FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to radio frequency network systems for connecting a plurality of information and communication technology (ICT) operating points and in particular to a solar powered outdoor Wi-Fi mesh network for rural application. The mesh network can be monitored remotely for its functioning and fault detection.

BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART

Post-Independence, successive governments of India have been speaking about the necessity to digitally connect far flung and interiors of India. It is a well-known fact that till date majority of the 600,000 villages of India are not connected digitally, or even if they are, the connection is at most tenuous. Internet access is spotty and non-existent at most places thus creating a “Digital Divide” between the Urban and Rural population.
The Government of India has launched an ambitious program called the National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) to help improve connectivity but this is only a partial solution. The project which has been in operation since 2010 has been able to provide fiber connectivity to around 30,000 of a total of around 250,000 Gram Panchayats (GP). These 250,000 potential end-points have to further extend connectivity to over 600,000 Villages in India which will be left unconnected by this project. Even at those GPs where the fiber is terminated, there is no way of distributing the bandwidth to all the residents of the village.
The project was started, but without an answer as to what happens after the fiber and Internet bandwidth reaches the GP or village with fiber terminated as ONT (optical network terminal), located typically in a Block office or School.
There was no plan for what the utilization of the Internet in that village and how villagers would be using it.
Understanding this untapped opportunity, which now falls under the Smart Villages scheme of the Government of India under the CSC (Common Services Centers), the applicants have created a low-cost and scalable technology solution to solve this problem by creating a mesh Wi-Fi network within the village that can be accessed by smart phones. A mesh Wi-Fi network consists of multiple Wi-Fi access points that are able to connect to each other wirelessly (unlike the traditional Wi-Fi network which requires expensive cabling between each access point) with features such as zero configuration, self-healing and self-discovery that lends itself to rapid deployment and subsequent maintenance.
The applicants have provided a model of a so-called Smart-Village wherein the Internet bandwidth is distributed within the village over a Wi-Fi network powered by solar system, as availability of power is almost nil in most villages.
The prior art discloses RF networks of various kinds which are intended to operates in urban areas where the subscriber population is high and there is no dearth of electricity. As such, they are incapable of being implemented in rural areas.
The present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art and provides internet services to the rural population.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the primary object of the invention is to provide a low cost and robust Wi-Fi mesh network capable of withstanding wide temperature and voltage variations.
Another object of the invention is to provide a Wi-Fi mesh network which can be rapidly installed by low-skilled or semi-skilled personnel just by following certain standard procedures and relying on visual LED indications.
A further object of the invention is to provide a Wi-Fi mesh network in which PWM solar charger with unique algorithm ensures optimum battery charging under all rural operating conditions.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a Wi-Fi mesh network that can be remotely monitored for healthy operation and fault finding.
Another object of the invention is to provide a Wi-Fi mesh network which can operate with wind power as optional alternative renewable power source.
A further object of the invention is to provide a Wi-Fi mesh network which generates employment in rural areas in the form of village level entrepreneurs (VLE).
How the foregoing objects are achieved will be clear from the following description. In this context it is clarified that the description provided is non-limiting and is only by way of explanation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention, some of the cost effective problems associated with Wi-Fi networks are overcome. Herein disclosed is a method and system for M2M dynamic information exchange on Wi-Fi Mesh Network system with features such as zero-configuration, self-discovery, self-healing, self-connecting.
In another embodiment, there is provided a WIFI mesh network with Plug-and-Play Auto-Sensing feature(s) so developed that any skilled personnel can rapidly deploy Wi-Fi networks in villages just by following certain thumb rules and relying on visual indications (LED) on Solar PV module and the wireless access points.
In another embodiment, the Installation & Commissioning process for the said WIFI mesh network does not requires any Laptop or Computers by the field technicians. The involvement of Laptops etc in Field deployments and Powering of the same has always poised a threat to any rural deployment and were the cause for huge cost & time overrun and eventually reason for such project failures.
In one aspect, the invention provides a configurable auto sensing mesh network for a wireless network. The network comprises a plurality of geographically spread gateways, a plurality of geographically spread access points, where each of the plurality of access points are in data communication with other access points and at least one gateway from the plurality of geographically spread gateways. The plurality of gateways is interspersed among the plurality of access points. The network comprises of a point of presence in data communication with the plurality of access points via direct wireless links provided by the plurality of gateways.
In a further aspect, the Wi-Fi mesh cluster network for a wireless network is solar powered.
In another further aspect the feature of auto sensing, self-discovery, self-healing, self-connecting includes further features of information exchange and allowing a mesh network device to communicate location information with a nearby network device at pre-determined physical location and invite contacts of the mesh network device to come to the pre-determined physical location. The network device sends various types of electronic messages on a mesh network. The dynamic information exchange also includes exchanging plural activity messages including a security identification authorization message for allowing access to a secure area.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The nature and scope of the present invention will be better understood from the accompanying drawings, which are by way of illustration of a preferred embodiment and not by way of any sort of limitation. In the accompanying drawings:-

