Getting Started with AREDN
Getting on AREDN takes three steps: get supported hardware, flash it with AREDN firmware, and set it to the band and channel the local mesh uses.
1. Check your hardware
AREDN runs on specific commercial WiFi radios (and some PC/virtual targets). You may already own a supported device—check the official Supported Devices list before buying anything. See our Equipment page for what works well in our region.
AREDN is now Babel-only (version 4+)
As of the 4.x production releases, AREDN has dropped the legacy OLSR routing protocol in favor of Babel. If you have older nodes, get them onto a recent 3.25.x (or newer) release so they speak Babel before joining. See the AREDN release notes for details.
2. Flash AREDN firmware
Follow the official AREDN documentation — the Getting Started → Installing AREDN Firmware section — for your specific device. The first-time flash procedure varies by manufacturer, and the official docs are excellent and kept current, so we won't duplicate them here.
We periodically host flashing parties where experienced members help you get a node loaded and configured. Watch Discord and the events on our home page for the next one.
3. Use our local band and channel
In the Puget Sound region we primarily use 2.4 GHz, Channel -2 (2397 MHz) with 10 MHz bandwidth.
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Band | 2.4 GHz |
| Channel | -2 (2397 MHz) |
| Bandwidth | 10 MHz |
HamWAN has asked that we avoid the 5 GHz space where possible, since that is what they primarily occupy. If you need a link that 2.4 GHz can't make, coordinate on Discord first.