Official WLANmall Blog

With the proliferation of outdoor wireless broadband the unlicensed bands 900 Mhz, 2.4 Ghz, 5.8 Ghz are getting so crowded that in some places they are completely unusable. So in 2006 the FCC opened up the once restricted 5.4Ghz band giving 250 MHz of open air to the public. The problem with the new air space is that it came with a lot of restrictions, namely low EIRP and radar avoidance rules that can bring down your wireless automatically for 30 min. This meant that the legal use of the 5.4 GHz band was limited to short distances in areas far away from military installations.

Now people have been using licensed microwave bands (6Ghz, 11 Ghz, 14 Ghz, 18 Ghz & 23 Ghz) for what seesms forever however the radios that use those frequencies have historically been big, heavy and expensive.  With the release of the Motorola PTP 800 licensed microwave radio the cost of entry has been reduced significantly.  The Motorola PTP 800 currently operated in the 11 GHz, 18 Ghz and 23 Ghz bands and allows users to grow their throughput as needed.  For instance the base radio comes with a 10Mbps throughput CAP which can grow in  steps to 368 Mbps of full duplex throughput and if you need more Motorola has come up with a super slick coupler that allows the combination of 2 PTP 800 radios to be used in either redundant or additive scenarios.  That is 736 Mbps of full duplex data throughput or in marketing terms 1.472 Gbps (half duplex).

The Motorola PTP 800 is created of several parts.

1)  The CMU (Compact Modem Unit) or IDU (Indoor Unit):  The PTP 800 CMU is the brains of the operation and and comes in a 1/2 RU form factor so that you can easily fit 2 units (for redundancy or for more throughput) on a single RU with the optional rack-mount kit.  Two CMUs are required to create a link (one on each end).

2) The ODU (Outdoor Unit): This is the unit that coverts the signal coming from the CMU into RF of a particular frequency.  Currently the PTP 800 support 11 GHz, 18 Ghz and 23 GHz.   Like the CMU it takes 2 ODUs to create a link and becuase the PTP 800 is an FDD radio each ODU operates on a slightly different frequency.  So you will need to purchase a Hi and Lo version of each ODU.  For example if you want a 11 GHz link you will need 1 x 11 GHz Low B5 ODU and 1 x 11 GHz Hi B5 ODU.

3) PTP 800 Antennas:  You can either attach the ODU directly to the back of an antenna that has a special flange built for the Motorola PTP 800 ODU or you can use an antenna that has a standard wave guide connector (PBR220 & PDR100).  If using a standard antenna flange then this is called remote mounting the ODU and will require a remote mounting kit and some accessories to make sure all is connected properly.

Direct Attached ODU	Remote Mount ODU

Motorola is releasing their first every outdoor dual radio 802.11n mesh access point the AP-7181. With innovative antenna array design the AP-7181 will provide longer distances and better performance then standard mesh APs with simple “stick” or “dipole” antennas.

Features include:

• Full Power Dual Radio 802.11n Access Point
• Radio 1: 2.4 GHz 3×3:2 MIMO
• Radio 2: 5.4-5.8 GHz 2×2:2 MIMO
• 802.11 a/b/g/n (draft 2.0)
• 20 MHz and 40 MHz channels
• 802.11s (WiFi Mesh) ready at launch
• Meets All European DFS Standards
• ADEPT Antenna System
• System capacity of up to 300 Mbps
• WPA-2 Client and Intra-mesh Security
• Robust IP67 with NEMA 4x enclosure
• Powers Local Devices (PoE 802.3af)
• One Point Wireless Manager/Broadband Planner
• Seamless indoor/outdoor networks with AP 7131

To get a sneak peak at the AP-7181 technology click here.

Motorola is continuously changing their PTP line up to meet new customer demands. The PTP 500 was the first and its little brother the PTP 300 is next. The PTP 500 (105Mbps) edges itself in between the high performance PTP 600 (150 – 300Mbps) and the PTP 400 (45Mbps), while the PTP 300 (25Mbps) replaces the widely deployed PTP 400 Lite.

The new series of radios come with the same great MIMO NLOS technology, reliability and ease of deployment as its siblings but also includes integrated lightning suppression inside the radio and new lower cost!

PTP 54500		List Price
WB2874	PTP 54500 Full Integrated – Link Complete	$13,995.00
WB2878	PTP 54500 Full Integrated – End Complete	$7,700.00
WB2875	PTP 54500 Full Connectorised – Link Complete (Not FCC Certified yet)	$13,995.00
WB2879	PTP 54500 Full Connectorised – End Complete (Not FCC Certified yet)	$7,700.00
PTP 58500		List Price
WB2857	PTP 58500 Full Integrated – Link Complete	$13,995.00
WB2861	PTP 58500 Full Integrated – End Complete	$7,700.00
WB2858	PTP 58500 Full Connectorised – Link Complete	$13,995.00
WB2862	PTP 58500 Full Connectorised – End Complete	$7,700.00
PTP 58300		List Price
WB3146AA	PTP 58300 Integrated – Link Complete	$5,995.00
WB3148AA	PTP 58300 Connectorised – Link Complete	$5,995.00