Wireless mall... 1

[jtb]

I've got several clients (including the city) who want wireless access across an area about 1.5 x 2.5 miles...

1. Assuming I put an antenna in the logical spot on the water tower, what kind of ranges should I expect?

2. Any sort of Cisco parts list? Make it sort of a wish list... they're all on dialup now and they want more bandwidth between the sites...

3. Any "gotchas" other than the obvious security stuff? I've already brought up the issue of trees--but I don't know where to look up the impact without measuring it...

4. Any recommendations for security?

Thanks!!! JTB
Solutions Architect
MCSE-NT4, MCP+I, MCP-W2K, CCNA, CCDA,
CTE, MCIWD, i-Net+, Network+
(MCSA, MCSE-W2K, MCIWA, SCSA, SCNA in progress)

 

[wybnormal]

trees... frequency *bleedover* from surrounding transmitters... weather induced reduction of either bandwidth or range... crowding of available channels.. Any new construction that may show up and so on...

Any RF engineer worth their salt will know this type of stuff. A good source of information is Cellular engineering study materials and/or engineers. The term that refers to stuff in the way is ground clutter.. more and more stuff is wireless so available bandwidth and noise becomes much more important. Also, if this is going have a certain amount of range/power, you need an FCC license which can be a royal pain.

You need permission from ALL bandwidth users surrounding the water tower.. not just your frequencies but the adjacent frequencies. You need a FCC site survey which will detail all of this. (maybe.. again, depends on frequency and power)

You need to survey the site for power, cooling and filtration of air.. most equipment for networks is not designed to be outside unlike much of the telco equipment. Also, you need alternative power.. UPS and such.

I would be surprised if a single point can supply enough power for 1.5 miles. Normally when you add users (channels) the amount of power for a given are shrinks. You may need repeaters(boosters) on the edges or unless the area is flat, you may need the repeaters to get around hills, tall buildings etc.

Most of this holds true whether it is microwave links, laser links or high frequency RF links.

We have not even begun to talk equipment yet ;-)

MikeS

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