You have me confused. I assumed the outside 5.8GHz outside radio is wired directly to a client 2.4GH

Hi all, First post and all... so a quick intro. I'm a sys/net admin with a telecomms/radio background. Working vacation rentals in panama city beach fl on some big projects these days (usually ranging anywhere from $10k to over $4million, typical probably closer to $100k). I've been using Ubi products on and off for a few years now, but i'm looking to make use of it in a much bigger way on a few different projects i've got on the go at the moment. One of these is an accommodation project, similar i guess to what you might see in an american trailer park? Single story 'transportable' accommodation (which in reality gets put in, then never moved). Total distance across the motel is probably about 500-700 meters, with about 2000 residents. The rooms are split into blocks of varying sizes, most around 24-48 rooms per block of units, with a few high density blocks of between 120-250 rooms. At the moment I have 38 access points spread out across the motel(plus two at the comms room, making 40 total), using 2.4GHz for client vacation rentals in panama city beach fl access and low 5GHz for backhaul on a mesh topology. I'm not going to name names, but lets just say the mesh isn't very reliable and access points often drop off the backhaul mesh for no reason whatsoever. vacation rentals in panama city beach fl As this is a 'remote' vacation rentals in panama city beach fl site, it isn't easy to just visit it and reboot APs whenever they decide to fall over. Enter: Ubiquiti. (to save the day) I've used Ubi a few times in the past and have found it to be more reliable than most "Tier 1" equipment from the bigger vendors. So I figure lets give it a shot. The client currently has some strict restrictions on what spectrum i can use, however i think we should be able to negotiate the upper 5GHz spectrum for our use on a few frequencies that we don't use at the moment - In Australia we get 4 watts EIRP from channel 149 and up, compared to 200mW in the lower 5GHz range. That being said, this motel is basically in the middle of nowhere. Noise floor on 5GHz is awesome. Actually even 2.4GHz is pretty damn good. Right now noise is sitting at: 2.4Ghz: -108dB 5Ghz: -117dB vacation rentals in panama city beach fl Now the clients are limited very heavily on the bandwidth they're allocated. I think it's around 512k or 256k per second. We only have a 20MBit connection to serve the entire motel, and many users leave their PCs switched on downloading through the day/night, vacation rentals in panama city beach fl so is basically a requirement. Due to the fairly low bandwidth requirements of the users, dropping the data rate on the equipment to increase reliability and receiver sensitivity. If I could get a good solid ~10-20Mbit vacation rentals in panama city beach fl connection through to each block that would more than satisfy my requirements. Anyway... Backhaul. Need to basically take these APs out of mesh mode, allocate the lower 5GHz spectrum to client access as well, and use a middle or upper 5GHz backhaul link from each block of units back to a central comms room. The blocks are basically vacation rentals in panama city beach fl in an elliptical shape around the comms room - Most to 0 and 180 degrees vacation rentals in panama city beach fl of the comms room, but with about half the density to 90 and 270 degrees, if that makes sense. Coverage area is basically an oval shape, if that helps. The idea here is just to get a sanity check on what i've got planned, see if anyone with more experience in the Ubi gear has some suggestions to make. I was thinking of putting in three Rocket M5 Ti radios, each with a 120 degree sector antenna at the central comms room. One other option I guess is say two Rocket M5's with a high gain omni sitting on it, but i'm thinking the sector is the better option. At each block of motel rooms, connect back to the comms using either a NSM5 or perhaps a NBM5-22? Power should be able to be wound back on those units to keep the noise across the area down and give me the margin required due to rain fade (assume monsoonal conditions). Some of these will be quite close to the main comms room, so power will have to be wound back on these units, whilst some are barely line of sight (There is some differences in ground level across the site). Having not used Ubi gear in a high density PtMP scenario before, are there any 'gotchas' vacation rentals in panama city beach fl or things I really need to be aware of? I'm assuming that i'll need to be using some of the RFArmor shields at the central comms room, due to the clustering of the Rocket M5's in such close proximity (at best, i have two masts seperated by about 5 metres(15 feet)). Are there more appropriate units that i should be considering instead of what is mentioned above? vacation rentals in panama city beach fl Particular installation practices that i should use asides from the norm? Particular AirOS config settings I should take extra care/note of? One thing i'm a little concerned of is the "weatherproofness" of the NSM units. The little plastic clip that hides the ethernet vacation rentals in panama city beach fl port isn't exactly a waterproof part. Should I perhaps vacation rentals in panama city beach fl consider a Bullet M5 paired vacation rentals in panama city beach fl with a 16dBi 120 degree sector for the accommodation blocks? Having not used the NanoBridge vacation rentals in panama city beach fl M5-22 before, it that really just the best (and in this case, the cheapest) option? I'd be happy to pay $200-300 for a unit that was half as 'rugged' as my current APs, which could quite happily sit on the bottom of the ocean for several years and still work when dragged to the surface. Oh, worth mentioning also that the mesh APs out in the accommodation areas operate on two VLANs, one management the other being the client access network. Shouldn't vacation rentals in panama city beach fl be an issue these days with Ubi gear, i've got a similar situation at another vacation rentals in panama city beach fl site anyway, that is already in use. Finally.. What is the best level to run the Ubi radios at? Obviously throughput isn't a big issue for me, but i also don't want to be down in low signal territory. I don't want to be overloading the radios receiver. Thanks all - I appreciate any input that you can provide.
