Point to Point Wireless

[kcumming]

A primary school across the road from our college has asked us to investigate the possiblility of us taking over the day-to-day running of the network.

 

The most efficient option is for them to access our network provided we can get a connection of their network infrastructure to ours.

 

As they are very close to us I wondered if anyone had experience of setting up high speed and reliable point to point wireless and whether there were any issues that I need to consider.

 

Thank you in advance

[featured_spectre]

Fibre would be most beneficial, followed by microwave satellite. If either if those are not feasible, then look at ruckus outdoor WiFi aps

[plexer]

Microwave Satellite? Microwave point to point or laser sure but nothing involving satellites.

 

Ben

[EduTech]

Fibre is probably your better long term investment option, more expensive but much quicker that if you were to have a Site to Site Wireless Link which is much cheaper and speeds depending on distance (Max is around 300Mbps which i imagine you would get no problem).

 

I have a Site to Site link in place to join Building A to Building B accross a distance in a straight line of about 2 miles (I think that is the distcnace, can't remember?) but only 3 Network Devices on the other side and it is in the middle of now mans land. I get speed of 180Mbps on the link using a Ruckus Wireless Solution (x2 ZF7731) and this was purchased from the chaps over at Net-Ctrl (Network Security | Physical Security | Wireless Solutions | Net-Ctrl) speak to @Aggy or @MarkPower on the forums.

 

James.

Edited October 15, 2011 by EduTech

[featured_spectre]

Sorry plexar I meant microwave point to point...I typed satellite as I was talking about satellites here

[plexer]

Fair enough.

[m25man]

Even with a MIMO bridge your not likely to get more than 300MB (we use Ubiquiti bridges as they are rock solid one install of our has been up for 2 years and never lost a packet!) if your just planning to manage the primary from your location, that's the best route to take.

 

Why would you need anything faster? Unless you plan to host files and servers on your segment a simple wireless bridge will be fine.

 

As soon as you look at hosting a server on the other side of the link you have to look at fibre which isn't easy unless you own the soil you need to dig up to lay it or a point to point laser which start from a minimum of around £1k per side and will probably still need a wifi backup.

[kmount]

Probably not but worth a question of whether you are both connected to a common LEA RBC provision, it would be cheap/easy if they can just route between your two networks at that level.

 

Or, if you both have internet access (at a decent rate) you could set up a site to site vpn that way if it's purely for management of their network but from your post I believe you are looking to bring their whole provision into your network in which case the ideas mentioned above are probably the most viable route. I've seen a few schools with wireless links and it's worked fine so long as they didn't try and do too much over it so I think it does very much depend upon your bigger plans for the set up.

[Davit2005]

Personally, If the link is to provide a connection from their site to yours and for them to access the services on your network, for reliability I'd get a fibre link installed. If the sole purpose is to admin support their network I'd look at using wireless.

[kcumming]

Probably not but worth a question of whether you are both connected to a common LEA RBC provision, it would be cheap/easy if they can just route between your two networks at that level.

 

Or, if you both have internet access (at a decent rate) you could set up a site to site vpn that way if it's purely for management of their network but from your post I believe you are looking to bring their whole provision into your network in which case the ideas mentioned above are probably the most viable route. I've seen a few schools with wireless links and it's worked fine so long as they didn't try and do too much over it so I think it does very much depend upon your bigger plans for the set up.

 

Thanks Kim, I have also asked question of RBC provider as it is common between schools as this would be prefered route but investigating all options at the moment. Fibre connection is not really feasible as would require digging up A-road which I can imagine is v. expensive.

[EduTech]

Thanks Kim, I have also asked question of RBC provider as it is common between schools as this would be prefered route but investigating all options at the moment. Fibre connection is not really feasible as would require digging up A-road which I can imagine is v. expensive.

 

I think if you are just doing it for support/admin purposes then I think what Kim said is going to be your cheapest option (probably no cost at all to be honest) as it's hopefully just some changes at network level, If this is not an option then I would consider looking at a Ruckus Site to Site link solution. without giving any costs away I just paid between £2,500 - £3,000 for site to site link including protection and 3 years support/warrenty. It would be cheaper for you being an education establishment where this certain install was for a business.

 

James.

Edited October 16, 2011 by EduTech

[CyberNerd]

Even with a MIMO bridge your not likely to get more than 300MB (we use Ubiquiti bridges as they are rock solid one install of our has been up for 2 years and never lost a packet!) if your just planning to manage the primary from your location, that's the best route to take.

 

I agree with this. We've been using Ubiquiti nanostations and they are very reliable for point to point wireless bridges.

Again though, if you have the budget to dig up the road and put in fibre it is a better long-term solution, but for a wireless link a 5GHz nanostation is a good choice. Ubiquiti 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz Wireless Bridge Kits

[Jamman960]

P2P FSO(laser) is just as good as fibre at short distances and costs much less if laying fibre would involve digging up roads etc. We have a gigabit link setup between our two sites(same road, 220m apart with houses in between & line of sight over the top), it cost us 12k in total for an MRV setup with 74mbit RF backup. The only time our link has gone down so far was due to heavy snow at which point the school had already been closed for a day, even then the RF backup kicked in.

 

We pay 1.4k/year maintenance which includes a preventative maintenance visit(including 2x large cherry pickers) for realignment etc and if the equipment fails they'd get it fixed even if one of the laser heads need replacing.

 

If its only for management a cheap RF setup should do the job nicely, even 10mbit would probably suffice

Edited October 16, 2011 by Jamman960

[Little-Miss]

If its long term i'd go with Fibre.

 

Otherwise i have Ubiquiti nanostations and a Ruckus setup install at Hogwarts. Been fantastic so far.

[plexer]

Directional drilling under the road would be the way to do it for fibre.

 

Ben

[MarkPower]

P2P with Ruckus is a very simple and cost effective way of linking your 2 sites together and is as simple and point and aim, this is based on your distance, however if there is not clear line of site then you may need to look at a different option of NLOS products, these then normaly will come in a licensed band and require an ofcomm license which is purchased yearly.

 

In short Ruckus will deliver connectivity on the 5GHz spectrum and for a minimal investment and no on going license is required, if you are interested in the pricing please PM me or email [email protected], this is also free to trial if required.

 

Kind Regards

 

Mark