We finally got it in. We went with canopy 900mhz integrated APs and SMs.
I ahve to say im disappointed that we spent 35k and the cd documentation that came with it says august 2004 on it, youd think for that much dough they could at least have provided us some up to date documentation, oh well, if thats the only problem we have, then life is good.
I do have some questions though.
the first is can we do back to back cluster depluyments with the 900 like the 2.4 or does there need to be seperation?
The second is intitially we are going with 4 AP clusters rather than the full 6, so should there be any problem with the back to back radios being on the same channel ( this would mean I need only two channels per POP.
Third, will you come install this for me and manage our network?
fourth, we are setting the max range on the APs to 15 mile, with a 10 mile green zone, up to 13 miles wil need a review. If we put stuff in the 14 mile to 15 mile range will we see performane issues? What happens if I excede the 15 mile setting, will the radio even link up?
You can download the user guide from the Canopy software site. That should get you up to date on all of the changes since 2004. Anytime you are deploying multiple APs or multiple sectors you have to have separation, even with sync.
We started off with a single AP, branched off to 2, and will be branching off to 4. As long as you have sync and clean spectrum you shouldn’t have any issues. Keep in mind, if you deploy more sites within range, you might run into self-interference issues if you have a different number of APs at each site.
Sorry, no. We’ve got our hands full with our own network. 
With canopy everything is handled by timing. If you have a range of 15 miles, every SM from the very closest to the very farthest should perform the same as long as their link quality is adequate. If you try to install an SM outside of the max range, it will not register.
I haven’t needed separation as long as sync is being used.
Depending on the height you are installing your AP’s at 10 miles is really really wishful thinking. We figure 5 miles green and that is with AP’s at 300’…
The clusters on 2.4 are back to back, like 6 inch seperation. Does this not apply to 900mhz?
You can argue that separation isn’t needed, but it’s always best practice (although not always feasible) and one of the first things to look at when you run into interference problems.
I screwed up when we deployed the 2.4 canopy, I read the manual, which for the most part is worthless, its more like a sales pitch than a tech manual, written by a japaneese guy and translated to english by a mexican
What about power. I want to keep the spectrum as clean as possible, whats the best way to guage how far down I can turn the AP, how bout the SMs?
Point them at your head for 20 minutes, if you get too warm you should turn the power down.
15 mi max range will eat up a data slot so set it to 14 if possible.
900MHz will benefit from RF balancing.