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wormik
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Upgrading from SXT Lite5 ac

Mon Nov 01, 2021 7:39 pm

Dear all,
currently I use two SXT Lite5 ac antennas for connecting two remote locations (great visibility with very few obstacles, around 800 meters distance).
I use them in bridge mode, thus LAN segment is shared between the 2 locations - Wireless on 1st antenna is set to "ap bridge", wireless on 2nd antenna is set to "station bridge".

I'm looking to upgrade both antennas in order to achieve higher throughput. Currently it's limited to 100 Mbps due to Fast-Ethernet RJ-45 port.

  • I'd like to achieve at least 500 Mbps throughput one-way, or at least 250/250 Mbps both-ways simultaneously for standard TCP/IP traffic. If we can get even higher numbers than these, it will be great!
  • I'd love a backwards compatibility with SXT Lite5 ac. In case one of the new antennas would fail in the future, I will mount the old one to maintain the connection running.
  • OPTIONAL: If possible, I'd like them to also run a local 2.4 GHz WiFi for connecting a laptop into the local network (on each location).

Regarding price limit: hard to tell, as the prices are different in each country. If we take the Suggested price from official Mikrotik product page, I'd like to fit within $130 per antenna.

I am open to any ideas from you, the community! I was also considering different models from different vendors, but I'd like to keep all my network devices from the same vendor - Mikrotik.
Thank you! Please let me know if you need additional info.
 
timotei
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Re: Upgrading from SXT Lite5 ac

Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:35 pm

I would suggest Wireless Wire nRAY. A preconfigured pair for PtP bridge in 60GHz.
A little above your price limit ($298 for two units), and not backwards compatible with your current 5GHz. But throughput will be maybe 800-900Mbps.
Be aware that it must be absolutely clear LOS, not a leaf in between.
Alternative could be Wireless Wire Cube, but with 800m you are at the limit of suggested distance for the Cube. In my opinion better use nRAY.
I have not tested Cube, but do run nRAY and Wireless Wire Dish with good result when used within suggested distance limit.
 
wormik
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Re: Upgrading from SXT Lite5 ac

Thu Nov 04, 2021 12:38 am

Thank you for your recommendation timotei.
I've looked a bit deeper into 60 GHz technology, I'm afraid I don't have ideal conditions to implement it. It will get even worse, as trees are growing each year...

With my current antennas SXT Lite5 ac I'm able to push ~300 Mbps one-way and ~180/180 Mbps both-ways simultaneously. This could actually be enough for my use case, but I'm limited by the 100 Mbit RJ-45 port.

I was looking at SXT SA5 ac, which uses the same 5GHz chip as my current ones, but it has 1 Gbit RJ-45. I've noticed it is a 90° antenna though, as opposed to 28° antenna on Lite5 model.

I'd like to ask: What's the difference between 28 degree antenna and 90 degree wide beam - width sector antenna please?
Can I expect significant decrease of throughput if I'd choose the 90° antennas? Can I expect shorter range of the signal?
If I understand correctly, the signal will be more "stretched", unfortunately I have no experience with real impact.

Also could you please confirm whether SXT SA5 ac will be compatible with SXT Lite5 ac? I suppose it won't be compatible if I'd use the new 256-QAM modulation, but I will have the option to switch back to legacy 5GHz standard if needed.
 
timotei
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Re: Upgrading from SXT Lite5 ac

Thu Nov 04, 2021 10:19 am

300Mbps and 180/180Mbps is impressive if that is real throughput, you must have good conditions. Expect that is UDP, not TCP?
With a wider beam antenna there will be two changes: Lower signal (13dbi vs 16dbi antenna) and more noise from the sides. Both might or might not have significant impact, depending on your situation. Cannot say.
If the 100Mbps ethernet is your major limitation you could simply go for the successor of SXT, the SXTsq. The SXTsq 5 ac should be quite similar, but you could also consider DISC Lite 5 ac. DISC Lite use same mounting as your old SXT. Any of the Mikrotik ac units should be compatible with each other and with 802.11ac. (Unlike some other vendors) Personally I like the DISC Lite 5 ac and use it a lot.
 
wormik
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Re: Upgrading from SXT Lite5 ac

Fri Nov 05, 2021 12:25 am

300Mbps and 180/180Mbps is impressive if that is real throughput, you must have good conditions. Expect that is UDP, not TCP?
Yes, it was data from UDP speedtest. TCP reaches around 170 Mbps one-way.

Thanks again, timotei, for the recommendations. I will have to consider pros and cons for each antenna and maybe will have to come up with a solution for installing 60 GHz.

Once done, I will post the result here, for future reference and for other users :wink:
 
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bpwl
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Re: Upgrading from SXT Lite5 ac

Fri Nov 05, 2021 1:08 am

If it is only point to point, then "SXTsq 5ac- SXTsq 5ac" will also work very well. One SXTsq is set in "bridge" mode, other in "station bridge" mode.
"bridge" (license level 3) is made for one connection only, what is different from "AP bridge" but that requires license level 4.


For the local wifi connect some AP (hAP, cAP or wAP style, even NetMetal ac2 if needed.)

28° versus 90° ? Look at the antenna gain, that will define the range.
SXT SA5 ac (license level 4) uses 90° because it is designed for multiple stations (like SXTsq 5 ac)
The antennagain=14 of the SXT SA5 ac is a good match with the antennagain=16 of the SXTsq 5 ac.
I get 400 Mbps-40MHz/2S/SGI interface rate with 40 MHz channel over 300m, not using 80 MHz yet because I don't need that higher speed and I have multiple SA5 units in use in one area with different freq.
Data rate UDP one direction is 260Mbps. The 800Mps interface rate has a much higher overhead, and I expect no more than 360 Mbps UDP one direction for MT.
[There is an overhead calculator on the internet, important parameter is A-MPDU buffer size used. But for MT the 360-390 Mbps seems the upper data speed limit with ROS 6 drivers]
TCP congestion control will probably reduce the TCP throughput.

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