Suggestion for wireless bridge

[Cooky]

We're looking for a way to allow direct connection between two buildings.
There's a highway in between, and there's no way to dig and lay in fiber.
Wireless is our only option right now.

Does anyone have a suggestion?
Our requirement is 500Mbps - 1Gbps.
The fastest offering from Cisco is the 1400 series (54Mbps), which we already have.

I found this one from Proxim.
Anyone have any experience w/ it?
Any suggestions?

 

[spidey07]

I've never used them but their are laser systems that can do that for you. Look for the terms "free space optics" or "optical wireless".

 

[Tsaico]

Or you can just make a gateway to gateway VPN to each other. Unless you are trying to prevent them from having to buy into an ISP?

Or is the speed crucial? Why do you need that speed?

Those things are over 10k a peice and you will need two. Add the expertise it will take to install them and you could easily make it over 27k for connecting the two buildings.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Tsaico
Or you can just make a gateway to gateway VPN to each other. Unless you are trying to prevent them from having to buy into an ISP?

Or is the speed crucial? Why do you need that speed?

Those things are over 10k a peice and you will need two. Add the expertise it will take to install them and you could easily make it over 27k for connecting the two buildings.

That's a bargain compared to laying the fiber or getting metro ethernet services at 1 Gig.

 

[Tsaico]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Tsaico
Or you can just make a gateway to gateway VPN to each other. Unless you are trying to prevent them from having to buy into an ISP?

Or is the speed crucial? Why do you need that speed?

Those things are over 10k a peice and you will need two. Add the expertise it will take to install them and you could easily make it over 27k for connecting the two buildings.

That's a bargain compared to laying the fiber or getting metro ethernet services at 1 Gig.

True, but my question is really why he needs the speed to being with. And I looked his specific bride up, they are 15k a peice before tax, ship and installation. And I wouldn't think of laying fiber at all. A combination of VPN, DFS, can accomplish a lot different accessibility issues for a lot less. Depending on what he wants to do, he may not need anything like what you and I are thinking of.

 

[Cooky]

Thanks for the input folks.
We already have MPLS in both locations, and the speed is just not fast enough, so we put in those Cisco 1400 bridges, which still aren't enough, so now we're looking for other alternatives.
If fiber was available, we'd go for it.
Since it's not, we need specific recommendation for wireless bridge.
thanks.

 

[Tsaico]

Never worked with Multi Protocol. How does it compare to ATM? (don't mean to hijack your thread, but I am always curious to real-world comparisons). Especially in regards to setup and maintenance. In most of our remote sites, we use DFS with the root at the central office. Overall it works well when the remote office have 3 mb or better ISP service. WIth the exception of when our users are working with larger (350 MB and up) single files. Then the system crawls unless we QoS to give Priority to non-DFS traffic. Then we run into the chance of people opening the same file, but that doesn't happen often. Maybe two or three times a year.

 

[cmetz]

Cooky, look at the Canon IR stuff.

 

[acaeti]

From personal experience I do not recommend using FSO/IR-laser, especially if you are in a foggy environment and/or the distance is greater than 200m. I have used Proxim and Bridgewave 60GHz and 70GHz 1Gbps radio equipment. Bridgewave supposedly leads in quality, Proxim in price, though I have not seen much difference. Both devices come with excellent aiming and setup tools, though you will want an installer with fixed-wireless or perhaps satellite experience to perform the installation and make sure your expensive investment is properly grounded and protected. You can use either SX fiber or plain old 1Gbps Ethernet to connect to the bridges to your network, I recommend fiber as a lightning strike won't juice your switching.

Unlike what a previous poster suggests, you can get a full bridge (two radio units) for ~$15k or less by shopping around. Contact the manufacturers directly for a good reseller. I think you will be very satisfied with either vendor.

 

[Cooky]

Exactly the kind of recommendation I was looking for.
thanks!

 

[kevnich2]

What do you do that requires that much bandwidth??

 

[skyking]

That wireless looks good.
There is no way to run aerial fiber on existing utility poles? The utilities will lease you space on their poles.
Another alternative to that is to get a bid for fiber from a directional boring contractor.
In the proper soils, a steel pipe can be jacked under that highway in a matter of hours, and conventional trenching or aerial can finish the job. You can run all sorts of cabling between the buildings as well in that conduit.
Just a thought.