range and arq

[zed]

Since it is a newer firmware and optimized for BH, is there any change
on ARQ or the algorithym of distance that allows further than normal 802.
distances?

zed

[WHT]

Set the ACK to 15% greater than physical distance. I've tested it several months ago as far out as 37 miles, but had to lock the data speed to the lowest MCS 0 6.5 Mbps for reliability.

[UBNT-Mike.Ford]

Hello Zed,

We still use the Atheros Hardware ACK limitations.

Thanks,

Mike

[zed]

Hello Zed,

We still use the Atheros Hardware ACK limitations.

Thanks,

Mike

Ok thanks Mike.. Ive Achieved the maximum of almost 40 miles long with nanos... obviously having more thruput is nice.

on another question, in terms of % of performance how much faster is the M
on regular 20/10 wide channels than your regular NS and PS?

zed

[UBNT-Mike.Ford]

Hello,

In most situations its is 2.5 - 3x faster then legacy products in 5/10 mhz mode

Thanks,

[wispwest]

what kind of throughput can we expect on a 25 mile link? Right now we have Mikrotiks and XR5's, but we have to keep lowering the power to get more speed. Right now the REAL TCP throughput is 20M down/ 9M up

[WHT]

I can move a 40 MB file in about 6.4 seconds.

[avantwireless]

Would be 50Mbits/sec

[WHT]

But that was with earlier firmware and no link optimization of any kind.

[UBNT-Mike.Ford]

But that was with earlier firmware and no link optimization of any kind.

Speaking of witch, send me an email I have the release firmware :)

[WHT]

Sent

[zed]

Sent


Wht,

I take that you have been a beta user of the M?
how does the unit works in terms of temperature now that the cpu is bigger?

Do you know if it has any additional transient or lightning protection?

is UBNT suggesting any lightning protection for these?


Thanks!

[WHT]

For the 22 mile link, I have intentionally left out lots of steps to test them:
1) No shielded CAT5 cable.
2) No building entrance surge protectors (though not required by code here).
3) No additional 8 ft. grounding rods.
4) No UPS backups
5) No power line surge protectors.
6) No grounding of my mast.
7) No sun shield for the Bullets.

The temperature has already been up to 105º F for at least a week, and over 95 for several weeks. Hand tools are too hot to hold in your bare hand.

Several severe lightning storms have been through the area.

I haven't had the opportunity to test the AP CPU capacity yet, but I anticipate I can load up one AP within two or three. I can't give you any numbers as that is still under the NDA.

[UBNT-Mike.Ford]

Sent


Wht,

I take that you have been a beta user of the M?
how does the unit works in terms of temperature now that the cpu is bigger?

Do you know if it has any additional transient or lightning protection?

is UBNT suggesting any lightning protection for these?


Thanks!

Standard Lightning protection rules apply.

You must use Shielded Ethernet cable and a grounded PoE. The shielded Ethernet provides a ground path for the units witch will prevent any ESD failures, other the near/direct lightning.

Thanks,

Mike

[WHT]

I'm going back next week to retrofit proper grounding.

We 100% failure rate of the shielded modular plugs. They little tab wasn't holding the plugs into the jack. It was traced back to the Ideal brand Crimpmaster tool (which is supposed to be one of the premier crimp tools). It was compressing the tab to the point it would not spring back in place. I ordered another tool which will be in next week.

We didn't get the UBNT 15 volt PoE units in until much later, so the 22 mile link is still using the stock Nanostation PoE units. They need to be replaced ASAP as most of my Nano PoE units have died.

[zed]

Well, My question came from the angle of additional protection from the original design. With about three hundred UBNT's in use, i have to say its a pretty high maintenance radio... its cheap but Ive found myself doing a couple of truck rolls to a very large number of them.

I have kept the amount of subs per AP to about 5 max, because they
dont seem to handle loads well above that (I run voip on all my customers)
also customers with sustained BW needs of about 2-3megs dont seem to be stable enough for that use. (not burstable customers)

Been watching closely the issue of the POE's which has contributed a lot to my truck rolls, also the bag of tricks to optimizing the UBNT's is always present on our installs and that helps too.

