I'm hoping someone here can give me some advice on hardware for wireless multipoint communication. I do not have any specifics yet, as this is still just a preliminary fact-finding to determine feasibility.
I am looking to have a hybrid mesh configuration between several terminals, some mobile, some stationary. A single terminal will act as a master control. If a terminal is out of range of the master, an intermediary will relay signals (probably no more than a ttl of 2 to reduce network congestion). If no master is within range a slave terminal will switch to master mode. Some stations will have Bluetooth or WiFi (haven't decided which yet), so ideally the solution will not interfere with nor receive interference from WiFi/Bluetooth. Network size will start at 4 devices but will likely increase to 8, with 16 being the total expected devices including the master.
It appears the Series 2.5 XBees would support this type of network. Has anyone tried multipoint connections with the XBees or have any other recommendations? I am open to any suggestions in either network design or hardware.