I've seen reference to using IRLP over the mesh and am actually starting to think of a couple of situations where this might be quite convenient. I've had some moderately extensive to IRLP but am new to the mesh.

I haven't experimented with it yet, but here is what I know and understand and the scenario as I see it:

This IRLP node will have to be connected to a hsmm-mesh node (we will call this mesh node A). At some point, there are/will be other ways to integrate into the mesh more directly, but for the sake of this discussion let's declare that the only way to be a part of the mesh is by using a WRT54 device flashed with the hsmm-mesh firmware.

The mesh node that the IRLP node is connected to (mesh node A) may be using NAT or Direct mode. If the mesh node is in direct mode, no port forwarding will be required on that mesh node. If the mesh node is using NAT, the appropriate ports will need to be forward per IRLP specs from the mesh node to the IP of the IRLP node.

The other consideration then is the mesh node somewhere else in the mesh connected to the internet (mesh node B). The appropriate ports on that mesh node will need to be forwarded from the interface connected to the internet (WAN or LAN) to the mesh IP of the IRLP node. This will be the IP of the IRLP node itself if mesh node A is in direct mode, otherwise if mesh node A is in NAT mode then it will be the IP of the mesh node.

It is my understanding that if the “Mesh Gateway” box is checked on mesh node B, this is all that would be required and everything should work just fine. The “Mesh Gateway” advertises an internet connection that the IRLP node can use for it's outgoing connections and the port forwarding provides for the incoming connections.

I have two questions regarding this setup though. The first is whether there is a way to allow the outgoing requirements for the IRLP node without broadcasting “Mesh Gateway” and opening the internet connection for the rest of the mesh. The second question is somewhat related and is if there is some way to force mesh node A or the IRLP node to use mesh node B for an internet connection and simply fail, and try again later if mesh node B is unreachable or no longer has an internet connection.

Due to the way IRLP works, if the IRLP node were to have access to the internet via multiple “Mesh Gateways” the public internet address of the IRLP node would change each time a different gateway was used and I am certain that there would be undesired results. Also, the port forwarding for the IRLP node would need to be set at each mesh gateway or else a successful IRLP connection would not be able to be made using that gateway.

Anyone have any experience or insight into using the mesh as a way to get internet access to an IRLP node? Thoughts, comments, and suggestions are appreciated.