Dynamic tunnel establishment in a mesh network

A method of establishing a wireless mesh network, the method comprising:

• receiving, through the one or more transceivers, a plurality of routing packets from at least one upstream node of the wireless mesh network, wherein reception of the plurality of routing packets is facilitated by a first Internet protocol (IP) version;
• selecting an upstream routing path to an upstream gateway based on a routing path quality as determined based at least in part on the received plurality of routing packets;
• determining from the plurality routing packets whether a first upstream node directly upstream from the node of the upstream routing path supports a second IP version;
• and
• establishing an IP tunnel with the upstream gateway or a second upstream node of the upstream routing path that supports the second IP version if the first upstream node does not support the second IP version.

A node of a wireless mesh network, the node comprising:

• one or more transceivers for communicating with other devices of the wireless mesh network;
• and
• a processor operative to perform operations including:
• receiving, through the one or more transceivers, a plurality of routing packets from at least one upstream node of the wireless mesh network, wherein reception of the plurality of routing packets is facilitated by a first Internet protocol (IP) version;
• selecting an upstream routing path to an upstream gateway based on a routing path quality as determined based at least in part on the received plurality of routing packets;
• receiving, through the one or more transceivers, a plurality of data packets from at least one downstream node, wherein each data packet of the plurality of data packets is compliant with a second IP version;
• encapsulating each data packet of the plurality of data packets that are compliant with the second IP version with a header that is compliant with the first IP version;
• and
• transmitting the encapsulated data packets upstream to the upstream gateway or an upstream node that supports the second IP version.