Point to Point links - is 802.11AC reliable enough?

[Jamman960]

Hi,

 

We currently have an 1gbit MRV laser link in place between our 2 sites spanning ~240m with houses in between, this works perfectly and is as good as if not better than having an actual fiber connection in place. At the time of installation in 2010 it was our cheapest option to provide a link between sites, it was a large initial investment but has since only costs us just over £2k in maintenance each year inc preventative maintenance. MRV have stopped manufacturing FSO equipment so our support company are increasing the cost and suggesting we replace the link with millimeter wave tech.

 

As ever wireless tech has moved on, when we were previously looking 802.11 just wasn't reliable or fast enough however now one of our other suppliers has suggested we go for a Ruckus P300 bridge costing us less than our yearly FSO maintenance... according to the specs it can provide a 500mbit link which is enough - we went the gbit route because there was nothing between 100mbit and 1gbit at the time.

 

Has anyone got 802.11ac point to point links in place and are they reliable enough? I'm thinking of keeping the FSO in place with no maintenance contract, it'll probably last 2 years without cleaning or realignment if I can't convince anyone to climb on the roof beforehand, the P300 link or whatever we go with would hopefully provide an equally reliable backup link ready for when the FSO finally fails.

 

James

[localzuk]

I can recommend a pair of these - Ubiquiti airFiber 5, AF5, 5GHz, 1Gbps+, FDD, 100Km+ Point to Point Radio - Complete Link.

 

I put some in a month ago here (they're a proof of concept for a larger link scheme we may implement down here), and they've been absolutely flawless. I did it myself, and its not really very well "tuned" at the moment, but I'm getting 350Mb/s out of it (which is more than enough for us). With a proper installer doing it, it should be possible to get 1Gb/s each way.

[jaminben]

I can recommend a pair of these - Ubiquiti airFiber 5, AF5, 5GHz, 1Gbps+, FDD, 100Km+ Point to Point Radio - Complete Link.

 

I put some in a month ago here (they're a proof of concept for a larger link scheme we may implement down here), and they've been absolutely flawless. I did it myself, and its not really very well "tuned" at the moment, but I'm getting 350Mb/s out of it (which is more than enough for us). With a proper installer doing it, it should be possible to get 1Gb/s each way.

 

What distance was the run? we were looking into this.

[localzuk]

What distance was the run? we were looking into this.

 

Our link is only short distance (as its a proof of concept), around 50M - the signal is on the edge of being too strong at its lowest power setting. The links actually work better over a longer distance than that.

[jaminben]

Our link is only short distance (as its a proof of concept), around 50M - the signal is on the edge of being too strong at its lowest power setting. The links actually work better over a longer distance than that.

 

Cool, that's quite interesting... we only need about 100m but we're still a little concerned with reliability.

[Chris_]

We use some Ubiquiti NanoBeam AC devices for point-point links arouns our site. They work great and we can be getting speeds up to 650Mb/s. Definitely worth looking in to the Ubiquiti AC devices, when you can get a pair for just over £100!!

[emdrum]

I echo what Chris has said. Ubiquiti NanoBeam are inexpensive (less expensive than an AP) and work well. Edited April 14, 2016 by emdrum

[MatthewL]

Ubiquiti kit is used by the local wireless internet providers and it seems solid, not heard anything bad about it.