Figure 1 illustrates the schema for solar powered outdoor self-discovery auto-sensing wi-fi mesh network in accordance with the present invention;
Figure 2 illustrates the schema of one mesh access point site with wi-fi access point with hybrid mains – solar power supply in accordance with the present invention;
Figure 3 is the back view of the IP55 enclosure showing the placement of LED indicators and antenna connectors.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Having described the main features of the invention above, a more detailed and non-limiting description of a preferred embodiment is given in the following paragraphs with reference to the accompanying drawings.
All through the specification including the claims, the technical terms and abbreviations are to be interpreted in the broadest sense of the respective terms, and include all similar items in the field known by other terms, as may be clear to persons skilled in art. Restriction or limitation if any referred to in the specification, is solely by way of example and understanding the present invention.
The “Solar-Powered Outdoor Wi-Fi Mesh Network with Remote Monitoring and Fault Detection” according to the present invention provides an innovative solution for making Internet connectivity available in rural area.
As briefly stated before, it is a comprehensive package with a set of minimum (6) six wireless Access Points (APs) loaded with self-discovery Auto-Mesh Firmware to form the Wi-Fi mesh network. Each AP is powered by solar power. However, wind power can also be used as alternate renewable energy power source for the mesh, which is included in the scope of the present invention. The APs forming the mesh are located in a distributed manner over a specified rural area, say of a village.
An IP55 non-metallic outdoor enclosure box with locking facility made of UV-rated base material houses the electronic components (viz. Battery, Solar Charge Controller, Mains Charger, Terminal Block and PV cables with connectors etc). The outdoor Screen Foiled Twisted Pair (SFTP) cable, mounting structure (specially perforated GI pipes) and fixtures are the other accessories. The design of the hardware is so compact that the AP does not require any appreciable floor space, hence an AP can be made almost in any building.
Enriched field experiences has lead to the development of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the mesh, enabling rapid installation and commissioning of the mesh in any given village in less than 48 hrs and make it operational. The villagers can then access Internet with their Smart phones (or any IP enabled devices like Tabs, Laptops etc. with Wi-Fi features) and avail any IP based service.
The applicants have developed a technical solution that addresses the critical challenges of rapid deployment of access networks in rural areas, specially in India, and similar emerging markets.
The salient features of the Wi-Fi mesh network are as follows:
i. It is low-cost, affordable and scalable. One of the biggest challenges to rural telecom initiatives is the sustainability of the project. It is chiefly due to the high capital expenditure and initially the low average revenue per user (ARPU). The present invention provides an optimized Wi-Fi solution for a village at a very affordable low cost (typically around INR 150,000 or $2,200). This includes supply, installation and commissioning of 6 to 8 mesh Wi-Fi Access Points and providing them with power from solar PV Systems. With the advent of such low-cost and effective Wi-Fi solution, technology “adoption” is high and scalability of the solution in multiple variants and combinations is opening infinite alternatives as to how it can be implemented.
The low cost of the mesh is a result of innovative measures taken in every aspect right from sourcing of materials, design, production, logistics, installation techniques and commissioning methodology.
The design of the electronics involved with the solar PV part as well as wireless radio PCB cards embrace a no-frills approach for the product, as it is targeted for rural application. All non-essential features like high voltage protection circuitry were removed and POE Injector provided instead of AC adaptor to keep the price low.

ii. Innovative features: The indigenously developed Wi-Fi Mesh Network has been provided with several features such as zero-configuration, self-discovery, self-healing and self-connecting to reduce installation time, make the equipment lighter and less dependent upon technicians.

iii. No requirement of skilled manpower: The Plug-and-Play Auto-Sensing feature is developed in such a way that any low-skilled or semi-skilled personnel can rapidly deploy Wi-Fi networks in villages within 48 hours just by following certain thumb rules in the SOP and relying on visual indications (LED) on Solar PV module and the wireless access points. This eliminates the need to find skilled and trained manpower at the village level for installing, running and maintaining the Wi-Fi mesh.

iv. Employment generation: Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) are recruited for running these meshes in the villages. They act as the local grass root level representatives of the Government and are also authorized to sell the Internet services to the end users at a commission. Thus the present invention also generates much sought after village level employment opportunity.

v. The Installation and Commissioning process does not require any laptop or computer, which is one of the biggest advantages of this invention. It is well known that such devices pose great hardship when there is no electricity for charging them. Moreover, the field technicians do not need to be computer-literate. Such devices were the cause for huge cost and time overrun and the main reason for such project failures.

