I have a couple of WRT54G nodes that I am getting setup.  One will be the main ‘on air” mesh node.  The other is for me to use for testing, demos, etc…

I currently have a XIPAR Allstar Desktop PC system running Centos and that is one of the things that I would like to access / provide IAX access across the Mesh.  I have a second NIC in the Allstar PC and that NIC is connected to one of the main Mesh node LAN ports.  Let’s call that node “Node 2”.  I have the LAN setting on Node 2 set to Direct.  I have IAX client support setup on the Allstar PC and it normally works fine with the iaxRpt client on other PCs, both internally on the home network and across the Internet.

I have a DHCP reservation for the Allstar PC second NIC on Node 2.  I currently have the firewall off on the Allstar PC for testing purposes.  It is already isolated from the Internet by a router firewall on that side of the other NIC on the home network.

With a Laptop connected to the LAN on my other mesh node, let’s call that one Node 5, I can see Node2 in the mesh status screen on Node 5, and I can see name of the Allstar PC from the DHCP reservation on Node 2.  I can access the web interface of Node 2 just fine across the mesh.  I also have DNS resolution at the Laptop of the Allstar PC across the mesh.  So far so good.

The problem is that I cannot access anything on the Allstar PC across the mesh.  I can plug the Laptop into a LAN port on the Node 2 router, and both IAX and SSH are working fine when connecting to the Allstar PC, so the interface in the PC is working fine and those services are functioning across that interface.  Even though the Help indicates the port forwards are not used in Direct mode, I tried that anyway with forwards configured at the Node 2 router, but still no joy.  I have tried specifying the Allstar PC IP address instead of the DNS name, while attempting connections across the mesh, but still no joy.
I have tried disabling the WAN interface on Node 2, thinking that maybe the router was getting confused, but that did not help.  There is currently nothing plugged into the WAN interface.

What am I missing?

Thanks

Dean  KD4TWJ

Using two DHCP nic will never work by default without more work.

What is most likely happening is you "LAN" nick of your PC is being chosen for getting  to 0.0.0.0(any unknown network) from your local network.

Add a route 10.0.0.0/8 on the allstar PC to go out via the mesh connected port.

The reason it works when your other PC is on the LAN port is because the Allstate PC knows that computers on the same DHCP subnet  can be accessed via the same port rather than going out via the default gateway.

Also see http://www.broadband-hamnet.org/hsmm-mesh-forums/view-postlist/forum-1-general/topic-796-dual-network-cards-in-pc.html

If your going to run dual ports on a single computer you need I consider running fully manual networking as your close to a server environment than a desktop environment at that point and while dhcp makes setup easy it's not intended to solve the problems of multiple ports.

One thing I like about networks stack.

It's the same with every operating system and device. The only difference is how you input the changes  to do what of want.

This is a simple question for which I can't seem to find a straight forward answer:

What should be the Node configuration that will enable connection to a LAN?  Could anyone provide a diagram and/or written description?

Objective: 

1. Access the MESH network from a LAN so any computer having access to the LAN can also access node traffic. 
2. Eliminate the need for wired connection to a mesh node and thus need to change DNS settings.
3. Provide remote access to MESH network via software such and "logMeIn" and similar applications. These application types should then provide secure access to both LAN and MESH assets.

While I could just experiment, it would be better to draw on previous experiences and knowledge.

Need:

• View emergency power generation assets, configuration, and status.  Applications that serve these purposes are currently working on the MESH network.

Want:

• Remote radio operation and control (future).

Thanks to anyone for their assistance.