Motorola PTP 400 Ethernet Bridge

Hello,

I have been looking for a decent wireless solution to extend my
ethernet across a street with some tree blockage, likely some fog
obstruction (location: Watsonville, CA), and minimal tower/antenna
construction costs. While web searchign, I came across the Motorola
PTP 400, which sounds sufficient, but I don't trust the marketing
speak. Check out http://www.motorolaptp.com/products/ptp400.php for a
bit more information.

I'm not highly concerned about the high-cost of the radios, I found a
pair for under $10000 at http://www.wirelessnetworkproducts.c...OD&ProdID=1438
(if wireless doesn't work, we'll be spending like $2000/month for
fiber). What I don't want is to get into purchasing and building a
large radio antenna.

Has anyone out there deployed these radios? Can you provide some real-
world feedback on range, line-of-sight issues, and speed?

Thanks in advance for any help!


Cheers,
Andrew

On Fri, 01 Jun 2007 14:38:59 -0700, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>I have been looking for a decent wireless solution to extend my
>ethernet across a street with some tree blockage, likely some fog
>obstruction (location: Watsonville, CA), and minimal tower/antenna
>construction costs.

Greetings from the People's Republic of Santa Cruz.

>While web searchign, I came across the Motorola
>PTP 400, which sounds sufficient, but I don't trust the marketing
>speak. Check out http://www.motorolaptp.com/products/ptp400.php for a
>bit more information.
>
>I'm not highly concerned about the high-cost of the radios,

Ah, my kind of potential customer, unconcerned about expenditures.
Remind me to double my consulting rates.

>I found a
>pair for under $10000 at http://www.wirelessnetworkproducts.c...OD&ProdID=1438
>(if wireless doesn't work, we'll be spending like $2000/month for
>fiber). What I don't want is to get into purchasing and building a
>large radio antenna.

5.8GHz antennas are not particularly huge. You get quite a bit of
gain in a fairly small package. It gets even better at the higher
bands (24GHz). It's not unusual to deploy 3ft diameter dish antennas
for long range (10 mile) links. You want the absolute best possible
fade margin you can get. The only way to do that effectively is with
big antennas. Along with big antennas come big mounting hardware,
very rigid towers, radomes, and weather resistant construction.

>Has anyone out there deployed these radios? Can you provide some real-
>world feedback on range, line-of-sight issues, and speed?

Not me. I can't afford those. Do you really need all the speed and
range? What speed and range do you need? What network interface
(ethernet, gigabit, OC-xx fiber, DS3, etc)?

The range, bandwidth, fade margin, required antennas, etc, can all be
calculated. See the FAQ at:
<http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi#Link_Calculations>
for a simplified example of such a link calculation. You get to
supply some starting numbers.

You might want to look over:
<http://www.winncom.com>
Unfortunately, you have an account to get prices, but the web pile
should give you a clue what's available. I kinda like Proxim:
<http://www.winncom.com/products/manuf/10090/list.html>
<http://www.winncom.com/products/manuf/10110/list.html>
but admitedly have had no experience beyond reading the docs, setting
up SNMP monitoring, and drooling as the equipment is installed and
fired up.

If this is a mission critical system, should consider a licensed
system, not an unlicensed system. I can put you in contact with a
local expert if you want to go licensed.

The 5.8Ghz band is not too horribly crowded in Watsonville, but there
is still a potential for problems. CSUMB and MBARI both have 5.8Ghz
links and WiMax systems that might cross yours. I suggest you do a
site survey with spectrum analyzer and dish before shelling out big
dollars for something that may potentially be part of an interference
problem. See:
<http://www.wbanc.com>



--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558 (E-Mail Removed)
# http://802.11junk.com (E-Mail Removed)
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS

Google Groups seems to have dumped the reply I wrote yesterday, so
here it is again (but shorter this time).

We will have three offices on the same street, maximum distance 800
ft. We're paying $4000 monthly for only two, so it'd be really great
to get to a one-time cost type of solution.

We're very close to the Watsonville Airport, so licensed spectrum is
probably a good idea. Who's the local contact?

I signed up for the yahoo group for the SF BANC. Do you know who set
up the wireless for CSUMB or MBARI?


Thanks,
Andrew


On Jun 1, 10:40 pm, Jeff Liebermann <j...@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us>
wrote:
> On Fri, 01 Jun 2007 14:38:59 -0700, ndr...@gmail.com wrote:
> >I have been looking for a decent wireless solution to extend my
> >ethernet across a street with some tree blockage, likely some fog
> >obstruction (location:Watsonville, CA), and minimal tower/antenna
> >construction costs.
>
> Greetings from the People's Republic of Santa Cruz.
>
> >While web searchign, I came across theMotorola
> >PTP 400, which sounds sufficient, but I don't trust the marketing
> >speak. Check outhttp://www.motorolaptp.com/products/ptp400.phpfor a
> >bit more information.
>
> >I'm not highly concerned about the high-cost of the radios,
>
> Ah, my kind of potential customer, unconcerned about expenditures.
> Remind me to double my consulting rates.
>
> >I found a
> >pair for under $10000 athttp://www.wirelessnetworkproducts.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&...
> >(if wireless doesn't work, we'll be spending like $2000/month for
> >fiber). What I don't want is to get into purchasing and building a
> >large radio antenna.
>
> 5.8GHz antennas are not particularly huge. You get quite a bit of
> gain in a fairly small package. It gets even better at the higher
> bands (24GHz). It's not unusual to deploy 3ft diameter dish antennas
> for long range (10 mile) links. You want the absolute best possible
> fade margin you can get. The only way to do that effectively is with
> big antennas. Along with big antennas come big mounting hardware,
> very rigid towers, radomes, and weather resistant construction.
>
> >Has anyone out there deployed these radios? Can you provide some real-
> >world feedback on range, line-of-sight issues, and speed?
>
> Not me. I can't afford those. Do you really need all the speed and
> range? What speed and range do you need? What network interface
> (ethernet, gigabit, OC-xx fiber, DS3, etc)?
>
> The range, bandwidth, fade margin, required antennas, etc, can all be
> calculated. See the FAQ at:
> <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi#Link_Calculations>
> for a simplified example of such a link calculation. You get to
> supply some starting numbers.
>
> You might want to look over:
> <http://www.winncom.com>
> Unfortunately, you have an account to get prices, but the web pile
> should give you a clue what's available. I kinda like Proxim:
> <http://www.winncom.com/products/manuf/10090/list.html>
> <http://www.winncom.com/products/manuf/10110/list.html>
> but admitedly have had no experience beyond reading the docs, setting
> up SNMP monitoring, and drooling as the equipment is installed and
> fired up.
>
> If this is a mission critical system, should consider a licensed
> system, not an unlicensed system. I can put you in contact with a
> local expert if you want to go licensed.
>
> The 5.8Ghz band is not too horribly crowded inWatsonville, but there
> is still a potential for problems. CSUMB and MBARI both have 5.8Ghz
> links and WiMax systems that might cross yours. I suggest you do a
> site survey with spectrum analyzer and dish before shelling out big
> dollars for something that may potentially be part of an interference
> problem. See:
> <http://www.wbanc.com>
>
> --
> # Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
> # 831-336-2558 j...@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
> #http://802.11junk.com j...@cruzio.com
> #http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS