Default Winlink RMS Gateways using 2m Packet radio REJECT all messages if the Internet is down!
I thought I’d do a webpage about this specifically as most articles seem to deal with automatic fallback on HF to radio forwarding when the Internet goes down, and the impression left on many is this is an HF-only function using Trimode, RMS Relay and the Winlink Hybrid Network. And don’t get me wrong, the HF side when configured for auto-fallback and Hybrid networking, is a piece of magic, but many local tactical situations can’t always use HF.
It is quite possible for a 2m VHF Winlink RMS Packet station (an RMS gateway) to operate as a standalone station on radio only. In this manner it can continue to receive any incoming Winlink messages via RF, and also send to any local Winlink clients connecting via RF. Why does this not sound odd? Well because the default RMS Packet software which operates a Winlink server actually rejects any incoming messages if it has lost it’s Internet connectivity. It won’t even store them for later sending, and it is effectively a dead duck. The reason for this is because normally messages are routed from the RMS Packet server up to Winlink CMSs on the Internet, waiting to be queried when the recipient later connects from somewhere else, and the messages are then routed down to where the recipient is. If there is no Internet, the RMS Packet server won’t accept messages as it does not know if (or when) it will again have Internet.
Winlink RMS Gateways with RMS Relay on 2m Packet CAN handle radio messaging if Internet is down. My linked page below gives a bit more detail on ensuring this can happen, but note it is not an auto-failover, an operator does have to throw a switch (well click a mouse on a radio button - pun intended) in the software.
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I thought I'd do a webpage about this specifically as most articles seem to deal with automatic fallback on HF to radio forwarding when the Internet goes down, and the impression left on many is this is an HF-only function using Trimode, RMS Relay and the Winlink Hybrid Network. And don't get me wrong, the...
