AmishThunder
join:2005-05-23
Yuma, CO
| Canopy 900 Woes...
Greetings,
New to the forums...I've been looking around here and have found a wealth of information about some of the things we are trying to accomplish here at our WISP in Northern Colorado. We are currently trying to roll out 900 mhz with little success. Here's our current setup:
1 Canopy 900 AP
2 Canopy 900 SUs
(All Canopy is ver 7.0.7)
1 Pac Wireless 9db Horizontal Omni on the AP
MAXRAD 8db panels on the SUs
The AP is currently 150' off of the ground. (it was at 250', but there was strange interference)
OK, We have a customer that is approx. 17.11 miles from the AP. Beautiful LOS. We are consistently having major problems with jitter (anywhere in between 3 and 15) and staying registered. The RSSI is around 1300. As for packet testing, It would never drop a packet, but the times would be extremely varied.
I guess my questions would be are there any tricks to this seemingly "touchy" equipment? Also, is there a better 900 solution out there - especially for high interference areas? Also, is Motorola full of it saying that a person can get 40 miles out of this equip? I cannot believe how touchy this darn equipment is, and I can't believe Motorola would release it with such propaganda...lol
Anyway, thanks to all of you who have input...I really appreciate it! |
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DejanCDN
join:2004-11-17
Kuwait | Can't answer your specific questions, but I would NEVER attempt a 17 mile link with an omni on the AP and an 8db panel on the SU. For distances like this I would be looking at 16-17dBi sectors and 16-18dBi on the SU. |
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Believer
join:2002-07-04
Baltimore, MD
| reply to AmishThunder
Dejan, this is 900MHz, not 5.8 or 2.4 GHz. A 17dBi sector would be huge! 13dBi sectors are 8ft, I've never seen a 17dBi sector but it would be like 20ft tall!
Use a 13dBi yagi on the SU and turn down the power. You could also look into a 15 or 17dBi yagi for tigher beamwidth to cut down on interference. What is the dBm reading on the SU and the AP? |
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AmishThunder
join:2005-05-23
Yuma, CO
1 edit | reply to AmishThunder
Spectrum Analysis | 
Config pg1 | 
Config pg2 |
Here are a few screen shots of our current configuration on the AP. I cannot get into the SU today (it's not registered for some reason....grr), so I can't get any from that unit. I included a spectrum analysis and the config page. I also have a question about the yagis...Do I have to have to tune a yagi perfectly (ie using that ungodly expensive device), or can I just "wing it?" Thanks!! |
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cmaenginsb
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-19
Palmdale, CA
| reply to AmishThunder
A 17 mile link is pushing it with any mfgs equipment even at 900mhz. I think you'll find most other manufacturers will be just as "touchy" at that distance.
As to yagi, why would you tune it? Simply buy a yagi that works within your frequency range. The mfg tunes it prior to it leaving their facility, trying to tune it on your own will probably just screw things up. |
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Believer
join:2002-07-04
Baltimore, MD | reply to AmishThunder
To get the signal strength of the SU go to the "Sessions" page in the AP. |
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AmishThunder
join:2005-05-23
Yuma, CO
| Everyone,
from what I read in the directions from MaxRAD, the yagi is tuned from the factory on 915mhz. It is variable anywhere in between 898mhz and 930mhz. This is an 11db yagi. As for sessions, there are no sessions right now due to who knows what (was working, now it's not...go figure), so I left that screen-shot out. Before it stopped working it was at +-1300 RSSI with a jitter anywhere between 3 and 15. Also, if 17 miles is pushing the limits, why does Motorola say that their 900mhz equipment is capable of going 40+ miles in their specifications? We're obviously talking LOS, but that's what I have here...If anyone wants any more information (including profile topo shots, let me know. I'm thoroughly confused and am about ready to put some slightly used Canopy 900 equipment up for sale....LOL!!! Thanks! |
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cmaenginsb
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-19
Palmdale, CA | reply to AmishThunder
They probably mean that their timing allows them to go 40miles, something that is a problem with the 2.4 and 5 Ghz stuff. The only motorola stuff I know that does 40 miles is the PTP backhauls. |
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Semaphore
Premium
join:2003-11-18
Arnprior On.
| reply to AmishThunder
Ok a few points.
Turn on Hardware scheduling - you'll loose touch with the SM when you do this and you can't reliably do the SM remotely. You'll need to be attached to it because it'll need a reboot. Unless you have a LOT of re-reg's leave HW Scheduling enabled; it increases throuhgput and decreases latency.
Your Max distance is set to 40 miles - if your furthest SM is 17 miles then set this to 18.
Get rid of the Omni Particularly if it's vertically polarized! - there's a reason why Motorola tells you to use a 6X65 cluster with CMM for 360 degree coverage.
Put a real antenna on the SU. Set both for Horizontal polarization.
Make sure that your SU is NOT set to go into 'link test mode' if it starts up and can't find an AP. It should always startup in connect mode and stay that way.
Goto the Canopy forum and post your questions there too - call the support line >-> it does work. I think your problems are not with the kit they are with the deployment. BTW there propaganda actually says > 100 miles  And if you do decide to sell it send me an Private Message  |
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IntraLink
Premium,MVM
join:2002-08-14
Utah Valley | reply to AmishThunder
It appears that the latest 7.x firmware is having some problems with the 900Mhz equipment as well.
Check out the Part15 Motorola forums for more information on that... |
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