XBee-PRO 868 | Peer-to-Peer

XBee & XBee Gateway XBee - Point-to-Point/Multi-Point
1

Dear all,

I purchased some XBee-PRO 868 modules () for the research project I am working with.

The datasheets and flyers from digi mention the term “mesh” and “peer-to-peer”, e.g. http://www.digi.com/pdf/ds_xbeepro868.pdf.

In the last 2 weeks I tried to figure out how to send packets from one node to another via multiple hops. My testing setup is the following: A, B and C are XBee-PRO 868 modules with XBP08-DP firmware version 1061 configured in API-mode 2. All nodes are “Standard Nodes” (CE==0).

A <-> B <-> C

A is in range of B, B is in range of C but A is not in range of C. Sending data form A to B and from B to C works pretty well but I did not manage it to send data from A to C via B with an additional hop.

How do I have to configure the modules to get an peer-to-peer topology with multihop capabilities?

Would anybody help me with this? I really got stuck with this…

With the current configuration I have a strong suspicion that these modules are not able to form a real “mesh” or “peer-to-peer” network but just a point-to-multipoint topology. In this case I would strongly advice digi to change all the promotional material including datasheets etc. because the terms “mesh” and “peer-to-peer” suggests a capability which actually does not exist!

2

I do not think that particular model has a mesh firmware. So in ‘peer-to-peer’ mode you need to manually send the data from A to your CPU at B, and it has to manually forward/repeat to C.

I agree that little ‘peer-to-peer’ diagram is misleading.

Only the 868LP has automatic mesh support.

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• 868 MHz short-range device G3 band for Europe
• No configuration needed for out-of-the-box RF communications
• Common XBee® footprint for a variety of RF modules
• Outdoor RF line-of-sight range up to 80 km
• Simple to use peer-to-peer or point-to-multipoint topology
• Available iDigi Application Development Services