Characterizing the multimedia service capacity of wireless mesh networks for rural communities

Wireless mesh networks (WMNs) are next generation networks that have emerged as a promising technology capable of providing broadband connectivity at low cost, and offers advantages in scenarios where cabling is too expensive or prohibitive. Rural communities are a good example of these kind of scenarios. Deployment of WMNs in rural communities can be done with a low budget, and expansion of the network can be done as the community grows. In this paper we evaluate the performance of a small scale wireless mesh network, comparing two well known routing protocols for WMNs, B.A.T.M.A.N. Advanced and the 802.11s standard, against an OpenFlow controller. Then, by deploying a testbed we verify their bandwidth, datagram loss and jitter. Finally, our results show that both routing protocols have advantages and disadvantages. Besides, the OpenFlow approach shows an acceptable performance compared to the routing protocols; however, some adjustments are needed to optimize the performance of OpenFlow in WMNs. Our contribution in this paper is the characterization of the multimedia service capacity of wireless mesh networks for rural communities.