Configuring my Ubiquiti NanoBeam 5 GHz, 16 dBi airMAX (NBE-5AC-16)

[voyagerfan99]

So this nanobeam is meant to point to another nanobeam, which would be wired to a computer?

NO! WILL YOU FREAKING READ WHAT I'VE POSTED IN THE REST OF THIS THREAD?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?

It goes from one nanobeam (connected to your main router in the house) and goes to a second nanobeam. The second nanobeam goes into a switch. If you plug into that switch you will then have internet access to the switch. So you therefore get AP's to connect to the switch and mount those to the trailers.

The Nanobeams are weatherproof. You'd alsop get outdoor AP's which would also be weatherproof.

However in the end because your trailers are so spread out and the area is so large, you'd probably wind up buying way more than just another nanobeam and some outdoor AP's.

 

[farmerjohn1324]

However in the end because your trailers are so spread out and the area is so large, you'd probably wind up buying way more than just another nanobeam and some outdoor AP's.

Okay I get it.

What more might I have to buy?

I hope my ISP doesn't have a problem with me doing this. I have no problem with spending some to equip the park.

Are these things hurricane proof?

What is the model number of the access points I should buy?

 

[Geoff]

Okay I get it.

What more might I have to buy?

I hope my ISP doesn't have a problem with me doing this. I have no problem with spending some to equip the park.

Are these things hurricane proof?

What is the model number of the access points I should buy?

Of the many problems you have, the office is located in the corner. As we've said before, the NanoBeam is directional, so you'd need either multiple of these or you'd need to run ethernet/fiber directly to the AP's (bypassing the need for NanoBeams in the first place). Think of the NanoBeam as a replacement for ethernet/fiber, so you'd likely need a pair of these for every AP you plan to install if you spread them out across the park. The model AP's that you need really are the least of your concerns right now. There's no point in looking at what AP's to buy if you don't know how you are going to get cabling to that AP. Ethernet with a PoE switch would be easiest, but they have a 100M limit so that could pose a problem with some of the far runs. You'd then need to either run the cabling on utility poles if available, or bury them. Then you need to find a spot to mount the AP's.

Your ISP may not have a problem with the setup, but with many users on the network if you go over a cap that they may have in place, you could potentially get charged overages. You need to find out if you have a data cap on your current plan.

Hurricane proof? Pretty sure if a hurricane comes through your trailer park, having wireless access is the least of your concerns as far as repairs go.

 

[farmerjohn1324]

Of the many problems you have, the office is located in the corner. As we've said before, the NanoBeam is directional, so you'd need either multiple of these or you'd need to run ethernet/fiber directly to the AP's (bypassing the need for NanoBeams in the first place). Think of the NanoBeam as a replacement for ethernet/fiber, so you'd likely need a pair of these for every AP you plan to install if you spread them out across the park. The model AP's that you need really are the least of your concerns right now. There's no point in looking at what AP's to buy if you don't know how you are going to get cabling to that AP. Ethernet with a PoE switch would be easiest, but they have a 100M limit so that could pose a problem with some of the far runs. You'd then need to either run the cabling on utility poles if available, or bury them. Then you need to find a spot to mount the AP's.

Your ISP may not have a problem with the setup, but with many users on the network if you go over a cap that they may have in place, you could potentially get charged overages. You need to find out if you have a data cap on your current plan.

Hurricane proof? Pretty sure if a hurricane comes through your trailer park, having wireless access is the least of your concerns as far as repairs go.

I will do direct wiring to Access Points.

100 meters is 328 feet. Why would that be an issue if the furthest trailer is 180 feet?

I think I could ask at this point what are the best Access Points to buy. I would want the ones with the largest range... but is there a limit to how many people can be on them at once?

 

[Geoff]

I will do direct wiring to Access Points.

100 meters is 328 feet. Why would that be an issue if the furthest trailer is 180 feet?

I think I could ask at this point what are the best Access Points to buy. I would want the ones with the largest range... but is there a limit to how many people can be on them at once?

Depends if you can go directly to the point where you will install it, or you have to follow existing wiring which takes a round-about way to get there.

For your setup, you don't want an AP with the largest range. Otherwise, they will be causing co-channel interference with each other.

How are you going to install these? If they will be outdoors your options are more limited. Do you plan to mount them on poles?

 

[farmerjohn1324]

Depends if you can go directly to the point where you will install it, or you have to follow existing wiring which takes a round-about way to get there.

For your setup, you don't want an AP with the largest range. Otherwise, they will be causing co-channel interference with each other.

How are you going to install these? If they will be outdoors your options are more limited. Do you plan to mount them on poles?

I can have wires go underground if I need to. That's not big deal.

I think I will probably put them on the outside of trailers. I also have a laundromat that I could put a "lightning rod" looking thing on (a pole extended far in the air).

I have many places to mount them. I now need to figure out what are the ranges of the available products and how many I will need.

If a certain trailer is in the range of two access points, will that cause them not to be able to get Internet?

My other questions is: What are all these Access Points wired to? Are they all connected to a switch that connects to the cable modem?

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap/ says that their access points have a range of 122m at the lowest, so couldn't I just put one on the outside of the shed? 55m is the furthest distance to any trailer.

 

[Geoff]

I can have wires go underground if I need to. That's not big deal.

I think I will probably put them on the outside of trailers. I also have a laundromat that I could put a "lightning rod" looking thing on (a pole extended far in the air).

I have many places to mount them. I now need to figure out what are the ranges of the available products and how many I will need.

If a certain trailer is in the range of two access points, will that cause them not to be able to get Internet?

