Why Gigabit Ethernet (GigE)?
LANs are rapidly converging on GigE as the basic server backbone speed. In order to extend LAN backbones between buildings, GigE links are required in order to prevent the inter-building connection from becoming the performance bottleneck for the entire client base located in the building that is remote from the physical servers. Not only are the backbone connections converging on GigE, but also GigE is quickly becoming the interface of choice for client PCs.
What is the range?
Depending on a number of variables, links can be established at distances of up to four miles. Each link must be designed by a Bridgewave-certified engineer to ensure optimal link performance and availability. Contact an ezWireless engineer today to have your path designed and to find out what range and availability options you have.
Is line-of-sight required?
Yes. Full and clear line-of-sight is required between the two ends of the link to establish a connection. The best way to find out if your path is a candidate for a Bridgewave link is to contact ezWireless and schedule a site survey.
Does snow, fog or rain affect the link?
Properly planned radio links are not impaired by normal rainfall and snow and fog have no effect on the link. All millimeter-wave radio signals are, however, strongly attenuated by momentary micro-cell cloud bursts. Based on the geographic area of deployment and application availability requirements, it is a simple process to determine the maximum link distance that will support a highly-available connection for your application. ezWireless engineers are trained and certified to design the radio link to industry-leading levels of availability.
Are the radios full or half-duplex?
The system is a full duplex system, with separate frequencies for transmit and receive. BridgeWave radios use a single antenna for simultaneous transmit and receive. Depending on the model of radio selected, the system will deliver full-rate, full-duplex Gigabit or Fast Ethernet and your applications will not be able to tell the difference between the wireless link and a fiber optic connection.
At what speeds do the systems operate?
The GE80, GE60 and GE60X links only operate at full GigE data rates. The GigE standard specifies a physical layer data rate of 1.25Gbps full duplex, where 1Gbps is available for Ethernet frame data and 0.25Gbps is for data encoding (8b/10b) of the Ethernet frame data.
While the FE60 and FE60X also have the same 1000BaseSX network interface as the GE60 and GE60X, the over-the-air data rate is limited to 100Mbps full-duplex.
The AR80, AR60 and AR60X normally operate at full GigE data rates, however they have the capability to automatically shift to a 100Mbps data rate to overcome heavy rain fading events.
Are the wireless links secure?
BridgeWave links naturally provide a high degree of physical link security. The very narrow antenna beamwidth and very low antenna side lobes prevent eavesdropping without locating another BridgeWave radio directly in the path of a link. This will result in a link outage, preventing interception of data and alerting network management personnel to the intrusion attempt.
Also the radios meet the requirements of HIPAA for healthcare applications and are now available with 256-bit AES encryption for military-grade security.
What is the latency of BridgeWave links?
The link latency is on the order of a high performance Ethernet switch. Latency across the link is less than 50 microseconds (150 microseconds for FE products).
What is the network interface?
The LAN interfaces for all products is a pair of multi-mode fiber optic interface with LC style connectors on the radio side. This interface needs to connect to a 1000BaseSX gigabit interface port on your switch or router using connectors to match your interface port. There is also a secondary 10/100BaseTX interface.
What is the difference between 60GHz and 80GHz (E-Band) links?
60GHz links are the most economical 100Mbps and GigE links that can be deployed at distances of up to 1.5 miles. 60GHz links are license-free, yet are virtually interference-immune. 60GHz are the natural choice for short-distance, highly-available connections. E-Band GigE links provide added range, operating at distances of up to 4 miles. E-Band links also feature licensed-band frequency protections based on a lightweight, simple and fast licensing process. E-Band links are the products of choice for GigE applications that require extended range and for users who prefer to use licensed-band spectrum.
How do I install a Bridgewave link?
These radios have very narrow beamwidths (as small as fractions of one degree) and can be very tricky to align properly. Often, inexperienced installers will misalign the radios and the link performance and availability can suffer as a result. ezWireless has trained and certified engineers with years of experience aligning high-availability point-to-point systems that will take care of the alignment process for you. This way you can be sure that your link will perform to specification.
How can I monitor the link?
The BridgeWave links include network management facilities, accessed through a standard web browser or SNMP. The network operator can view unit and port status, configuration, and port statistics. Standard SNMP Nework Management Stations can monitor connectivity across the radio link, logging up/down events and raising operator alarms as needed.
What are the maximum size Ethernet frames that can be transmitted across the links?
The links support a maximum Ethernet frame size of 1632 bytes.
