I’m sorry if the answer is obvious, but what is the /interface mesh mesh-portal option used for and when should it be set to yes? I read the description on the wiki, but I still don’t understand.
mesh-portal (boolean, default: no) – whether this interface is a portal in the mesh network
Thanks
My mistake, the answer is posted on the wiki…
In proactive mode there are some routers configured as portals. In general being a portal means that router has interfaces to some other network, i.e. it is entry/exit point to the mesh network.
The portals will announce their presence by flooding Root Announcement (RANN) message in the network. Internal nodes will reply with a Path Registration (PREG) message. The result of this process will be routing trees with roots in the portal.
Routes to portals will serve as a kind of default routes. If an internal router does not know path to a particular destination, it will forward all data to its closest portal. The portal will then discover path on behalf of the router, if needed. The data afterwards will flow through the portal. This may lead to suboptimal routing, unless the data is addressed to the portal itself or some external network the portals has interfaces to.
Proactive mode is best suited when most of traffic goes between internal mesh nodes and a few portal nodes.