ePMP1000vsePMP2000test

ThefollowingwilldocumenttheresultsofahopefullytrueapplestoapplescomparisonbetweentheCambiumePMP1000APandthenewePMP2000APwithbeamsteeringantenna.ThistestwasperformedonatowerlocatedonLookoutMountainaboveGolden,Colorado.Thesubscribermodulesrangedindistancefrom1.5milesto3milesfromthetowerandwherelocatedinandaroundthecityofGolden.Allsubscriberswerewithinthe90degreesectorandverticalbeam.Thetowersitsabout1800’abovethetownandisalsothesiteofdozensofTV,radioandotherantennas.ItistheprimarylocationforRFtransmissionfortheDenvermetroarea.ThecityofGoldenishometoalargeuniversityandtheCoorsbrewingcampus–bothofwhichhavenumerousindoorandoutdoor5GHzWiFihotspotsandarebothdirectlyinlinewiththecenterpointofthisparticularAP.ThereislittletonoRFcoordinationinthe5GHzspectrumatthislocationbetweenthemultiplecompanieswithantennasites.NootherWISPsareprovidingserviceintoGoldenbutLookoutMountainisthelocationforanumberofpointtopointlinkstositesaroundthemetroarea.Hardware:ePMP1000GPSAPwithRFElementsCarrierClass17dBi120-degreeantennaePMP2000GPSAPwithCambium90/120antennaandbeamsteeringattachmentEnvironment:APismounted100’abovegroundwith~8-degreemechanicaldowntilt.ePMP1000APispoweredbyaNetonix12-200-ACswitch.ePMP2000APispoweredbytheincluded56vPOEinjector.TheePMP1000radiowasanexistingAPwith11clientsonit.Tostartthetest,themaximumMCSrateontheAPwasraisedfrom13to15.Inaddition,themaximumMCSrateoneachSMwasraisedfrom11to15.Thiswouldallowtestingofmaximumthroughputforbothtests.TheAPswerein“flexible”modeandsettoa20MHzchannelwidth.Onbothradios,framesizewas5msandtrafficwassettoMCS0.GPSsyncwasoff.TherearetwootherePMP1000APsonthistower.AP2is60feetoffthegroundandoperatingat5790Mhz(butwasturnedoffforthesetests).AP3is100feetofftheground(directlyaboveAP1)andoperatingat5190Mhz.HereisalookattheRFenvironmentusingaMimosaB5radiolocatedonthetower20feetoffthegroundandpointedinthesamedirectionasAP1.

ThefirstsetoftestswasdonewiththeePMP2000APrunningfirmware3.0(aswereall11clients).RSSI,SNR,MCSandthroughputweretestedwithall11clientsonthefollowingfrequencies:5240,5805,5825.ThosefrequencieswerechosenbecausetheyarethecleanestatthetowerbutasyoucanseefromtheRFgraph,noneare“clean”.WealsorananeDetectfromall3frequencies.Screengrabsandresultsareincludedattheendofthedocument.AllsubscribersarereferencedwiththelastthreedigitsoftheIP(ie.113).Oncethoseresultsweredocumented,theePMP2000APwasremovedfromthetowerandtheePMP1000APwasinstalledinthesamespot.TheePMP1000APwasconfiguredwiththesameexactsoftwaresettingsastheePMP2000AP.Theonlydifferencebetweenthetworadioswashardwareand1dBgainontheantenna.WiththeePMP1000APinstalled,all11subscribersweremigratedtoit.Weduplicatedthesametestsanddocumentedthesamesetofdataforall11subscriberradiosnowattachedtotheePMP1000AP.ThetimeofdaywasthesameasitwasfortheePMP2000testsandtheaverageclientthroughputontheAPatthetimeofthetestswasapproximately10to15Mbpstotal.Othernotes:ePMP1000APfirmware:3.0ePMP2000APfirmware:3.0Allsubscribermodules:3.0SeeAppendixAfortestresultsInitialFindingsfortest:Hardware

• ePMP2000APandbeamsteeringantennaissignificantlyheavierthantheePMP1000withtheRFElementsCC-17antenna.