Table 1 below gives the functional specification of the firmware of the mesh:

It is extremely difficult to operate wireless mesh networks in rural areas primarily due to the following conditions. Therefore, designing a successfully operating Wi-Fi mesh suitable for rural application is a challenge.
i) Unreliable or unavailable electric power.
ii) Wide variations in environmental temperatures, exposure to wide range of dust and humidity.
iii) Safety from the point of view of Radio wireless equipment, users and operating and maintaining staff.
iv) Safety of the internal battery for storage of electrical energy.
v) Wild changes in environmental temperatures, humidity and lightning impulses and surges, and
vi) Non-availability of ideal charging environment for internal Battery against all the given points and the wireless equipment deployed for the purpose and ensure maximum MTBF (Mean Time Between failure).
Several technical features have been incorporated in the Wi-Fi mesh according to the invention to overcome the above hardships of operating a rural mesh. Some of them are:
a) Providing PWM Solar Charger complying with standard charging characteristics mandated in International Standards and loaded with unique battery charging algorithm for optimally charging the batteries under all field conditions prevalent in rural areas.
b) Providing IP65 polycarbonate enclosure which is customized for light weight, water proof, vermin proof packaging.
c) Customized circuit board mounting arrangement is deployed for ease of installation and maintenance.
d) Using a mains charger exhaustively conditioned to work under high temperatures, which can withstand wide fluctuations in input power supply.
e) Preventing failure against high voltages surges.
f) Protection against over-charging of batteries when charging from mains supply.
g) Provision of wind turbine as an optional alternate renewable power source.
h) Entire set of electronic modules is made light weight for ease of transportation.
i) Solar panel output cables are provided with UV-proof conduit for protection against temperature and UV radiation and the resulting deterioration of the PVC wires.
j) Inclusion of a 12V to 24V booster on the PWM charger board itself.
k) Provision of resettable fuses in the DC circuits for preventing accidental short circuits.
Referring to figure 1, the solar powered outdoor Wi-Fi mesh network according to the present invention comprises of a plurality of wireless Access Points or AP (1-7). They are identical in construction and in their functioning. Each AP is loaded with self-discovery Auto-Mesh Firmware to form the Wi-Fi Mesh Network. The mesh has a minimum of six APs, the exemplary embodiment depicted in figure 1 having seven APs (1-7). As shown by broken lines connecting the APs, they are capable of communicating with one another through a Wi-Fi hotspot created for the mesh to function. A mesh is typically intended to serve the population of an average village. The APs are typically located distributed over the entire village area to be covered by the mesh so that a subscriber is well covered wherever he moves within the village. Of the APs, a particular AP, which is located closest to an optical network terminal ONT (8) and a Content Delivery Platform CDP (8’), is chosen for connecting to the ONT through optical fiber cable. In this example it is AP (1). CDP (8’) is meant to locally store Internet content for optimal bandwidth usage. ONT (8) is connected upstream with an optical line terminal OLT (9), also through optical fiber cable. While an ONT is meant to serve a village, an OLT caters to a much larger area and population which may comprise of several villages. As shown, OLT (9) is connected upstream to the Internet, which is fed by the CSS servers of the Government.
As mentioned previously, the Government sets up the OLTs, ONTs and the fiber optical cable network. Therefore, they are responsible only for delivering the Internet content to the village Wi-Fi mesh, in this case to the CDP (8’), which then percolates to AP (1), which in turn distributes it throughout the mesh to all the APs forming the mesh. The mesh is so designed, that as soon as a single AP receives the Internet, all the other APs of the entire mesh automatically get it. Each AP then acts as a mini Internet service provider (ISP) and broadcasts the Internet through its antenna. The antenna also receives the command signals of the subscribers for performing all Internet-related activity.
