dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
2690
mkshuman
join:2007-04-29
Elkton, MD

mkshuman

Member

[Equipment] Canopy Hardware Questions. And Firmware too.

Inherited a Canopy Campus Network.

The network has several Ap's and SM's on the 5.7 Ghz and one leg on a 900MHZ

I run the Gamut on equipment. I have P9 P10 P11 boards.
Some are advantage and some are not.

The first thing is a month ago I set up a machine with CNUT and mapped my setup. I also had units running different firmware. (four different firmwares) I figured out upgrade and I upgraded them all to the latest firmware 11.2.

So far everything has been good. I am not seeing any problems. I know that on some forums there has been talk of different firmwares being buggy in different ares but My network seems strong.

Did I do Ok here moving to 11.2 or should I downgrade to a different firmware? The one thing that I have not looked at is how much throughput I am getting. between AP and SM. (I think that was some of the reasons people were not upgrading firmware because it messed with that.) Is this within the Canopies diagnostics/tools(have not investigated that deep.), or what is the best way to measure this?

Second What is the latest Full Manual that is out there for the Canopies. I have not found anything later than 9.? firmware.

Also i have both Advantage and non advantage Modules and all the different boards. We are small enough that I am just looking to buy equipment used, already did this with the 900s and it has been good. They are plentiful on Ebay.

The thing is the 5.7 Modules are not that plentiful on Ebay. I was thinking that I want to hold out for 5750APs and SMs so that I can start having a faster network. But all I have found have been p9 boards. I know from when our setup was first put in and then it changed admin hands a few time that we were caught with modules that would not talk. The original network put in was P7 and P8 and then when we had more buildings come on board that we needed to upgrade our P7 and P8 so that we could talk to P9 and above as P8 and P7 were very scarce.

I don't want to make mistake and unlike my predecessors who just sort of managed the Network. (When new buildings came on line they just bought what ever refurbished board was out there and left whatever firmware was on it. I want to administer the network and build in upgrade and scalability.

So what is the thought on the different boards? P9, P10, P11 should I stay away from the P9's and try and get newer or with the Mix I have can I be alright with a p9, P10 or P11? Right now I have a spare for everything on the network. But we are adding buildings and I will need to use what I have in spare so i need to replace my spare. Plus I have a Connectorized 5700SM that was a spare but did not know that it was taken down after a lightning strike and was deemed unrepairable so I am without a Connectorized SM in the 5.7 Ghz band.

Any Advice?

Eric Ozrelic
join:2009-01-25
Bend, OR

Eric Ozrelic

Member

For high load/user AP's that you want highest throughput and highest PPS, stick to modules that end in 50... e.g 5750 (this is an advantage unit that can support up to 14mbps of aggregate throughput). Use P10 and P11 boards for these high load AP's to get maximum PPS. For links or AP's that don't have many clients, or do not need 14mbps aggregate, you can get away with modules ending in 00.. e.g 5700 (this is a standard unit that can support up to 7mbps aggregate).. you can also get away with using a P9 board here as most clients will not be pushing the upper PPS limits of the P9 board.

It's fine to use P9 boards for SM's as the only real difference between P9/P10/P11 are the PPS ratings. Stay away from P7/P8 boards as those can only do software/1X rate and have poor PPS ratings.

I would try to keep the firmware the same on all modules. I would use 11.2 on all radios. P8 radios can use 11.2, but you may run into some hassles getting these updated if the firmware on them is too old. You'll want to run all your gear in 'hardware' mode, and not 'software' mode.

Hope this helps.
wirelessdog
join:2008-07-15
Queen Anne, MD

wirelessdog

Member

said by Eric Ozrelic:

you can get away with modules ending in 00.. e.g 5700 (this is a standard unit that can support up to 7mbps aggregate)..

Stay away from P7/P8 boards as those can only do software/1X rate and have poor PPS ratings.

You'll want to run all your gear in 'hardware' mode, and not 'software' mode.

Hope this helps.

1. non-Advantage units will burst to the full 14megs.

2. There is no relation between software scheduling and 1x/2x rate. Apples and oranges. All SM's have the ability to do hardware scheduling.

