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Best AP to use for wireless bridge?

 
 
Gregg Hill
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      09-02-2006, 11:43 AM
Hello!

I am trying to find the best PoE capable wireless bridge for under $500 that
is capable of bridging about 300' between two buildings with good speed,
preferably over 30Mbps. I have tested bridges using two D-Link DWL-2100AP
units and two Linksys WAP54G units. I will try Netgear next, probably the
WG102 since it has PoE capability.

All testing so far has been done with the same brand of AP on both ends,
either in the same room or about 30 feet apart, with their stock antennas.
The D-Link gets about 23Mbps transfer rate (tested with QCheck) with any
level of encryption or with no encryption. The Linksys WAP54G units will
only connect to each other if encryption is disabled, which I found odd. It
gets about 26Mbps tested with QCheck. My reference hard-wired LAN gets about
90Mbps with QCheck.

I am wondering if either Linksys or Netgear has draft N APs that will work
better. The Netgear unit
http://netgear.com/Products/BridgesA...ts/WN802T.aspx
does not have an external antenna. I also do not see any mention of PoE.

Linksys
http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satel...VisitorWrapper
has external antennas, but the documentation makes no mention of wireless
bridging between two wired networks.

I am trying to avoid spending $5000 on Ceragon FibeAir radios.

Any input is appreciated.

Gregg Hill


 
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Jack \(MVP-Networking\).
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      09-03-2006, 03:01 AM
Hi
To Bridge 300” you need a Directional Antenna and a clear line of site.

I would not use entry-level devices for such a connection.

Take a look at the Proxim Wireless hardware,
http://www.proxim.com/products/wifi/

Jack (MVP-Networking).

"Gregg Hill" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hello!
>
> I am trying to find the best PoE capable wireless bridge for under $500
> that is capable of bridging about 300' between two buildings with good
> speed, preferably over 30Mbps. I have tested bridges using two D-Link
> DWL-2100AP units and two Linksys WAP54G units. I will try Netgear next,
> probably the WG102 since it has PoE capability.
>
> All testing so far has been done with the same brand of AP on both ends,
> either in the same room or about 30 feet apart, with their stock antennas.
> The D-Link gets about 23Mbps transfer rate (tested with QCheck) with any
> level of encryption or with no encryption. The Linksys WAP54G units will
> only connect to each other if encryption is disabled, which I found odd.
> It gets about 26Mbps tested with QCheck. My reference hard-wired LAN gets
> about 90Mbps with QCheck.
>
> I am wondering if either Linksys or Netgear has draft N APs that will work
> better. The Netgear unit
> http://netgear.com/Products/BridgesA...ts/WN802T.aspx
> does not have an external antenna. I also do not see any mention of PoE.
>
> Linksys
> http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satel...VisitorWrapper
> has external antennas, but the documentation makes no mention of wireless
> bridging between two wired networks.
>
> I am trying to avoid spending $5000 on Ceragon FibeAir radios.
>
> Any input is appreciated.
>
> Gregg Hill
>



 
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Gregg Hill
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Posts: n/a

 
      09-04-2006, 05:10 AM
Jack,

Thank you for the suggestion. Proxim sure has a lot of different products to
use.

I am comparing the units/kits at
http://www.proxim.com/learn/library/...eAtAGlance.pdf,
their 54G stuff, and Ceragon's FibeAir 4800 line. I just test two Linksys
WAP54G with D-Link 6dbi external antennas jus to get an idea, and they
worked flawlessly at the distance I need, albeit only at 26Mbps.

