Bay Area Backbone
The goal of the Bay Area Backbone Project is to provide a fast, IP microwave based networking between amateur high sites in the Bay Area. The backbone provides IP connectivity within the network and can provide public IPv4 address for full Internet connectivity when required.
The network is available to any amateur operator needing connectivity to, from or between supported sites.
Sites
Detailed site configuration can be found here.
- Black Mountain (Site 4) - Palo Alto
- CCCC - Richmond (pending)
- Fire Station 8 - Palo Alto
- Fish Ranch - Oakland/Orinda
- Mount Allison - Fremont (pending)
- ORCA - Oakland/Orinda
- Oxford - Berkeley
- San Bruno Mountain (Building 4) - Brisbane
- San Bruno Mountain (Building 7) - Brisbane
- Sunol Ridge - Sunol
- Wolfback - Sausalito
Want to become part of the network? We'll provide everything you need to get connected.
ARIN
American Registry for Internet Numbers
Organizations
Points of Contact
- TECH1410-ARIN - Tech
- WILKI322-ARIN - General
Networks
- NET-206-197-44-0-1 - 206.197.44.0/24
- NET6-2620-B8-A000-1 - 2620:B8:A000::/48
Autonomous System Numbers
FCC
Federal Communications Commision
- FRN: 0031037245
Experimental Licenses
A number of the backbone links operate with experimental 6GHz licenses in the U-NII-5 band.
- Fish Ranch to San Bruno Mtn 7 & San Bruno Mtn 4 - WN2XRO
- San Bruno Mtn 7 to San Carlos, Swallow, Fire Station 8 & Black Mountain - WN2XUD
- Wolfback to ORCA, Oxford, CCCC - WN2XTR
Network Structure
Radios
A minimal backbone endpoint consists of two radios providing a point-to-point link between two sites. Ideally a site provides at least two links so the network can be extended from that point. In some places we use point-to-multipoint radios to provide additional shared links from a single site. We currently deploy the following:
Routers
Any router capable of supporting OSPF can be used to support the radios. We currently deploy the following:
Software
The backbone network runs OSPF
Services
A typical backbone node provide the following services:
- Private IPv4 address: A subnet of 100.100.X.X/24 is assigned to the router. Addresses from this range can be automatically or statically allocated to devices connected to the router. All addresses can be routed to the Internet (but not from the Internet). The subnet is allocated to VLAN 1100 internally. A router may choose to restrict this using a firewall.
- Public IPv4 address: Specific public IP address from the subnet 206.197.44.X/24 can be allocated to specific routers and/or ports. Traffic to these addresses can be routed to and from the Internet. Addresses are managed using policy based routing. No traffic is routed into the network for an address which is not allocated.
- Public IPv6 address: A subnet of 2620:B8:A000::/64 is assigned to the router. Addresses are allocated to a device using SLAAC. Traffic to these addresses can be routed to and from the Internet. A router may choose to restrict this using a firewall or choose to not participate in IPv6 routing at all.
Management
Links
Active
- Black Mountain (Site 4)
- CCCC
- Fire Station 8
- Fish Ranch
- Mount Diablo
- ORCA
- Oxford
- Richmond Field Station
- San Bruno Mountain (Building 4)
- San Bruno Mountain (Building 7)
- San Carlos
- Sunol Ridge
- Swallow
- Wolfback
Planned
Proposed
Peering and IP Transit
The backbone network uses three IP Transit points to facilitate access to and from the public Internet using BGP.
- FreeRangeCloud BGP Tunnel (Fremont)
- August Internet Transit (Kansas City)
- Route64.org (Kansas City)
Connections to these transit points are via Wireguard tunnels from the Oxford site. The Oxford site uses fiber as the primary with Starlink as the backup.
Peering Information
History
The first backbone link, between Fish Ranch and San Bruno Mountain, was installed on the 23rd November, 2021 and became operational on 3rd September, 2022. The goal was to provide a solid connection across the Bay which the AREDN network could use. It had been observed by the AREDN network builders in Southern California, that a better quality and more stable network could be constructed by creating a solid, well engineered backbone, to which local community AREDN networks could connect.
Projects
Bay Area Mesh on the Backbone
Using the Bay Area Backbone to support the Bay Area Mesh has a number of advantages for the Mesh:
- It easier to connect high sites to other high sites, especially when we're trying to connect different neighborhoods while avoiding mountain ridges.
- High sites are often backed up with generator power. We provide battery backup ourselves, but that will only last so long.
- High sites will be there when the Ham moves on. Because these are generally commercial sites with long histories of ham involvement, we are not a the whims of someones current housing situation or - in some cases - employment situation.
- It's often easier for a neighborhood to connect up to a high site (or more than one) as they're less obstructed.
Status
The current health of the backbone is monitored here (internet)
Hardware
The mesh operates on the Backbone by creating point-to-point connections between mesh sites (these are called xlinks - see below). Mikrotik hAP ac2 nodes provide the the mesh endpoint hardware. The traffic is routed between the specified IP addresses of the xlink. The underlying network may encapsulate this traffic if desired. We often use VLANs.
XLINKS
XLINKS are custom VLANs between sites which feed directly into the AREDN router. Think of them as DtD links, but only point-to-point.
Link | VLAN | A | B | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
San Bruno Mountain to Swallow | 10 | 100.64.0.21 | 100.64.0.22 | |
ORCA to Wolfback | 11 | 100.64.0.17 | 100.64.0.18 | |
ORCA to Fish Ranch | 12 | 100.64.0.13 | 100.64.0.14 | |
Fish Ranch to San Bruno Mountain (7) | 13 | 100.64.0.10 | 100.64.0.9 | |
San Carlos to Sunol Ridge | 14 | 100.64.0.6 | 100.64.0.5 | |
San Bruno Mountain to San Carlos | 15 | 100.64.0.1 | 100.64.0.2 | |
San Bruno Mountain to Fire Station 8 | 16 | 100.64.0.25 | 100.64.0.26 | |
Fire Station 8 to Mount Allison | 17 | 100.64.0.29 | 100.64.0.30 | |
Oxford to Wolfback | 18 | 100.64.0.33 | 100.64.0.34 | |
Fish Ranch to San Bruno Mountain (4) | 19 | 100.64.0.37 | 100.64.0.38 | |
San Bruno Mountain (7) to Black Mountain (4) | 20 | 100.64.0.41 | 100.64.0.42 | |
Sunol Ridge to Mount Allison | 21 | 100.64.0.45 | 100.64.0.46 | |
CCCC to Wolfback | 22 | 100.64.0.49 | 100.64.0.50 |
Backbone links appear in the mesh labeled as xlink but are no different from any other link in the network from AREDN's perspective.
WB6ECE Repeater Group Interconnect
WB6ECE Repeater Group operates a network on about a dozen sites south of the Bay Area. The interconnect project aims to share networks to provide greater redundancy and reduce duplicated effort.
The ultimate goal of the Interconnect project is to provide a BGP connection between the two.
Interconnect Points
There are three interconnect points.
San Bruno Mountain (Building 7)
Routers at San Bruno Mountain are connected via a 1 Gbps link.
- Subnet: 44.31.128.188/30
- BAB IP: 44.31.128.190
- WB6ECE IP: 44.31.128.189
- Routes: 44.31.128.0/22
Black Mountain (Site 4)
Proposed link - not currently active
- Subnet: 44.31.128.220/30
- BAB IP: 44.31.128.222
- WB6ECE IP: 44.31.128.221
- Routes: 44.31.128.0/22
Mount Allison
Not currently active
Contacts
- Tim Wilkinson - KN6PLV - tim@sfwem.net