Figure 2 shows the arrangement of the major devices installed at one AP. Each AP is powered by solar Panel (10). An IP55 non-metallic outdoor enclosure box (11), with locking facility and made of UV-rated base material, houses the electronic components viz. battery (12), solar charge controller (13), mains charger (14), terminal block (16) and PV cables with their connectors. The mains charger (14) is connected to electrical mains (15). The outdoor Screen Foiled Twisted Pair (SFTP) cable, mounting structure (pole) comprising of specially perforated GI pipes and fixtures are the other accessories required for an AP.
A mesh routing firmware (17) is located outside box (11), as also the solar panel (10) and electrical mains (15). The output from ONT (8) is connected to the CDP (8’) and then to the mesh routing firmware (17) of AP (1). The power over Ethernet (POE) output from firmware (17) is connected to terminal (16) by cable (18). The solar module (10) and the electrical mains (15) are connected to terminal (16) by cables (19) and (20) respectively. Terminal (16) is connected to both battery (12) and charge controller (13) through internal wiring of the enclosure box (11).
Now we refer to figure 3 showing the back view of box (11). The following LEDs are installed on the back panel of the box with the under mentioned functions.
Power LED (21): OFF shows AP is not receiving power; ON shows AP is receiving power.
Two LAN LEDs (22, 22’): OFF shows AP is not connected to the network.
ON shows AP is connected to the network, but not sending or receiving data.
Blink shows AP is sending or receiving data.
WLAN LED (23): (Access Point or Client Bridge Mode)
OFF shows AP radio is off and the device is not sending or receiving data over the wireless LAN.
ON shows AP radio is on, and the device is not sending or receiving data over the wireless LAN.
Blinking shows AP radio is on, and the device is sending or receiving data over the wireless LAN.
Signal Indicator LED (24): Red – Mesh Not established; Orange – Mesh Established and Green - Signal is good.
Apart from the above, under mentioned LEDs (not shown) are provided.
LED indicator is provided for the solar system. While charging of the solar system is on, it shows a blinking LED. For fully charged state, stable LED indication appears.
Also, LED for indicating that AC mains are connected, LED for indication of Low Battery state and LED for indicating ‘Load On’ after connecting the device are also provided.
Battery over-charge provision is activated as per international standards.
Figure 3 also shows the antenna connectors (25) located on the top end of the back panel of box (11).
A surge arrestor is provided at the input of the mains charger (14) to avoid failures due to high voltage surges in power line and lightning surges. The electronic cards are vertically mounted in enclosure (11) to deter settlement of dust and expected precipitation.
The PWM solar charger (13) operates in two charging modes, namely boost mode and absorption mode. Low battery cut-off is exercised when battery discharges below a predetermined level. Solar charger (13) is equipped with a unique battery charging algorithm to ensure optimum battery charging in all conditions.
Resettable fuses are provided in the DC circuits for preventing accidental short circuits.
A 12V to 24V booster is provided on the PWM solar charger (13) board itself. The Power over Ethernet (POE) is made available on the PWM solar charger board itself.
The polycarbonate enclosure box (11) is designed to be vertically mounted on a wall with a vermin proof gland at the bottom.
Each AP being solar powered, the availability of maximum power is restricted to only a few hours each day, when the sun is at its peak. In the remaining daylight period, the power available is lower. In bad weather conditions the total power generation falls miserably. Although a mains charger is provided, the availability of electricity in rural areas is very low to nil. The mains charger (14) is suitable to take care of the wide voltage variations prevailing in rural areas when electric power is available.
Therefore, maintaining the health of the battery is a big challenge in such conditions. To tackle this problem, the PWM solar charge controller (13) is provided with a unique battery charging algorithm which ensures optimum utilization of available solar energy for maximum charging of the battery. This makes the Wi-Fi mesh very suitable for the harsh conditions prevailing in rural areas.
Outdoor environment and exposure to heat and dust are known deterrents. Proper care is taken to limit temperature rise of the circuits under live conditions under the extreme temperatures prevailing.
A surge arrestor is provided at the PV input of the solar charger for lightning protection. The interconnecting solar wires are protected against deterioration by using UV safe conduits.
The customized polycarbonate enclosure (11) prevents long term aging due to UV exposure and temperature variations.

