In the next few weeks we will be installing a 10 Mbps 5.2 GHz PTP link to carry Advacend Life Support and Basic Life Support voice traffic from ambulances to county and regional dispatchers. The Canopy link will be used until licensing and hot-standy products arrives from our other vendor to be used as the main system. Once the main system is installed the Canopy system will then be used as a backup should the main and hotstandy radios fail.
My question is in regards to firmware. I have not really followed the pros and cons of firmware versions post 6.1. I am inquiring as to which firmware version you guys recommend I use for this link considering the type of traffic it will be carrying. There will be RAD V-Mux 110 boxes at both ends. These boxes convert the analog audio into Ethernet frames, pass it over Canopy, and deconvert once it reaches the other side.
There will be a CMM Micro in this implementation. Our main Canopy system which we own is 5.7 and all AP’s and BH’s are timed by a CMM. The 5.2 & 5.7 Canopy system we have installed for this same hospital (for their data/IT people) also uses a CMM. That system has (1) 5.7 shot and (2) 5.2 links - not quite 180 degrees off from each other but I am using the same 5.2 GHz frequency timed by the CMM and it works fine. All my radios and all the hospital’s radios are running firmware 6.1.
The existing 5.2 links are far enough away from this new system that I am going to try to once again re-use the same 5.2 channel. The existing 5.2 radios also have reflectors on both ends of their links.
Is there a firmware version you guys recommend for me to use? What version are new units shipping with? I remember there being some type of conflict with some 7.x version regarding colocation and timing?
Again this new link will be a 10 Mbps 5.2 GHz Extended Range PTP shot with standard Canopy reflectors on each end. It is not the 20 Mbps module so I have no need for a firmware version or hardware scheduling to auto adapt between 10 and 20 Mbps modulation.
What are your thoughts?
The newest firmware version that is currently being shipped with is 7.3.6.
Firmware 8 is due out sometime this month, we have been waiting on it for months now.
I would stick with either 7.1 or 7.3.6, I have seen problems with 7.2 and timing issues.
If I do stick with 7.3.6, I should not have a problem with other 5.2 backhauls in the general vicinity running 6.1? Again they are all timed with CMM’s, and this new system will NOT be colocated with the existing 5.2 system.
Thanks for the response.
In the 7.3.6 release docs page 9 says that you should sitck with 7.1.4 if possible.
The problems of instability arise when you try to colocate the BHMs running H/W and S/W scheds…
I was looking at it earlier as we are standardising all our BHs to 7.1.4
Thanks vj. I am programming them now. They shipped with 7.2.9 so I am going to roll them back to 7.1.4. Even though they will be in SW scheduling and not colocated with any other devices, I am still going to roll it back.
Thanks for the info.
msmith, how did it go are the links stable…