Having a large canopy and alvarion network we can relate to provisioning
and other management tools that we would like to be soon being delivered
by ubnt.

I think that the higher powered cpu will do wonders for UBNT and I surely
hope to have soon the AIR os for the routerstations and also M powered NS and PS's.

I want to grow our UBNT network but I need to see a little more from the side of UBNT.. right now is not about the price( I wouldnt mind paying more for good hardware and stable firmware.)
we want to see that we can evolve the UBNT hardware in all areas of our business. It cannot longer be part of the bag of tools..

Zed

[Dave-D]

Zed, you raise a number of interesting points.

First, what kind of failure modes have you seen?

If you have issues with the Ubiquiti POEs, why not use
something else? For example, I'm using a combo surge
protector/POE injector with a standard plug-in power unit.
I think it gives me far better grounding and protection.

I'm a believer in a UPS too. In your case, you have several
other network devices at each location; protect them all.

You hinted at needing/wanting more WiFi network
management tools; exactly what are you looking for?

You also mentioned VoIP transport; what's your experience
with it? Do you use QoS features? Have you had good luck
extending a POTS line to a remote site with supervision?

Thanks, Dave

[Dave-D]

WHT, very interesting on the shielded RG45 plugs. I use the
same crimp tool, and retention on the shield has been poor.

Is the Crimpmaster just no good for shielded plugs, or is it
a particular type or brand?

You also mentioned a 'sun-shield' for the Bullets. I use SPF45
here (j/k). What have you been using? I assumed the white
housing would keep the temp rise to something safe. Dave

[WHT]

The standard Ideal brand 8-pin "RJ-45" connectors work great with the Ideal brand ratcheting "CrimpMaster" tool, but when I use it on the Connectronics supplied shielded CAT5 connectors, it permanently presses the finger tab down so low, that even when you pry it up to make the connector click into a jack, the hot sun will bend it back to over-pressed position and the tension on the cable pulls it out of the jack.

I'm having Connectrinics send me one of their crimp tools, so if I still have problems, I'll let them sort things out.

[WHT]

Oh....for a sun shield, we're gonna try some 1-1/2" white PVC. Pictures to follow soon.

[rconaway]

I have to say that I haven't had the experience of the Ubiquiti stuff being high maintenance. In fact, I haven't had to replace a single radio and we have at least 200 of them running in Nevada and Southern Az. The only issue with maintenance has been firmware upgrades which are done manually. Hopefully a management tool comes forth and resolves some of those issues. In the meantime, we are using TheDude and an internal program very successfully.

As for only being able to handle 5 users on an AP, I find that odd as I have had almost 50 on a single AP without issues. That's not the norm, just a process as we upgraded our older Vivato installations. Many of our customers run Vonage and I'm sure I would hear about it if they were having issues.

The key to the installation is making sure that all clients attached to an AP meet certain signal/ACK criteria so that no single user can cause issues for others on the same AP. In that environment, we have seen NS5's as AP's that are hitting the 25Mbps limit with video cameras with no frame loss. We have even seen the M5's handle cable TV to clients with no issues and less signal.

[Headbang]

I can honestly say I have had 9 replacements out of about 400. All replacements were due to improper grounding causing esd death on the lan port. All replacements I could track a lightning strike within a mile of the esd hit.
Bullets with grids seem very susceptible to esd if installers get lazy. Just by grounding the antenna to a reasonable ground source using 18 gauge wire will stop esd issues. All other issues we have are traced to improper installations, mice eating lan cables, ect.
The only other thing we have noticed with ubiquiti equipment is to do with unstable power. In areas with lots of fast small power blips radios will lock up on occasion. This is solved by unplugging the POE power for 15min. We have supplies this procedure in our trouble shooting steps as well as our phone msg.
I use NS5's for short 1 mile links getting true throughput of 4.2MB/s (approx 42mb/s) via FTP. These links are 1 yr up without reboot, no problems, proper grounding, on UPS's.
Most of our truck rolls are due to mount failures and re-alignment from 90mph winds we have been seeing lately. We have been replacing PS2's and LS2/Rootenna systems with weak links with Bullet/24db Grids to increase performance and reduce degradation of the AP.