Remote monitoring and fault detection:
The solar powered Wi-Fi mesh according to the present invention offers a unique feature. It is well known that the logistics involved in the maintenance of such systems deployed in rural areas is very expensive. These systems must work like stand-alone systems operating in far flung locations. Although the mesh is designed as a robust one, capable of facing the harsh field conditions, faults are bound to occur. It becomes very costly and time consuming if technicians have to travel from metropolitan areas for fault finding and then make a second trip with the required parts to fix the fault. It is also not acceptable that the mesh should lie idle for such long periods.
To address this issue, the W-Fi mesh of the present invention has been provided with a remote monitoring and fault finding feature through Zabbix data protocol.
A mobile device enters the coverage area of an access point communicates with the local access point is performed using IEEE 802.11 standards, a family of specifications for wireless networks. The access point communicates with a gateway providing a link to the point of presence, which in turn provides a connection to the Internet. The access pints are configured for the features of auto sensing, self-discovery, peering, self-healing, self-connecting and the features of information exchange and allowing a mesh network device to communicate with each other. Each 802.11 access point can support dozens of mobile devices by sharing. There can be up to six access points working in the same area, and each typically has a range of 200 feet at 300 Mbps and 300 feet at 150 Mbps. However, the access points can be more as well and this is within the scope of this invention.
Each of the access points has been provided with a unique firmware developed by the applicants which controls its functionality. The features of this firmware are as described below:-
a) The moment an AP is powered on and booted up, it sets up two SSIDs; one for access called “Wi-Fi Choupal” and the other for backhaul called “wMesh”.
b) The AP now commences to scan the RF Channels and when it encounters another AP broadcasting at the same wMesh SSID, it sets up a connection with it. In this way, all 6 APs connect to one another depending upon topology and range.
c) There is a layer 2 mesh protocol which then creates routing tables between these APs. The AP which is connected to the Internet Gateway terminal is known as the “root” AP and the others are called “mesh” AP.
d) Certain rules are formed for creating the mesh links. APs will only connect with each other if the received signal is better than -70dbm. This is to prevent losses due to unstable and bad links.
e) The whole network works at Layer 2 of the TCP/IP Network model. All client devices like smart phones, tablets, laptops etc. which connect to the mesh network are routed to the Internet by these mesh APs.
f) Every time a new AP is added to the network, it joins the existing mesh and the topology will get automatically updated at all the mesh APs so that they are aware of the new entrant to the network.

Installation and commissioning of the Wi-Fi mesh:
Many information and communication technology (ICT) projects in India and similar third world countries fail or never get executed and usually report huge time and budget overruns because of one major factor. Typically, they are planned assuming normal availability of power in rural areas, and by including a laptop as a key tool to configure the systems in these rural ICT project deployments.
Due to high commercial losses, only a fraction of power sent by the Power Distribution companies reach rural areas and even then, it is available only in the wee hours say after 12 midnight to morning 6 am mainly to meet irrigation needs.
So by and large power is not available in rural India during daytime and this non-availability of power is a big deterrent for powering the laptops. Hence, say after 48 hrs or so, i.e., on the 3rd day of the installation the laptop goes off. The engineer must come back to the nearest town/city for charging of laptop, which means cost and time overrun. Eventually it exceeds the budget envisaged earlier and project comes to a halt.
Moreover, availability of enough skilled manpower and trained engineers for rural deployment would be challenging task.
Due to the extensive rural ICT deployment experience, the applicants foresaw these problems and designed a system which does depend on a Laptop for its installation and commissioning. The system also does not require skilled technicians for this activity. The deployment of the mesh of the present invention can even be accomplished by low-skilled local technicians.
To overcome these problems, the system itself has been made more intelligent. Any layman with basic instructions or following the LED lights can install the present system.
Accordingly, the method of installation and commissioning of the Wi-Fi mesh according to the present invention comprises of the following steps:
a) Unpacking solar panel (10) and enclosure box (11);
b) Fixing the mounting structure (pole) with fasteners;
c) Fixing the enclosure box (11);
d) Fixing solar panel (10) facing south direction at 30° inclination;
e) Connecting solar panel (10) with the “PV-in” terminal on terminal block (16) located within the enclosure box (11) by cable (19);
f) Connecting electric mains (15) through mains charger (14) with “Mains-in” terminal of terminal block (11) in the enclosure box by cable (20);
g) Connecting battery (12) with terminal box (11) by internal wiring of terminal box (11);
h) Connecting POE from mesh routing firmware (17) to terminal block (11) for AP powering over Screen Foiled Twisted Pair (SFTP) cable (18) and RJ45 connectors:
i) Checking LED (24) for right connection and powering as under: -
LED Indicator of the Access Point (24) is green: Signal is good; Orange: Mesh is established; Red: Mesh not established; and
j) Checking two LAN LEDs (22,22’) as under:
First LED (22) “Green” for link established, “Red” if no link established; Both LEDs (22, 22’) “Green” if link quality > 50dBm and only second LED (22’) “Green” if link quality > 70dBm.

