radio Wi-Fi + Starlink Hardware Integration
Local Node Setup with the EUD Hotspot Wizard:
The radio wirelessly connected via Wi-Fi radio (wlan1) to the Starlink Router. In this example we are using the EUD Hotspot Wizard to connect to the Starlink Router named
“DoodleSATCOM”. For more information on the EUD Wizard check out the
GCS Profile and EUD Wizard Guide.
In the GUI, go to Advanced ==> Services ==> EUD Hotspot Wizard and check the following: Enable Hotspot Wizard, Enable Hotspot Wizard, Enable the SCAN for HotspotThen click the
SCAN FOR HOTSPOT button to begin the scan.
Fig. 20 Setup EUD Hotspot Wizard
Then, find your Starlink’s network name (in this case “DoodleSATCOM”) and then click HOTSPOT ASSITANT to configure the wireless security.
Fig. 21 EUD Hotspot Wizard Scan for Starlink Network Name
In the Hotspot Assistant enter the Wireless Key for security (i.e. password) and click SUBMIT. Then go back to the main EUD Hotspot Wizard page and select SAVE AND APPLY
Fig. 22 Enter Password in the Hotspot Assistant
You can now view the status of the Hotspot wizard in the EUD Hotspot Wizard Status log.
If successful it should read “Successfully linked to the hotspot with the SSID “STARLINK NETWORK NAME”.
Fig. 23 EUD Hotspot Logs Show Connection to Starlink Network
Wi-Fi Networking + IP Addressing
After the EUD Wizard is initialized for wlan1, the primary radio wlan0 will change its IP configuration from 10.223.x.y/16 to 10.x.y.1/8 . In our example the Local Nodes original address was 10.223.93.149 and after the EUD Wizard is now 10.93.149.1 . If the application required an EUD on the Local Node topology, this would look like Fig. 24 and the EUD would have example IP Addressing found in Fig. 25 below.
Fig. 24 Starlink Wi-Fi Connection to Radio + EUD
Fig. 25 Example Wi-Fi EUD Network Setup (Windows 11)
Other Advanced Wi-Fi Network Topologies:
Starlink => Wi-Fi => Local Node => Mesh Rider (RF) => Remote Node => Wired => EUD
Fig. 26 Example Wi-Fi => Mesh Rider => Wired Network
Starlink => Wi-Fi => Local Node => Mesh Rider (RF) => Remote Node => Wi-Fi => EUD
Fig. 27 Example Wi-Fi => Mesh Rider => Wi-Fi Network
Wi-Fi Throughput Optimizations:
The Wearable and OEM radio by default do not have Turbo Mode enabled and without Turbo Mode the radio will have a throughput cap at 6 Mbps (which can be modified in the GUI). Furthermore, in the CLI, changing the bandwidth up to 40MHz will also improve throughput for internet or ISP applications. To note, as in the other sections, higher throughput will be more susceptible to interfering noise.
GUI Wi-Fi Throughput Optimizations:
Go to Advanced ==> System ==> Wearable/ and enable or enter the following:
Turbo Mode: Enabled
Fig. 28 Enabling Turbo Mode and Higher Throughput Cap for the Wearable/OEM
CLI Wi-Fi Based High-Bandwidth Settings:
Note you will have to SSH root@LocalNode and SSH root@RemoteNode, which in our example would be Local Node: 10.93.149.1 and Remote Node: IP Address will vary based on network setup. However, Remote Node (if required) will have the same uci commands below as for the Local Node
CLI for Local Node:
root@doodle: ssh root@10.93.149.1
root@smartradio-301a505d95:~#
uci set wireless.radio1.htmode='HT40'
uci set wireless.radio1.chanbw='40'
uci commit
wifi
Wi-Fi Network Testing:
In Fig. 29 below, we can see 42.43Mbps Download and 33.64Mbps Upload speeds for reference. The throughput can be further increased by the High-Bandwidth optimizations in the next section.
sean@doodle: speedtest --secure
Fig. 29 Speed Testing Wi-Fi High-Throughput + High-Bandwidth Settings from the EUD