IP Office over WiFi

[patrickrouse]

We have three buildings connected via WiFi bridges, where 2 buildings is about 100-200 feet from the main office. We currently have a Legend PBX in the main office, connected to another office (which has a merlin magix)across the parking lot via Point-to-Point T1. The third office has no connectivity to our phone system.

We'd like to get all three offices connected, so we're wondering if VOIP Calls can be safely transmitted over WiFi. One remote office will have about 6 phones, and the other will have about 15, both connected to the main office (currently) via 802.11b bridges.

Our thought is to switch ot an IP Office Solution, and perhaps upgrade our WiFi Bridges to the latest pre-N solutions, which have much higher bandwidth. This would remove our need for the point-to-point T1, reduce totaly monthly cost, and get all three buildings on one system.

Anyone currently doing this, or tried and failed? Our local Avaya Partner is going to give it a try, but I'd like feedback from anyone in the know about such things.

Thanks.

Patrick Rouse
Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server

http://www.sessioncomputing.com

 

[crystalfusion]

I wouldn't trust 801.11 at all for multiple VoIP calls. It is not reliable since you broadcast the signal and end up resending a lot of packets due to errors. This degrades performance, and I know people have had TONS of issues with WLAN phones.

I would suggest using a Proxim Tsunami QuickBridge if you have line of sight. They come in a variety of options for bandwidth and T1 links. I used a pair to send a PRI T1 across a lake to a Nextel site. It also carried data traffic for a company LAN.

At 20 Mbps, Tsunami QuickBridge 20 provides data connectivity at nearly four times the actual throughput of comparably priced 802.11b bridging solutions, and more than five times the speed of a standard T1. The pricing is around 3-5k per pair, so your setup would be about 10k. Sounds like a lot, but the install package is great. It includes hardware to mount and align it. Just mount one side relatively close to the direction, then the other side has audible chirps to tell you it is aligned correctly.

Anyway, it means no reoccuring costs like you have in mind, but better reliability and more security. You can choose to run T1 + data or all data for VoIP.

 

[crystalfusion]

I forgot to mention. I would use the Tsunami QuickBridge II (5ghz) and NOT the QuickBridge.11 (2.4ghz)

Here are the tech specs.

http://www.proxim.com/products/bwa/point/quickbridge/quickbridge2/index.html

A PDF comparing their products:

http://www.proxim.com/products/bwa/point/quickbridge/quickbridge2/qb2at_a_glance.pdf

 

[mjwilson12379]

We have this running using proxim AP600s point-point line of site between two buildings... and this is over a VPN from one site to another with just regular data Ts for the link. 406 to 406, regular data traffic, etc and we have upwards of 6 concurrent calls with no issues... small office, so I can not really tell if there will be link issues or not.

MW