The Ingress Protection (IP) rating of a product indicates the grade of protection it provides from adverse environmental conditions. This is particularly important for outdoor access points which are exposed to the elements and if the AP is not sufficiently ruggedized, it can fail from damage due to dust or water ingress. Such a failure not only impacts service, but also adds cost of replacement in terms of hardware and labor. Hence the IP rating of an AP should be a critical selection criteria when selecting a particular make or model.
There are two numbers next to the rating, each implying a certain type and level of protection provided:
IPxy
x denotes the amount of protection provided from dust
y denotes the amount of proteciton provided against water
IP50 --> Limited dust protection, no water protection
IP55 --> Limited dust protection, protection from jets of water
IP67 --> Protected from dust, protected even immersed in up to 1 meter of water.
And to prove how well the IP67 protection of the cnPilot e500, e501S, e502S and e700 access points really works, we dunked one of these (an e502S in this case) in an aquarium of water while the AP was powered on and it continued to operate!
Introducing Nemo to cnPilot e500 series Mounted INSIDE an aquarium