Gregg Hill







"Jack (MVP-Networking)." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:u%(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi
> To Bridge 300” you need a Directional Antenna and a clear line of site.
>
> I would not use entry-level devices for such a connection.
>
> Take a look at the Proxim Wireless hardware,
> http://www.proxim.com/products/wifi/
>
> Jack (MVP-Networking).
>
> "Gregg Hill" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Hello!
>>
>> I am trying to find the best PoE capable wireless bridge for under $500
>> that is capable of bridging about 300' between two buildings with good
>> speed, preferably over 30Mbps. I have tested bridges using two D-Link
>> DWL-2100AP units and two Linksys WAP54G units. I will try Netgear next,
>> probably the WG102 since it has PoE capability.
>>
>> All testing so far has been done with the same brand of AP on both ends,
>> either in the same room or about 30 feet apart, with their stock
>> antennas. The D-Link gets about 23Mbps transfer rate (tested with QCheck)
>> with any level of encryption or with no encryption. The Linksys WAP54G
>> units will only connect to each other if encryption is disabled, which I
>> found odd. It gets about 26Mbps tested with QCheck. My reference
>> hard-wired LAN gets about 90Mbps with QCheck.
>>
>> I am wondering if either Linksys or Netgear has draft N APs that will
>> work better. The Netgear unit
>> http://netgear.com/Products/BridgesA...ts/WN802T.aspx
>> does not have an external antenna. I also do not see any mention of PoE.
>>
>> Linksys
>> http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satel...VisitorWrapper
>> has external antennas, but the documentation makes no mention of wireless
>> bridging between two wired networks.
>>
>> I am trying to avoid spending $5000 on Ceragon FibeAir radios.
>>
>> Any input is appreciated.
>>
>> Gregg Hill
>>

>
>



 
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Gregg Hill
Guest
Posts: n/a

 
      09-08-2006, 02:21 PM
Jack,

It appears that I am a lousy estimator of distance. I paced it off the other
day and the gap is roughly 90 feet between buildings. I also took a close
look at their antennas from across the street, and the main building's Yagi
appears to be pointing about six feet over the top of the receiving Yagi. I
think the person who initially installed it used the wrong antennas for this
distance. Since a Yagi has a very narrow beam, I would expect them to have
to be pointing down each other's throats to work well.

This theory also fits what is seen at the site. The remote antenna points
directly at the main one, while the main one shoots over the remote's head.
The data transfer from remote to main is 20Mbps and the transfer from main
to remote is 3Mbps. The current bridge is done using two year old Netgear
WG102 units with PoE. The client does not have the password to get into them
to see the settings, and I cannot down the link to reset the units to
default for access unless I go there on a Sunday.

Out of curiosity, I asked Netgear which unit would be best and they
recommended the WAG302, partly because you can use 802.11a to eliminate a
lot of interference. Since they tout this unit as 108Mbps-capable, I asked
about the maximum theoretical bridge speed, which they said would be 54Mbps.
I wonder if that is correct. I tried D-Link's DWL-2100AP set to use 108 and
it only bridged at 23Mbps, according to QCheck.

Do you know what the theoretical maximum would be for 54G and 108G
equipment?

Gregg Hill




"Jack (MVP-Networking)." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:u%(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi
> To Bridge 300” you need a Directional Antenna and a clear line of site.
>
> I would not use entry-level devices for such a connection.
>
> Take a look at the Proxim Wireless hardware,
> http://www.proxim.com/products/wifi/
>
> Jack (MVP-Networking).
>
> "Gregg Hill" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Hello!
>>
>> I am trying to find the best PoE capable wireless bridge for under $500
>> that is capable of bridging about 300' between two buildings with good
>> speed, preferably over 30Mbps. I have tested bridges using two D-Link
>> DWL-2100AP units and two Linksys WAP54G units. I will try Netgear next,
>> probably the WG102 since it has PoE capability.
>>
>> All testing so far has been done with the same brand of AP on both ends,
>> either in the same room or about 30 feet apart, with their stock
>> antennas. The D-Link gets about 23Mbps transfer rate (tested with QCheck)
>> with any level of encryption or with no encryption. The Linksys WAP54G
>> units will only connect to each other if encryption is disabled, which I
>> found odd. It gets about 26Mbps tested with QCheck. My reference
>> hard-wired LAN gets about 90Mbps with QCheck.
>>
>> I am wondering if either Linksys or Netgear has draft N APs that will
>> work better. The Netgear unit
>> http://netgear.com/Products/BridgesA...ts/WN802T.aspx
>> does not have an external antenna. I also do not see any mention of PoE.
>>
>> Linksys
>> http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satel...VisitorWrapper
>> has external antennas, but the documentation makes no mention of wireless
>> bridging between two wired networks.
>>
>> I am trying to avoid spending $5000 on Ceragon FibeAir radios.
>>
>> Any input is appreciated.
>>
>> Gregg Hill
>>

>
>



 
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