There's not much to say here. But I'm not clear why you ever chose 'mesh' for this kind of deployment. What am I missing? Three or four Rocket Ti M5 with AirMax sector antennas, vacation rentals in panama city beach fl spaced 5m apart, should do well here. For such short distances, the other end can be NanoStation Loco M5. Each Rocket radio can handle over 120 NanoStation radios if AirMax protocol is used. Set the rf output so received signals are in the range of -50 to -60dBm. It's unclear how you provide 'client access' at 2.4GHz; is this some outdoor vacation rentals in panama city beach fl array, or does each client have an indoor radio? Consider ceiling-mounted indoor UniFi for client radios within buildings. Dave
Thanks vacation rentals in panama city beach fl for the reply. Mesh topology certainly wasn't my design... this is a project that i've basically taken over. The original design was outsourced to the current wifi vendors team, then implemented by us as an 'approved' design. Until it didn't work, and they've washed their hands of it. Client access vacation rentals in panama city beach fl is provided at the other end by their own devices that connect to the outdoor access points. There is absolutely no ability to put any indoor mounted APs in any of the rooms, unfortunately. vacation rentals in panama city beach fl At the moment the outdoor APs just have 6dBi omni's (on 2.4, on 5gig they're 8dBi omni's) connected to them (another example of the design by the vendor), which we are planning to try and replace vacation rentals in panama city beach fl with two 120 degree sectors, to try and improve in-room signal levels. Should hopefully see about a 8-10dB increase in the rooms, with any luck. Can i take your "there's not much to say" as saying that i'm on the right path and there's vacation rentals in panama city beach fl not much you'd change? Thanks again mate.
This appears to be a very simple setup, with an obvious solution. It requires clear paths between radios of course, and that's why I questioned the use of 'mesh'. It's often thought to be a solution to terrain that doesn't have open paths. But if the client radios are outside, where they must be, there's no consideration of 'in-room signal levels'. Dave
Yep, you've got it - In room signal levels are only important for the client access, not the 5gig backhaul issue that i'm trying to resolve at the moment. Getting the in-room signal from the non-Ubi gear is my next problem Unfortunately there's no way to even turn our existing APs into a PtMP system. Backhaul is either mesh or wired ethernet.
You have me confused. I assumed the outside 5.8GHz outside radio is wired directly to a client 2.4GHz access point. It now appears there is yet another layer of 2.4GHz relay/repeater; avoid that. Dave
To clarify, the planned signal path would be: 1) fibre internet connection 2) dataswitch 3) Content filtering server(to block porn, bit torrent, usenet, etc) 4) dataswitch 5) Rocket M5's 6) Nanostation or equiv in each accommodation block 7) Existing access point next to nanostation, also outside. Will operate on 2.4 5GHz for client access. 8) Client devices, laptops, ipads, etc, in room.
Sounds like you will be setting up locoM5s linked to your Rockets for backhaul and use Nano/PicoM2 to offer client connections connected to your locos... right? Your explaination is alittle confusing so just need to confirm.
'deadpan', I can't speculate how well the outside dual-band access points will work for inside coverage. In general, it's a crummy method, only used for clients on the cheap. Perhaps if the construction materials are thin and there's no foil insulation or metal roofing, and few appliances in the way it will work-- more or less. Be sure of course to avoid any conflict between the 5.8GHz distribution radio channels and the access point channels. But you didn't ask for help with that aspect of the project; good luck! Dave
Unfortunately that's one aspect that i don't have control over. We have no ability to put any APs inside the rooms, and sadly they are made of double skin sheet metal, with metal awnings, etc... vacation rentals in panama city beach fl Basically worst case scenario, but the client understands that. Plan will be to replace the existing 2.4GHz omni's with some 120 deg sectors which the original design made use of. Just to try to get better penetration in the rooms. We don't do too badly all things considered, typically -70 to -85 in the room... but some barely vacation rentals in panama city beach fl get a signal at all. There is no cat5/cat6 in the majority of the accommodation buildings, vacation rentals in panama city beach fl plan will be to push ethernet over co