@Ryo Haines wrote:
- Is there no other way to upgrade the device other than using CNUT? Does CNS not see these devices? It looks like once I get them connected to CNMaestro I may be able to upgrade them from there, but have to upgrade them first.
- Out of the box everything just connected, I'm used to seeing SSID and password, but I'm sure it's in there somewhere
- Out of the box I'm limited to 5mb and .5, my vendor tells me the 900mhz is unrestricted so I must be throttled somewhere.
- Am I not able to access the SM directly? I can access the AP and connect to the SM through the AP (kind of cool) but I can't connect directly to the SM, is that a feature?
- I'm guessing I have a prett good connection, I'm used to seeing CCQ, RSSI and MCS, can't seem to find that anywhere but I did find this:
1. You're going to have to use CNUT initially on all your radios to update the firmware, once you've updated them to a version that supports cnMaestro, you can then onboard them and use cnMaestro to update them. CNS is not for PMP radios... only for ePMP radios. There are other uses for CNUT as well, I'd take the time to learn how to use it, as it's an important tool for managing your radios.
2. On PMP radios, there's no SSID, the closest thing to it is called a 'color code'. You set the color code on the radio configuration tab. As far as security is concerned, you can define a password on the Security tab, and you'll want to specify an encryption type, like DES or AES. You'll need to make sure all these settings are matched on SM's connecting to this AP.
3. On the SM, you can set various QoS settings, including MIR, CIR, burst rates, etc. You can do this on the QoS tab of the radio.
4. Depending on how you've setup your networking, there are several possible ways to access the SM. One way, is by going into the AP, and the session list, and clicking on the link to the SM you're trying to manage. The AP has a back-door to the SM, regardless of whatever network config you have on the SM. If you haven't configured any network settings on the SM, it can be accessed via it's LAN port at the address of 169.254.1.1.
5. There are a few places on both the AP and the SM that you can check the health of the connection. One area I use frequently is the Session Status tab on the AP, and also under tools, the 'Link Status' tab. On the SM, the status/home page provides a lot of great information. There are no MCS rates listed, however you'll see a modulatation level value between 8X and 1X... 8X would be the best possible modulation, which is 256QAM MIMO-B. A connection showing 1X would be the lowest possible modulation which is BPSK MIMO-A. Also, don't get confused when you see the value 8X/2X... the first value 8X, tells you the maximum possible modulation that the SM or AP supports. The second number is the one you want to pay attention to... that's the modulation level that the AP or SM is currently using.
On the AP, there's a frame utilization figure (on the AP under tools) that's updated every 1, 5, and 15 minutes that gives you an idea of how hard the AP is working. AP's with lots of poor connections at lower modulations will result in the AP having to work harder, and the frame utilization will skyrocket, which will cause poor throughput, latency, and even dropped packets under severe load. An AP with lots of SM's operating at high modulation levels, is a happy AP.
I'd highly recommend taking some time to read through the manuals, and look through the KB in the forum here to better educate yourself on designing and implementing a PMP450 network that's built using best practices in mind. By spending some time reading, and THEN asking questions, you'll be better prepared and you'll have less headaches going forward.