 TomS_Git-r-donePremium,MVM
join:2002-07-19
Ireland
kudos:1
3 edits | reply to ponline
Re: Next level - licenced backhauls In the networks I look after we have been using Alcatel radios.
They definitely wouldnt be the cheapest, but seriously, were talking about one of the telecomms markets biggest, oldest and most experienced players. They are built to support the functionality that big telco players want, though some could argue that this is too over the top for the smaller WISP players who just want a more plug and play radio solution.
We have some radios which have been in service for a good chunk of 10 years now and never a hiccup (9400 LX/UX). Those radios provide an E3's worth of capacity (32mbit primary channel with 2mbit wayside channel = 34mbit) in a 28mhz channel. I think they only operate at 4QAM.
Just recently we have deployed 9500MXCs which we have running at 155mbit at 28mhz with I think 128QAM. See my thread here for some piccies: »Microwave repeater/add/drop site
And now we'll likely be using 9500 MPRs almost exclusively. We just got some in today (apparently were the first in Asia Pac to have them woot). These things can run at 256QAM and feature adaptive modulation so they will drop back through modulation modes as signal fade becomes an issue, and will ramp up the modulation as it gets better.
Weve purchased some 18ghz ODUs along with the MPRs and using a 55mhz channel we can get 300mbps. I'll be grabbing some pics of the MPRs tomorrow, but in the mean time you can see some here: »b.snnap.net/photos/network/alcat···-lab.jpg
Just wait till AMD Phreak gets here. He will confirm just how awesomely kick arse the MPRs really are. 
And finally, a new very long haul network we have just started to build will use 9600LSY radios. These are BIG. They are practically an entire 45RU rack in themselves, though they are only about 30cm deep. See pictures here: »b.snnap.net/photos/network/alcat···lsys.jpg
Those 9600's arent for the faint hearted. Totally indoor solution, with waveguide from the radio to the back of the dish. They do upto 8 x STM1s, so you need additional gear to transport ethernet over them, or aggregate the STM1s.
The nice thing about most split systems (i.e. IDU/ODU type setups) is that the ODU doesnt really have any brains. It just performs frequency conversions. The modem will send/receive data to/from the ODU at a much lower mhz frequency, and the ODU will convert it to your operational frequency. All of the modulation and hard work is done on the modem card in the IDU which means that changing frequencies generally just means swapping ODUs and updating your config.
IMO you get what you pay for, and with the Alcatel gear, you get top quality s#!t. 
</sales pitch> |
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2 edits | MMMMM.... MPR microwaves.
Those are SWEEEET!
It basically is a WAN router with microwave interfaces, and any combo of WAN interface you think you want to throw at it.
You want to transport it, go for it. You want to route the backbone in any combination? It will do it.
The MPR's will soon have even more integration with the Alcatel routers as the MPR and I think it was, the 6800 or something chassis are common platform.
*drool*
And the LSY's are uber too. I have no experience with them but from speaking with my friends at AL/LU they are kickbutt units. They are dream radios for long haul systems. Think of them as an evolution from the old AT&T Long Lines days. Everything Collins Microwave had come up with over the years is what you see there.
Of course let's not forget the MDR8000's while we are speaking of Collins. MDR's if you can afford them are a perfect unit for entry-level users who may need to transport any type of TDM or Ethernet traffic. They are costly to deploy in terms of transmission lines (T-LINE, flanges, couplers, flex-sections, etc) but they can be aggregated to deliver 300Mbps of FDX througput at significant distances (6GHz) or short haul distances.
If your budget is very tight, I'd focus on products from Dragonwave. If you have more of a budget and require interfaces that the rest of the telco world uses, look at Alcatel or NERA. Both Alcatel and NERA are big players in the backhaul arena. I guess if you want to take a few steps backwards you could use Harris....
EDIT:
[/sales_engineer]
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"No job is so important, and no service is so urgent that we cannot take the time to perform our work safely."
-- AT&T, Your World, Destroyed.
--Safety One Tower Rescue Certified
--LLigetfa:"Wimax is like teenage sex. Everyone talks about doing it." |
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EMC_guy
join:2007-10-13
Sharbot Lake, ON | said by AMD Phreak:If you have more of a budget and require interfaces that the rest of the telco world uses, look at Alcatel or NERA. This is an in-accurate representation of the global market where deployed base of Harris and Ceragon licensed radios dwarf all other brands!
Remember that Dragonwave, Nera, Trango, etc are relative newcomers, while old-hands like Alcatel will be moving away from peripheral products (which include microwave) to concentrate on core business similar to what Lucent and Nortel had already done but a bit too late for their well being. |
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| said by EMC_guy:said by AMD Phreak:If you have more of a budget and require interfaces that the rest of the telco world uses, look at Alcatel or NERA. This is an in-accurate representation of the global market where deployed base of Harris and Ceragon licensed radios dwarf all other brands! Remember that Dragonwave, Nera, Trango, etc are relative newcomers, while old-hands like Alcatel will be moving away from peripheral products (which include microwave) to concentrate on core business similar to what Lucent and Nortel had already done but a bit too late for their well being. I'm simply stating that both Alcatel and NERA offer interfaces that are not native 802.3.
--
"No job is so important, and no service is so urgent that we cannot take the time to perform our work safely."
-- AT&T, Your World, Destroyed.
--Safety One Tower Rescue Certified
--LLigetfa:"Wimax is like teenage sex. Everyone talks about doing it." |
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EMC_guy
join:2007-10-13
Sharbot Lake, ON
1 edit | said by AMD Phreak:I'm simply stating that both Alcatel and NERA offer interfaces that are not native 802.3. Dozens of brands offer TDM interfaces!!! You wrote exactly "Alcatel and NERA are big players in the backhaul arena. I guess if you want to take a few steps backwards you could use Harris...." which is quite different than any telco microwave professionals would write!
Anticipating further skepticism, I provide link to a recent $2.8M contract to replace Alcatel with Harris - an action becoming too common world-wide! »www.cap-az.com/images/meetings/3···ment.pdf
"The microwave system consists of almost entirely all Alcatel products, specifically MDR 5000, 26000 and 8000 series. The 5000 and 6000 series have been at end of life for some time, and new spare parts are not available. There have been reliability problems on all three series throughout the system’s life. Parts, repairs and associated travel time and helicopter flights are becoming increasingly expensive.
In 2005, CAWCD purchased a pair of Harris radios for evaluation. These radios have performed error-free since that time. CAWCD also used Harris radios prior to the acquisition of the Alcatel system in 1996. The latest offering from Alcatel is still the MDR 8000.
Staff recommends replacing the Alcatel radios with Harris radios ... " |
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| We'll take this conversation offline ok? It's messing the thread up. |
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