Advantages:
Some of the non-limiting advantages of the present invention are mentioned in the list below. Other advantages will be clear to a person skilled in the art from the description provided above.
• Low cost and robust Wi-Fi mesh network capable of withstanding wide temperature and voltage variations.
• Installation and commissioning of the mesh requires does not require any laptop or computers.
• Can be rapidly installed in less than 48 hrs by low-skilled or semi-skilled personnel just by following certain standard procedures and relying on visual indications.
• An AP does not require much floor space for installation of its hardware, hence can be made almost in any building.
• PWM solar charger with unique algorithm ensures optimum battery charging under all rural operating conditions.
• Can be monitored for healthy operation and fault finding remotely.
• IP65 polycarbonate enclosure for components ensures long life and smooth operation.
• Can operate with wind power as optional alternative renewable power source.

The present invention has been described with reference to some drawings and a preferred embodiment purely for the sake of understanding and not by way of any limitation and the present invention includes all legitimate developments within the scope of what has been described herein before and claimed in the appended claims.

We claim:
1. A solar powered outdoor Wi-Fi mesh network comprising of:
a plurality of geographically spread gateways;
a plurality of geographically spread wireless Access Points APs (1-7) located distributed over an area to be covered by the mesh, wherein each of the plurality of access points are in communication with other access points and at least one gateway from the plurality of geographically spread gateways, the plurality of gateways interspersed among the plurality of access points; wherein the said APs being identical in construction and functioning and also being capable of communicating with one another through a Wi-Fi hotspot created in the mesh and wherein access point communication with other local access point and / or gateway is performed using IEEE 802.11 standards.

2. The Wi-Fi mesh network as claimed in claim 1, wherein said plurality of APs comprises of a minimum of six APs powered by solar power and loaded with self-discovery auto-mesh firmware.

3. The Wi-Fi mesh network as claimed in claim 1, wherein each AP comprises of a mesh routing firmware (17), a solar panel (10), an IP55 non-metallic outdoor enclosure box (11) with locking facility and made of UV-rated base material to prevent long term aging due to UV exposure and temperature variations housing a battery (12), a solar charge controller (13), terminal block (16) and PV cables with their connectors, mains charger (14), an outdoor Screen Foiled Twisted Pair (SFTP) cable and mounting structure (pole) comprising of specially perforated GI pipes and fixtures.

4. The Wi-Fi mesh network as claimed in claims 1 and 3, wherein the mains charger (14) is connected to terminal (16) and electrical mains (15) by external cable (20), solar panel (10) is connected to terminal (16) by external cable (19), the Power Over Ethernet (POE) output of mesh routing firmware (17) is connected to terminal (16) by external cable (18), terminal (16) being also connected to both battery (12) and charge controller (13) through internal wiring of the enclosure box (11).
5. The Wi-Fi mesh network as claimed in any previous claim, wherein the mesh network is provided with zero-configuration, self-discovery, self-healing and self-connecting features to reduce installation time, make the equipment lighter and less dependent upon technicians.

6. The Wi-Fi mesh network as claimed in claims 1 and 3, wherein the solar charge controller (13) is a PWM charger complying with international standards charging characteristics and loaded with unique battery charging algorithm to ensure optimum battery charging under all field conditions in rural areas, wherein a 12V to 24V booster is provided on the PWM charger board itself.

7. The Wi-Fi mesh network as claimed in any previous claim, wherein the mesh network is adapted to be installed and commissioned by semi-skilled or unskilled persons without the help of any laptop or computer within 48 hours by merely following Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the mesh and relying on visual indications (LED) on solar module (10) and the wireless access points.

8. The Wi-Fi mesh network as claimed in any previous claim, wherein one surge arrestor each is provided at the inputs of the mains charger (14) and the solar charger (13) to avoid failures due to high voltage surges in power line and lightning surges, the interconnecting solar wires being protected against deterioration by UV safe conduits.

9. The Wi-Fi mesh network as claimed in any previous claim, wherein the network is adapted to operate with wind power as optional alternative renewable power source.