• AntennawasdifficulttomountontheRohnantennamast.TheclampisdesignedforapolewithalargerdiameterthantheRohnantennaandtheclampswouldnotcloseallthewaytoformatightfit.

• TheholeintheplasticdoorfortheEthernetcabletoexittheradioismachinedtoosmallforourEthernetcable(Ubiquiticarriergradeshieldedcable).Wedidnotnoticethisuntilwewerehanging100’intheair.Itwasverydifficulttogettheplasticdoorbackontheradio.

• Theprofileforthenewantennaislargerthanthe1000antennawhenyouhavethebeamsteeringantennaattached.Inaddition,thewidthofthebeamsteeringantennamadeazimuthaimingoftheAPdifficultsinceitwouldcomeincontactwiththesideoftheRohnantennamast.Youmustmountthiswithastandoffpole.

Performance

• ThebeamformingantennaoftheePMP2000radiodoesworkincertaincircumstances.Itappearstoperformbetterathigherfrequencies(5800vs5200).Thismakesmewonderiftheantennaisbettertunedtothehigherfrequencies.

• Takealookatthedata,chartsandgraphsanddrawyourownconclusion.YourmileagemayandwillvaryinyourRFenvironment.Weareaprettynoisyenvironmentonthistowerfacingthisdirection.However,byandlarge,theePMP1000withtheRFElementsantennaperformedbetter,especiallywithdownloadspeeds.

Werananumberofthroughputtestsoneachsubscriberusingtheradiotool.WealsoransometruebandwidthteststotheInternetatsomesubscriberlocations.TheradioreportedspeedandtheactualspeedtotheInternetwerenearlyidentical.Thisgaveussomeconfidenceintheradioreportednumbers,despitebeingUDPpackets.TheslowerdownloadspeedswithePMP2000gaveussomeconcern.Attheveryleast,weexpectedtoseedownloadspeedsstaythesameastheywereintheePMP1000tests,especiallysinceallotherfactorswerethesame.SeeAppendixAfortestresultsConclusions:EveryRFenvironmentisdifferentandtherearereportsoutthereoftheePMP2000solvingRFnoiseissuesforcustomers.Ibelievethemandbelieveintheproduct.Thebeamsteeringantennaworksandimprovesuploadspeeds,especiallyinpoorRFenvironmentsatthehigher5.8Ghzchannels.WhatisnotcleariswhydownloadissufferingwhencomparedtoanidenticallyconfiguredePMP1000AP.WedecidedattheconclusionoftheseteststoleavetheePMP1000APwiththeRFElementsantennaonthetowerandreturntheloanerePMP2000AP.

TestResultsSpreadsheet

IP Hardware AP 5240 Mhz 5805 Mhz 5825 Mhz 5240 Mhz 5805 Mhz 5825 Mhz 5240 Mhz 5805 Mhz 5825 Mhz 5240 Mhz 5805 Mhz 5825 Mhz2000 -63 / -70 -63 / -57 -62 / -58 28 / 25 27 / 33 25 / 32 14 / 12 12 / 14 12 / 13 64 / 36 50 / 55 40 / 421000 -66 / -70 -64 / -64 -64 / -67 28 / 28 31 / 33 31 / 30 15 / 12 13 / 13 15 / 13 64 / 41 53 / 41 64 / 43

2000 -60 / -74 -60 / -60 -62 / -58 30 / 17 30 / 28 27 / 26 14 / 6 12 / 15 9 / 14 79 / 23 28 / 51 14 / 521000 -62 / -75 -63 / -62 -61 / -64 32 / 22 34 / 36 34 / 33 15 / 10 14 / 13 11 / 11 77 / 26 51 / 41 20 / 41

2000 -58 / -70 -58 / -55 -56 / -50 32 / 19 32 / 38 32 / 36 9 / 9 14 / 14 14 / 15 48 / 37 79 / 57 67 / 541000 -59 / -72 -59 / -56 -57 / -59 35 / 24 38 / 40 37 / 39 13 / 11 15 / 12 15 / 11 60 / 27 75 / 41 62 / 33

