SM Ping issues

Products PMP
21

You said:

OK, if you don’t know which colour code you should use, is there a way that the SM can scan and find the best AP to connect to and then you can decide what Color code to assign the SM to?



When you are doing an install, the SM has a page called AP Eval Data. This allows you to look at all of the AP’s the SM can see. Then you select the color code for the AP with the best signal and lowest jitter. Note: You have to configure the SM for hardware or software scheduling first depending on your AP configuration or the SM won’t see anything.

We set our SM’s to allow all frequencies. If we need to move an AP to another frequency to evade interference, we want the SM’s to be able to follow without having to go in and change each SM’s frequency.

One thing you will find out about Canopy is that for the first 20 minutes after installing an SM, the AP is training the SM. During this time the performance will be less than you would expect. After you get the SM powered up, do something else like start cleaning up, configure the customers router, staple the cable, seal the holes, etc. When you come back to the SM you will find that the performance has improved.


Regarding the original question, the SM’s that are showing -44 and -35 are WAY too hot in signal strength. This is going to cause you big troubles as you add more subscribers, and the effective range on your system will be lower because you are blinding the AP with too much signal from the closer SM’s.

The solution is to set the SM to low power, and turn it away from the AP. Antenna patterns are not perfect lobes, and the backside of the SM will pick up plenty of signal. Try to get the signal level down below -65dB. You may need to put the SM in side the building.

As close as you are, why don’t you run a cable from your switch to the end user and take down the SM?

22
Jerry Richardson wrote:

Regarding the original question, the SM's that are showing -44 and -35 are WAY too hot in signal strength. This is going to cause you big troubles as you add more subscribers, and the effective range on your system will be lower because you are blinding the AP with too much signal from the closer SM's.


Thanks for all your help. In the following AP scan, which AP would you recommend us to connect this SM to?

*********************************************
Index: 0 Frequency: 5495.0 MHz ESN: 0a-00-3e-50-04-9b
Jitter: 1 RSSI: 1377 Power Level: -46 Beacon Count: 36 BRcvW: 1 DFS: 1 FEC: 0
Type: Multipoint Avail: 1 Age: 0 Lockout: 0 RegFail 0 Range: 539 feet TxBER: 0 EBcast: 0
Session Count: 1 NoLUIDS: 0 OutOfRange: 0 AuthFail: 0 EncryptFail: 0 Rescan Req: 0
FrameNumber: 183 SectorID: 0 Color Code: 2 BeaconVersion: 1 SectorUserCount: 2
Frequency: 5495 NumULHalfSlots: 15 NumDLHalfSlots: 61 NumULContSlots: 0
*********************************************
Index: 2 Frequency: 5545.0 MHz ESN: 0a-00-3e-50-04-9e
Jitter: 2 RSSI: 1552 Power Level: -43 Beacon Count: 29 BRcvW: 1 DFS: 0 FEC: 0
Type: Multipoint Avail: 1 Age: 0 Lockout: 0 RegFail 0 Range: 490 feet TxBER: 0 EBcast: 0
Session Count: 1 NoLUIDS: 0 OutOfRange: 0 AuthFail: 0 EncryptFail: 0 Rescan Req: 0
FrameNumber: 1485 SectorID: 0 Color Code: 2 BeaconVersion: 1 SectorUserCount: 3
Frequency: 5545 NumULHalfSlots: 15 NumDLHalfSlots: 61 NumULContSlots: 0
*********************************************
Index: 3 Frequency: 5495.0 MHz ESN: 0a-00-3e-50-04-82
Jitter: 6 RSSI: 560 Power Level: -73 Beacon Count: 13 BRcvW: 1 DFS: 0 FEC: 0
Type: Multipoint Avail: 0 Age: 5 Lockout: 0 RegFail 0 Range: 0 feet TxBER: 0 EBcast: 0
Session Count: 0 NoLUIDS: 0 OutOfRange: 0 AuthFail: 0 EncryptFail: 0 Rescan Req: 0
FrameNumber: 753 SectorID: 0 Color Code: 2 BeaconVersion: 1 SectorUserCount: 0
Frequency: 5495 NumULHalfSlots: 15 NumDLHalfSlots: 61 NumULContSlots: 0
*********************************************
Index: 4 Frequency: 5545.0 MHz ESN: 0a-00-3e-50-04-90
Jitter: 2 RSSI: 740 Power Level: -68 Beacon Count: 29 BRcvW: 1 DFS: 0 FEC: 0
Type: Multipoint Avail: 0 Age: 5 Lockout: 0 RegFail 0 Range: 539 feet TxBER: 0 EBcast: 0
Session Count: 1 NoLUIDS: 0 OutOfRange: 0 AuthFail: 0 EncryptFail: 0 Rescan Req: 0
FrameNumber: 1113 SectorID: 0 Color Code: 2 BeaconVersion: 1 SectorUserCount: 2
Frequency: 5545 NumULHalfSlots: 15 NumDLHalfSlots: 61 NumULContSlots: 0
23

