[ANSS-netops] ethernet bridges

[Richard Godbee]

On Oct 31, 2008, at 12:14 PM, David S. Croker wrote:

> Timely question for us too.  We have an application for just such a
> short hop "WiFi" link (across a parking lot).  We were thinking about
> using off-the-shelf wireless routers, but maybe we'll have to rethink
> things after your experience.

I just discovered this morning that Ubiquiti Networks has several new  
lines of inexpensive, weatherproof 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz 802.11 bridges  
that are designed for Wireless ISP deployments.  (Some of them are  
under $100 for a pair with integrated antennas.)  I've never tried any  
of them, but the price is right and the specs look good.

http://www.ubnt.com/products/

The Picostation, Nanostation Loco, and Bullet look especially  
interesting.


On Oct 31, 2008, at 12:36 PM, Kyle Persefield wrote:

> I think there was a just one little quirk about the Maxstreams, you  
> have to use matching TX RX pairs.

Yes, the XPress Ethernet Bridges are matched pairs.  If one fails, you  
will have to send both radios in for repair/replacement.

For what it's worth, AvaLAN is now selling point-to-multipoint  
versions of their Ethernet bridges, but they have a *very* significant  
limitation -- each radio can only learn one MAC address on its  
Ethernet port.  If you need to connect more than one device, you have  
to put a router between your devices and the radio.

-- 
Richard Godbee, Unix Systems Administrator
Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech
4044 Derring Hall (0420), Blacksburg, VA 24061
rwg at vt.edu / +1.540.231.7002 / +1.540.231.3386 (FAX)