{"id":5781,"date":"2012-11-19T10:12:07","date_gmt":"2012-11-19T14:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/?p=5781"},"modified":"2023-04-09T12:10:56","modified_gmt":"2023-04-09T16:10:56","slug":"ubiquiti-nanobridge-m5-ip-radio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/2012\/11\/ubiquiti-nanobridge-m5-ip-radio\/","title":{"rendered":"Ubiquiti Nanobridge M5 IP radio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I am in the process of installing a pair of the Nanobridge M5 units as an IP network link between a transmitter site and the studio location. The path is relatively short, about 1.5 miles over mostly water.\u00a0 The main reason for this is to replace the analog phone lines used for remote control data and backup programming delivery to the transmitter site.\u00a0 One added benefit, we are also installing several\u00a0 IP cameras to keep an eye on the place.\u00a0 We purchased the Nanobridge system for $80.00 per side.\u00a0 The price is pretty good, but the configuration and testing are a bit intensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Network<\/a>
Network Diagram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are many versions of these spread spectrum radios, some are licensed, and some are license free.\u00a0 These are inexpensive, license-free links that I would count on for short paths or use in non-congested areas.\u00a0 In congested areas, licensed (Part 101) links should be used, especially for critical infrastructure like STLs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since I dreamed up this idea, I figured I should make sure it is going to work before recommending it to the powers that be.\u00a0 I have learned the hard way, almost nothing is worse than a failed project with your name on it.\u00a0 Better to over-study something than to go off half-cocked, spend a bunch of money, then realize the idea was flawed from the start.\u00a0 See also: Success has a thousand mothers but failure is an orphan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nanobrige<\/a>
Nanobrige path study, 5.8 GHz, moderate noise floor, 1.5 miles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Looks pretty good.  300 MB\/s bi-directional which is faster than the Ethernet port on the unit.  This will be set up in bridge mode with pretty robust encryption.  The transmitter site side is configured in the router mode, creating a second class A network at the remote site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nanobridge<\/a>
Nanobridge M5 22 dBi antenna<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Next step, configuring the units.\u00a0 The Nanobridge units were set up in a back to back configuration in the engineering room.\u00a0 Each end comes with a default IP address of 192.168.1.20.\u00a0 The units were several steps behind the latest firmware version, therefore the firmware was upgraded first.\u00a0 The default admin user, password, and IP addresses were changed.\u00a0 There is no greater security risk than default user and password.\u00a0 The wireless security feature is enabled using WPA2-AES PSK and a greater than 192-bit access code.\u00a0 The unit allows for any access code length up to 256 bits.\u00a0 With a key of between 192 and 256 bits, the number of possible solutions is between 6.2771 E 57 and 1.1579 E 77, which should be pretty hard to crack.\u00a0 By way of reference, a 192-bit password has 24 ASCII characters and a 256-bit password has 32 ASCII characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Air<\/a>
Air OS main screen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The system requires an access point, which is configured for the studio side making the transmitter site stub network the station side.\u00a0 The access point is configured not to advertise its SSID, thus it should be transparent to anyone sniffing around.\u00a0 The WLAN is configured as a layer two bridge, which will cut down on the data overhead, as layer three framing will not need to be opened between the two units.\u00a0 The transmitter site network is set up with SOHO router function built into the Nanobridge.\u00a0 One static route is needed to get to the main network.\u00a0 Once the security cameras are installed, PAT may need to be used to access individual camera units via the public network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ubiquity<\/a>
Ubiquity air os signal strength screen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Next step, deploy the units and aligning antennas.  These are 22 dBi gain antennas, which have a pretty tight beam width.  Maximum transmit power is 23 dBm, or 200 mW.  The transceiver\/antenna unit has a handy signal strength meter on the side of the unit, which is good for rough in.  The web interface has a more precise meter.  In addition to that, there is a java based spectrum analyzer, which is very handy for finding open channels in congested areas.  These units can also be used on UNii frequencies with special requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the manufacturer, UV-resistant shielded Category 5e cable should be used for outdoor installations.\u00a0 We have several spools of Belden 1300A, which fits the bill.\u00a0 The shielded Cat 5 is necessary for lightning protection as the cable shield offers a ground path for the antenna unit.\u00a0 The antenna mounting structure is also grounded.\u00a0 I did not take the equipment apart to examine, but I believe the POE injector and antenna have 15KV TVSS diodes across all conductors.\u00a0 It will be interesting to see how these units do at the transmitter site, where there are two 300-foot towers that likely get struck by lightning often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More pictures of the installation when it is completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next step, put the system into service and monitor the link.\u00a0 At the transmitter site, a re-purposed 10\/100 Ethernet switch will be installed for the cameras, computer, IP-RS232 converter, and anything else that may need to be added in the future.\u00a0 One thing we may try is an Audio of IP (AoIP) bridge like a Barix or Tieline for program audio and room audio.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am in the process of installing a pair of the Nanobridge M5 units as an IP network link between a transmitter site and the studio location. The path is relatively short, about 1.5 miles over mostly water.\u00a0 The main reason for this is to replace the analog phone lines used for remote control data … Continue reading Ubiquiti Nanobridge M5 IP radio<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[260,4],"tags":[18,158,187,62],"class_list":["post-5781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-it","category-tech-stuff","tag-am-transmitter-site","tag-aoip","tag-network","tag-stl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5781"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11485,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5781\/revisions\/11485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}