2000 -60 / -66 -59 / -55 -58 / -55 31 / 27 31 / 38 31 / 36 12 / 10 11 / 13 9 / 10 79 / 39 36 / 50 65 / 431000 -62 / -68 -61 / -61 -61 / -61 32 / 29 36 / 37 35 / 35 15 / 11 12 / 15 14 / 12 73 / 41 36 / 38 53 / 35

2000 -67 / -79 -67 / -66 -67 / -64 24 / 15 23 / 26 22 / 27 12 / 9 11 / 6 10 / 11 49 / 22 31 / 52 16 / 441000 -66 / -81 -66 / -67 -65 / -66 28 / 17 31 / 31 29 / 31 14 / 10 14 / 12 12 / 12 65 / 12 67 / 44 35 / 24

2000 -61 / -67 -61 / -55 -58 / -56 30 / 26 29 / 34 30 / 36 10 / 11 10 / 7 9 / 10 77 / 34 42 / 48 54 / 391000 -62 / -68 -65 / -63 -65 / -61 31 / 29 32 / 35 31 / 35 15 / 12 13 / 11 10 / 10 65 / 40 43 / 42 59 / 32

2000 -67 / -72 -71 / -64 -67 / -65 22 / 21 20 / 28 21 / 27 12 / 9 10 / 11 10 / 10 54 / 19 15 / 21 41 / 431000 -68 / -73 -69 / -68 -68 / -70 26 / 24 30 / 31 27 / 29 12 / 11 12 / 12 12 / 11 41 / 25 35 / 26 34 / 15

2000 -66 / -70 -68 / -62 -64 / -63 25 / 22 23 / 29 24 / 32 13 / 13 12 / 12 12 / 12 49 / 35 29 / 35 46 / 391000 -66 / -73 -68 / -68 -67 / -67 28 / 24 29 / 32 29 / 28 13 / 11 14 / 12 14 / 12 61 / 27 53 / 42 56 / 27

2000 -68 / -79 -71 / -65 -69 / -65 22 / 15 20 / 29 19 / 27 10 / 10 2 / 12 10 / 5 47 / 11 3 / 28 23 / 381000 -67 / -81 -66 / -67 -66 / -65 27 / 15 30 / 30 29 / 31 14 / 9 9 / 12 13 / 12 71 / 10 19 / 42 34 / 27

2000 -63 / -70 -66 / -63 -64 / -63 27 / 23 26 / 33 24 / 30 15 / 10 3 / 4 11 / 4 65 / 27 16 / 24 45 / 241000 -66 / -72 -66 / -68 -67 / -69 28 / 26 30 / 30 30 / 28 14 / 12 14 / 12 14 / 11 67 / 31 34 / 41 48 / 22

2000 -60 / -74 -60 / -56 -58 / -57 30 / 19 28 / 35 30 / 34 14 / 10 12 / 7 13 / 6 81 / 33 53 / 55 63 / 491000 -62 / -72 -60 / -59 -61 / -60 32 / 22 37 / 37 34 / 36 15 / 10 14 / 12 15 / 12 75 / 25 64 / 43 68 / 41

ePMP 1000 AP vs ePMP 2000 AP

Client RSSI (Download / Upload) SNR (Download / Upload) MCS (Download / Upload) Speedtest (Download / Upload)

101 Force 180

102 1000Connectorized

106 Force 200

107 Force 180

108 1000Connectorized

111 Force 180

112 Force 180

113 Force 180

115 Force 200

118 Force 180

126 Force 200

Medium (800 bytes) @ 10 seconds

ePMP 2000 APAnt: Cambium 90/120 degree Ant Gain: 18 dBi Xmit: 18 dBm Width: 20 Mhz Downtilt: 7 mech

ePMP 1000 APAnt: RF Elements SEC-CC-5-17 Ant Gain: 17 dBi Xmit: 19 dBm Width: 20 Mhz Downtilt: 8 mech

ePMP2000ScreenGrabs:Frequency5240

ePMP1000ScreenGrabs:Frequency5240

ePMP2000ScreenGrabs:Frequency5805

ePMP1000ScreenGrabs:Frequency5805

ePMP2000ScreenGrabs:Frequency5825

ePMP1000ScreenGrabs:Frequency5825