Best way to connect 2 buildings about 2 miles away from each other

[neovan]

Currently we have a 3COM Omni-directional antenna at one end and a 3COM sector panel at the other. Are there any other alternatives to network both buildings either wired or wireless. I'm not happy with the current situation because speed is a big issue and sometimes lost of connectivity. TIA.

 

[pilot006]

I would recommend a point-to-point microwave connection. Essentially you're going to need two microwave dishes pointed at eachother. Obiviously this is dependent on a line-of-site issue. We've had great success with this at my company, in which this connection is used to connect to a remote office about a mile away. We get a solid 55 Mbps out of the connection. It's free after it's set up as we own all the equipment and last I checked you don't have to lease out air. Let me know what type of apps will be going over this connection or even the bandwidth requirements, and maybe we can narrow down a more precise solution (equipment and pricing).

 

[JackMDS]

I doubt that the functional Technical aspect of such an issue that can be resolve on a public Network Forum.

As a strategy I would:

1. Find if in theory I can lay a Wire/Fiber line between the two sites.

By find it means who own the properties? What are the local building Regulation/Zoning? And similar issues.

2. If it legally possible to connect via Wire/fiber connection (or there is a third party service that can provide it) price it.

If it is Not a viable solution get a Wireless expert to survey and suggest how to upgrade the Wireless system given your particular envioroment.

3. Price what it takes to upgrade of the Wireless.

If Wire is possible compare prices and make a decision accordingly.

Otherwise do what ever the expert said it takes to upgarde the Wireless.

:sun:

 

[hevnsnt]

What speeds do you need?

 

[neovan]

Wire/Fiber is not an alternative for us because it is too expensive. We are located in Hollywood so there are interferences everywhere. To get a direct line of sight, we propped the sector panel on a 25ft pole on top of the building and pointed it in the general direction of the omnidirectional antenna.
We do not need a very fast connection as a 10Mbps will be fine for our needs.
pilot006 is your antenna system similar to that from www.pacwireless.com. I considered hiring a wireless expert but that will be my last resort because this isn't a priority.

 

[ktwebb]

Well you have a microwave setup from the sounds of it. 802.11a, b, or g are all microwave technologies though there are obviously other solutions though generally they are licensed bands if not using 2.4 or 5 Ghz. Something that doesn't sound like it is helping you is that you have an omni on one side of the link. Why would that be? Is this a point to multipoint wireless WAN? If your only running a point to point then definitely replace the omni with a directional. You want directionals on both ends with as narrow a beamwidth as you can afford. You also said "pointed in the general direction" Perhaps your just simplifying things but that won't cut it if that is true. You point as best you can, then you setup a link utility and start slowly panning until you get the best connection, then do the same thing on the other side. Now of course you can't do that with an omni although you can pan vertically, depending on how your mast is setup. Panning with software is the poor mans link setup. There are more sophisticated ways to line up a link however panning does work, just with a slightly larger +/- error percentage.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: neovan
Wire/Fiber is not an alternative for us because it is too expensive. We are located in Hollywood so there are interferences everywhere. To get a direct line of sight, we propped the sector panel on a 25ft pole on top of the building and pointed it in the general direction of the omnidirectional antenna.
We do not need a very fast connection as a 10Mbps will be fine for our needs.
pilot006 is your antenna system similar to that from www.pacwireless.com. I considered hiring a wireless expert but that will be my last resort because this isn't a priority.

802.11a should work with directional antenna's at each other.

I don't think the signal would hold 10 meg though, more like 1 meg default.

 

[ScottMac]

Check with your local Telco and / or alternative media provider and ask if they can supply an "Alarm Circuit" - this is basically "dark copper" between two points ... and (generally) comparitively cheap versus a T1 or optical media.

If Alarm Circuits are available, next order some "Line Drivers" from someplace like Black Box (http://www.blackbox.com). generally speaking, you could drive that span at ~T1 speeds.

If you look at something like Cisco's Long Reach Ethernet (LRE), you could easliy (though not "inexpensively") drive the line to ~100 mbps.

For wireless, you *must* have line of sight (and then some - for the Fresnel Zone) or you get "nuthin'"

If you have LOS (+ fresnel), then it's just a matter of getting the right bridges and antennas.

Good Luck

Scott

 

[ktwebb]

802.11a should work with directional antenna's at each other. I don't think the signal would hold 10 meg though, more like 1 meg default.

802.11a or .11g would work at the full bandwidth possible of the two bridges. No problem, assuming you had the link was done right. As ScottMac mentioned, you have to factor in fresnel zone clearance, not just line of sight but at two miles, with the disclaimer that it's done right, then the full 54 Mb signalling rate (and whatever the bridges are capable of real-world throughput with those signalling rates) would be no problem at all. At two miles you wouldn't even need very powerful directionals. 7 dBi yagi's with something like a 15-30 degree beamdwidth on each. 2 miles is nothing.

 

[alphnasx]

Originally posted by: neovan
Currently we have a 3COM Omni-directional antenna at one end and a 3COM sector panel at the other. Are there any other alternatives to network both buildings either wired or wireless. I'm not happy with the current situation because speed is a big issue and sometimes lost of connectivity. TIA.

Check with a 3Com solution rep. since you are all ready using their product. they might have a solution with ur current product u r using.