Hello,
We are in preparations of trying to set up a wireless link from Cyprus to Lebanon in an effort to help operations for a local ISP in Lebanon at least until the current infrastructure problems are sorted.
Our site in Cyprus is about 850m high, where the site in Lebanon is at 1600m. The distance between two locations are about 240km, 80% of it being over the sea.
We are planning on trying Prism and Atheros with 5mhz channels (CM9, SR2 or SR5).
We will be using a 1.2m dish on one side and 3m on the other.
The power levels and the bandwidth desires are not an issue at the moment, our primary aim is to get a link up and running and bother with the rest later. A link budget analysis shows that such a link is possible.
We wanted to post a message here and find out from people if any had similar experiences in the past, and the results achieved.
Well, I have no practical experience with such long distance links (and regulations here in Germany do surely not permit the necessary EIRP ), but in theory there should be no unsolvable problem.
Not too long ago two guys made a 279 km WiFi link (see here: http://www.wilac.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=170&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0).
As you wrote a link budget calculation does show that this should be possible. And the height above sea level provides for more than enough room for the fresnel zone clearance.
I SUPPOSE (!) that with that level above the sea and highly directional antennas reflections from the water will probably be - if not neglectable - at least manageable.
As with RouterOS you do not have fixed maximum ack-timeout values on the wireless interfaces, I think you could succeed.
But only aiming those antennas correctly will probaby be a lot of work…
I wish you good luck - and surely everyone here would be interested in your proceedings and results.
My advice, rather stick to 2.4 GHz, though doesn’t sound good regarding the closeness of water. If you are interested, in South Africa, we have tested 200mwatt radios on 3 meter diameter 33db 2.4GHz grids. Result has been around 120km, 512kbps. I believe with a bit of amplification, you can double the distance with much higher throughput.
I belive our cost wis arround $1600 per Grid. There are also 37db Grids available.
I know satellite upload is not allowed in Lebanon, but I don’t think it is that difficult to smuggle in a few portable satellite units or even a normal unit. Get the dish in Lebanon and subscribe over the internet. Trust me, I was running a small ISP business in Lebanon before I moved to South Africa. Icasa, our regulatory authority in South Africa is very strict regarding satellite communication, and till today, with their sophisticated equipment, they have not been able to trace satellite equipment unless spotted by the eye.
Distance wise I have no practical experience, however water can add a very unpredictable element to the setup.
In my experience keeping the as much as the signal away from water is key. So that means as small as a frensel zone as you can manage.
Small Frensel Zone = High frequency
I’d test high the upper end of 5ghz if possible 1st
I would say go for 5GHz as well, due to the fact that a 3ft dish for a 2.4GHz is say 26dB +/- , it would be near 32dB for 5GHz system. (Just guessing the increase in gain.)
Hi all i have to put in som info her …
3 Meter Grids!! that are 9 Ft ,that will be arund 60-65 Dbi Gain!.
And sure running H-pol in 5-6 Ghz over water is OK.
We are running 42 km over water with 26 dbi grid and the speed is 55 Mbits TCP real speed .
You will have to use Nstreme as only this can work at that distance – normal 802.11 Atheros has a hardcoded max that our dynamic mode can not go beyond, only Nstreme can.
That is a huge link please keep the board updated on the status of this project. i did some online research and the current record is a little under 125 mile you link is 150 miles it would be a realy nice braging rights for microtik if you pull it off
Vendors Claim World Record For Wireless Transmission Distance
By Mobile Pipeline Staff Courtesy of Mobile Pipeline
A wireless ISP (WISP) and a wireless broadband equipment vendor Tuesday claimed they have set the world’s record for longest wireless data transmission.
Microserv Computer Technologies, a WISP in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and wireless broadband equipment vendor Trango Broadband Wireless, said they completed a point-to-point wireless link of 137.2 miles. The companies said the connection was between two line-of-site mountaintops in Idaho.
The vendors claimed they achieved an FTP file transfer rate of 2.3 Mbps. The previous record was about 125 miles, although that was done using a Wi-Fi based system compared to Trango’s fixed wireless system.
The kilometer-miles-conversion rate in my mind isn’t accurate, but wouldn’t 297 km be more than 125 miles?
In my post above I quoted a link to the record over 297 km.
But anyway: Keep us posted, and if we can help with that monster link, we surely will
I can guranette you only 2Mbits link to cyprus but it will be from north lebanon and not beirut,it will cost you around 15,000$ if intersted send me an email k.samin@truevoip.com,ur welcome
Seriously though, I hope you have plenty of land in the foreground at each side. Also if you can spend the money you should use something that supports diversity receive - like an Orthogon Spectra. Otherwise, perhaps someone at Mikrotik has a beta driver for the pre-n MIMO cards, which might also work.
using 3m sat dish w/ biquad like feed (yap biquad) and SR5 miniPCI on PCI miniPCI adapter … running on ALLMIGHTY HP KAYAK 450Mhz .. both side …
montenegro <—> italy inland … 8/8mbps it was not permanent and public link so i do not have pictures …
stronger feed, shorter cables (we user about 10m CDF400 one and 6m toher side ) .. .maybe more bandwidth
), but in theory there should be no unsolvable problem.
i have to put in som info her …
) .. .maybe more bandwidth