Ubiquiti NanoStation 2

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srothman

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Hi,

Has anyone used this device? I am looking to connect 2 houses together (well, my mate actually), about 300m apart as the crow flies, with a few trees and perhaps one or two houses, so not perfect line of sight.

How dependant is this device on line of sight, or will it penetrate one or two obstacles in it's way.

See the aerial shot of where the two houses are:

1269503057078216300.jpg


Also, any alternatives welcome.

Thanks
 
Speed isn't really such a huge issue. Also, how much am I looking at paying for the NS5? (Ballpark figure...)

Thanks
 
Rather look at the Nanostation M5, faster speeds (802.11n) and less congestion than 2.4 Ghz
in the 5.8 Ghz. Works like a dream
Upgrade to the latest firmware AirOS 5.1.2
Setup one side in Access Point WDS and the otherside in Station WDS mode and setup
some encryption ie WPA2-AES

One link working over a 3km distance thru some trees where you cannot even see the remote site
Amazing with a signal strength of -68 to -70

http://www.ubnt.com/wiki/index.php?title=How_to_bridge_internet_connections
 
Wouldn't 2.4Ghz be better in a situation where there is potentially an issue with LOS?
Pardon the ignorance, I am very new to this...
 
Get a free Ligowave Link Calculator login and paste your locale/height data into it, that'll sort your LOS/etc questions. Then: consdier that those Nanos have a range up to FIFTEEN kilometers and you're looking at a piddling 300 METRES?! ;) ..besides which, Alberton is pretty much flat for large parts of it.

Hell, at that (HA!) 'range', unless you have a LARGE multi-storey building between the two of you, you really shouldn't have to worry about making the connection and be more interested in seeing what speeds you get.
 
That is EXACTLY EXACTLY EXACTLY what I thought. At an effective outdoor range of 15kms with perfect LOS, surely you can get a relatively reliable connection over 300m at the cost of 95% of the range, even if it has a few obstacles...
All things being equal, which one of the NS2 or the NS5 would be the better option? Or is it pretty much fair game at that..*ahem*...'range' ;-)
 
OK, I have that calculator fired up, and the info I have I put in. Can someone please help me understand what the TX Power and RX Thresholds are? I'm not sure what to put in there. Also, the Antenna info, I am guessing it is the high off the ground, i.e. 5 meters high, or what not? In this case it will be how high the devices will be mounted??

4zxa35.jpg


Thanks

EDIT: OK, I got the TX and RX info from the NS2 datasheet (duh!), and here is the result with a 5m and a 9m elevation of the devices off of ground level.

2cgom4i.jpg


Any comments, concerns, sugggestions, tips, tricks, and recommendations are very welcome!
 
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I'm using the NanoStation 5, and the 5.8Ghz frequencies in Stellenbosch are already congested :( We have HighSite and I'm able to get speeds up to 20Mbps over 4km LOS.

Since you have perfect LOS over a small distance, you won't have to worry about signal quality.
All you have to do is scan for open frequencies before you're going to create an AP - to minimize interference.

I would rather go for the NanoStation M5 (like kilos suggested). Its about R100 more than the NS2. You can get one from Scoop for around R900: http://www.scoopdistribution.co.za/product_info.php?cPath=101_75&products_id=881
 
Thanks Pada. There isn't really PERFECT line of sight...as mentioned in the intial post, there might be a building or two and some trees in the way...
Thanks for the link, I will suggest the M5's instead.
 
Would it be a better alternative to relay the signal from a highsite? Does anyone know of one in the Alberton area? I'm really trying to keep it as simple as possible though...well, all things considered anyways...
 
A highsite is always nice to have as an alternative, but its prone to high latencies and abuse if its not managed properly.
 
K, and then final question (hopefully)...
do I need to have like a super important masters degree to install this? Or get someone to install it? It seems pretty straight forward wit hthe exception of actually installing the masts on the roof...
 
Its not trivial to set it up, but you don't need to be qualified in networking to set it up either. I'm pretty sure someone could help you set it up if they have even a small amount of wireless networking experience.

You'll basically have to setup the 1 router as an Access Point (and enable DHCP server on it), and setup the other one as a Client (also with DHCP server enabled), by selecting the SSID of the Access Point.
 
OK, no that I can do. I have limited wireless experience, but about 10 years general It and network experience, so I'm sure I'll be fine.
So my connection will basically be

Rest of network <-----> (router/switch) <-----> M5 ************** M5 <------> (router/switch) <---> Rest of network

Thanks again Pada for the feedback thus far...+1
 
Pada said:
You'll basically have to setup the 1 router as an Access Point (and enable DHCP server on it), and setup the other one as a Client (also with DHCP server enabled), by selecting the SSID of the Access Point.
Click to expand...
Hi Pada, just abit confused why would you enable DHCP server on both sides, if using Access Point WDS &
Station WDS its a Layer 2 transparent bridge so not ncessary for both sides and I just assign static IP addresses
to manage/get access to the NSM5

The assigned IP addressses assigned to the NSM5 are immaterial to the networks on both sides, which you can
see on what side is bridged to the other side Possibly the reason for the above was that the DHCP discover
packets do not get relayed thru the bridge ?
 
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