3. to clarify its hardware scheduling and software scheduling not "mode"
wirelessdog

wirelessdog to mkshuman

Member

to mkshuman
Canopy firmware is typically not buggy. I have firmware still on production links all the way back to 7.2.9 without issue.

That said, running the newest firmware certainly doesn't hurt.

Canopy really doesn't have any speed degradation in related to signal, noise, etc. It either works or doesn't.

There is a link test under tools. It is a good test to run these tests from the AP several times to the SM's in 10 second mode. You want to see link tests over 95% consistently. Less is an indicator of potential trouble links.

What do you need a manual for? Canopy gear is pretty straight forward. Document your settings. Unless you're doing something goofy like PPPoE you shouldn't need to change anything.

IIRC there are no major software revisions between v9 and v11 so that manual should be fairly accurate.

What was the application for a connectorized SM? They cannot be purchased from Motorola which means a third party modification. If there wasn't a good reason to do so, don't use another one.
mkshuman
join:2007-04-29
Elkton, MD

mkshuman

Member

Click for full size
Network Diagram
Thanks for the Info. I have included a "crude mock up of the network to see what I am describing.

Sorry Taxes and Year end stuff had me to busy to respond quicker.

I had just read in one forum about whether to upgrade firmware because someone stated that the pps took a hit after the upgrade but it was one post so I wanted to know what others were doing.

Manual wise I am trying to figure out the Modules and know the most I can.

I am trying to work on a managing setup for them and wanted all the info on the modules I could.

My management point is not at the head of the network.

My network starts at one AP then it has several branches that either go on to other AP or end at a Subscriber Module. And two of the other APs actually branches off of to SM and then another AP.

When I setup a machine connected in the middle CNUT could not find all of the Canopies. I through my first trial and error was able to change Network Accessibility under Configuration-IP>Network accessibility to Public and not local and that enabled me to see all the canopy modules from one of the branches but I could find no documentation on that Parameter so I want to know what all that does besides allow me to see through branches.

Like I said this a network that was started on P7/8s and then added to and added to with not much thought of management only thought was to adapt to terrain All AP's and Canopies are mounted no higher than 30 feet on buildings so They relayed AP to SM to AP to SM in a couple cases.

I have Connectorized units because we are running 180 Hurricane Antenna on one of the 5.7 APs and The 900s have a Yagi antenna.

Also as regard to Manual I am trying to figure out sync. And stuff like if GPS would help.

My situation is that I have always been at this place since we had the canopy network. It is a co-op situation where the business owners share an internet connection through the Canopy network. We are all in the same business and Buildings are owned but the campus is like a condo Assoc. Public space for all the owners. I "was a Director of IT before I left to pursue other interests. Though who ever truly gets away from IT. So after 2 seasons ago when we lost 3-4 modules to lightning at one location which had the only setups that were high as the top of the building and prone to lightning but never had grounding modules in place I Took over from the outside people that they had managing it in a disorganized way.

So I am not full time into this anymore and this is my first canopy setup but I do everything %110 and i am just trying to find the most updated Manual I can. I know that one branch was running a sync cable between the SM that received from the main AP to the other AP that actually distributed out to endpoint SMs. But it was disconnected during troubleshooting and never reconnected. This location had a receiving SM 5.7 from the main AP and 1 AP that was 5.7 that had a sync cable running between it and the SM and there was also but since relocated another AP in the 900 range. No sync to that one.

I know that when I flashed 11.2 that I had some modules that on first login gave me a "region code not set" error that earlier firmwares did not have or maybe cared if it was set. Also all other Firmwares were Canopy Motorola. The 11.2 is the first Cambium branded firmware and a different look so I did not know if they had a manual out for 11.2.

I right now don't have anything but Live network and equipment and given I am dealing with other peoples Businesses I don't want to experiment with live modules. So until l spring and when I get enough surplus I can setup a test network I am being very careful and doing little as I can. So the more info I have the better it is to keep the pitchfork mob off me if I "flip the wrong switch"
wirelessdog
join:2008-07-15
Queen Anne, MD

wirelessdog

Member

Send me a PM. I'm only an hour from Elkton and a site visit might be worth its weight in gold.