Networking with a Base Station
=================================

Most Herons come with a base station.  This is a portable, weather-proof unit that includes a long-range wireless
antenna, as well as ethernet ports allowing LAN and WAN connections.

If your Heron shipped with a base station, the robot and base station will come pre-configured to operate with
each other.


Connecting the Base Station to the Internet
--------------------------------------------

Heron's base station has a WAN port located on the bottom of the case.  Connect the base station to your network by
connecting an ethernet cable into this port, ensuring that the other end of the cable is connected to a router or
switch with internet access.

.. image:: images/base_station_wan.jpg
    :alt: Base station WAN port

In order for your Heron to access the internet through the base station you must ensure that Heron's networking is
configured to use the base station as its primary gateway.

If using Netplan to configure the network, ensure that

.. code-block:: yaml

    nameservers:
      addresses:
        - 8.8.8.8
        - 8.8.4.4
    gateway4: 192.168.131.50

is present under the ``br0`` interface in ``/etc/netplan/50-clearpath-bridge.yaml``.  See :doc:`network` for more
details on configuring Netplan.

If using the older ``/etc/network/interfaces`` file instead of Netplan, ensure that

.. code-block:: kconfig

    gateway          192.168.131.50
    dns-nameservers  8.8.8.8  8.8.4.4

is present in the ``br0`` network.


Connecting to a Base Station
------------------------------

If your robot came with a base station you can connect your computer to the base station's wireless network using
your computers normal tools.  The SSID of the base station will look something like ``<robot's hostname>-base-station``,
for example ``cpr-m300-1234-base-station``

The robot will connect to the base station automatically when both are powered-on and
in-range of each other.  The following IP addresses will be used by the base station:

+---------------------+----------------------------------+
|IP Address/Range     | Use                              |
+=====================+==================================+
| 192.168.131.1       | The Heron itself                 |
+---------------------+----------------------------------+
| 192.168.131.50      | The base station                 |
+---------------------+----------------------------------+
| 192.168.131.100-254 | DHCP range for connected devices |
+---------------------+----------------------------------+

.