index 2 looks good to me :smiley:

24
clueless wrote:
index 2 looks good to me :D


OK, and why would you prefer it to Index 0 ?
25

Well. 0 would work also. I like to put mine on the best rssi and jitter of course you would need to turn the power down in the sm either way.

You will have sm that will register to several ap’s. That is why you need different color codes. It will be up to you to make sure the customer is on the best ap.

If you don’t use color codes, then the sm could register to an ap that doesn’t work well and the customer would have bad service.

26

I’m curious about this. On the SM when I look at the stats i see this:

Session Status REGISTERED
Registered AP 0a-00-3e-50-04-9b
RSSI 1265 (-48 dBm)
Jitter 0
Air Delay 10 (approximately 0.09 miles (490 feet))


If I look at the AP session report for this SM at the same time it says

Session Timeout: 15, AirDelay 10 (approximately 0.09 miles (490 feet))
Session Count: 1, Reg Count 1, Re-Reg Count 0
RSSI (Avg/Last): 598/600 Jitter (Avg/Last): 2/2 Power Level (Avg/Last): -76/-75

There is a significant difference in what the AP and SM are reporting for RSSI and Power levels.

Which should I go by?

27

oops didn’t mean to post twice

28

Okay, this is the way I understand it. when you are in the sessions of the ap, it shows the power level you are sending from the sm. When you are in the sm stats it is showing the power level you are recieving from the ap.

With this level you may have turned the powerlevel down to far in the sm, turn it up until you have Like Richard said about 65


Quote
If I look at the AP session report for this SM at the same time it says

Session Timeout: 15, AirDelay 10 (approximately 0.09 miles (490 feet))
Session Count: 1, Reg Count 1, Re-Reg Count 0
RSSI (Avg/Last): 598/600 Jitter (Avg/Last): 2/2 Power Level (Avg/Last): -76/-75 (THIS LEVEL SHOULD BE AROUND 65)

There is a significant difference in what the AP and SM are reporting for RSSI and Power levels

29

I would have to go with 4 as it has a good balance between power level and jitter. My guess is that the SM is looking at the side of that AP.

Keep in mind that the numbers are starting at zero and going negative from there. A smaller number (-45dB) is stronger than a larger number (-70dB).

Log into the AP, and look at the sessions. You want the power level from all of the SM’s to fall between -65 and -75 when possible. You want to try and avoid getting below -80dB as that will not be a solid connection, and higher than -60 as that desensitizes the AP from being able to pick up distant SM’s.

Jitter below 5 is decent, 2-3 is perfectly acceptable.

You situation with SM’s being so close poses a challenge, but keep working atit and you will find a balance that works.

30

hum well on that 20 ft link why dont you just run a cat 5 out of a switch or do they have a small bandwidth package. And how tall is your tower these customers must be right under it?


ken
Info-Ed Inc.

31

I would like to thank all you guys who helped us out. With your help we seem to have improved the service we are giving to these customers.

Thanks again