My other questions is: What are all these Access Points wired to? Are they all connected to a switch that connects to the cable modem?

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap/ says that their access points have a range of 122m at the lowest, so couldn't I just put one on the outside of the shed? 55m is the furthest distance to any trailer.

They can be in range of two access points, as long as they are on different channels. If they see multiple access points on the same SSID and on the same channel at similar signal levels, it can cause issues, hence why you don't necessarily want to run these at full power for the longest range.

They would be wired to a PoE switch, which would then be connected to your router. If you use Ubiquity AP's, you will also want to have a server connected to that switch to manage them. The router would then be connected to the modem.

That range is in wide open areas. Once you add in obstructions like trees, buildings, furniture, etc. it becomes a lot less. Other factors include neighboring APs, noise from appliances like microwaves, etc. You'd want to plan for 5GHz coverage, which is a lot less than 122m with obstructions.

 

[farmerjohn1324]

They can be in range of two access points, as long as they are on different channels. If they see multiple access points on the same SSID and on the same channel at similar signal levels, it can cause issues, hence why you don't necessarily want to run these at full power for the longest range.

They would be wired to a PoE switch, which would then be connected to your router. If you use Ubiquity AP's, you will also want to have a server connected to that switch to manage them. The router would then be connected to the modem.

That range is in wide open areas. Once you add in obstructions like trees, buildings, furniture, etc. it becomes a lot less. Other factors include neighboring APs, noise from appliances like microwaves, etc. You'd want to plan for 5GHz coverage, which is a lot less than 122m with obstructions.

These Access Points are omnidirectional, right? All I need is 55m.

Why is it necessary to have a server?

Of the models on this site, https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap/ , which would you buy? I would want to get the cheapest one and I think 122m would work because I only need 55m.

 

[voyagerfan99]

You don't need to install the control panel on a server, but you will need a workstation or a small manage unit to manage them all.

 

[farmerjohn1324]

You don't need to install the control panel on a server, but you will need a workstation or a small manage unit to manage them all.

To manage "what" all? At this point, I'm trying to do this with one Access Point. I see no reason I shouldn't be able to reach 55m on something that has a maximum laboratory range of 122m. Am I right in thinking this?

And when you say "server," are you talking about software like Apache, or another piece of hardware? Would Apache work?

 

[johnb35]

Of the models on this site, https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap/ , which would you buy?

Those are indoor access points. These are outdoor access points.

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-outdoor/

 

[voyagerfan99]

I give up trying to explain anything to you.

 

[farmerjohn1324]

Those are indoor access points. These are outdoor access points.

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-outdoor/

Okay, but at this point, I'm not sure that I need anything to be outdoors. I'm hoping to put one in my office, which is 55m away from the furthest place it needs to reach. The lowest range is 122m in perfect conditions, so even with some walls and microwaves in the way, one 122m indoor Access Point should reach 55m, right?

I know that the salesperson will tell me "yes," either way, so I can't really rely on them...

At this point, I'm trying to decide which Access Point to buy. Do I need one with two frequencies? If so, why?

 

[beers]

I give up trying to explain anything to you.

^ that.

 

[farmerjohn1324]

^ that.

What are you talking about? I now know that I need to buy an Access Point instead of the Nanobeam that they told me to buy. I know about 100x more than I did when I started this post.

Do you think a single indoor 122m Access Point would work to cover 55m, since it wouldn't be ideal conditions? I could just put one Access Point in my office, right?

Why would this work or not work?

 

[Geoff]

John, you aren't listening to anything we say. As I've told you numerous times, the 122M advertised range is in a wide open area with no obstructions. If you have the AP in your office, it's going to be surrounded by the walls of your office, possible some trees or other things between the office and the trailers, and then the trailers themselves. The clients inside the trailers won't be able to reliably connect their devices to that AP. Besides, if people use smartphones or tablets, they are much weaker than laptops.

How many total clients do you expect there to be connected here?

 

[farmerjohn1324]

John, you aren't listening to anything we say. As I've told you numerous times, the 122M advertised range is in a wide open area with no obstructions. If you have the AP in your office, it's going to be surrounded by the walls of your office, possible some trees or other things between the office and the trailers, and then the trailers themselves. The clients inside the trailers won't be able to reliably connect their devices to that AP. Besides, if people use smartphones or tablets, they are much weaker than laptops.

How many total clients do you expect there to be connected here?

As much as 8 at a time. If they are using their smartphones, then they wouldn't be on my network anyway.

I know the 122m is in ideal conditions, but even with all those obstructions, would it still be able to go 55m? That's only 45% of it's maximum range.

Either way, would you agree that getting an Access Point for the "office" would be a starting point? At the very least, it would be able to reach the trailer that's 15m away from the office.

(If I wasn't listening, I wouldn't even know what Ubiquiti was in the first place... maybe it just takes a while for my vocabulary to catch up).

 

[Geoff]

As much as 8 at a time. If they are using their smartphones, then they wouldn't be on my network anyway.

I know the 122m is in ideal conditions, but even with all those obstructions, would it still be able to go 55m? That's only 45% of it's maximum range.

Either way, would you agree that getting an Access Point for the "office" would be a starting point? At the very least, it would be able to reach the trailer that's 15m away from the office.

(If I wasn't listening, I wouldn't even know what Ubiquiti was in the first place... maybe it just takes a while for my vocabulary to catch up).

How many trailers are there, and how many people on average are in each trailer? You may know your residents best, but the rule of thumb is 2-3 devices per person for a worst case scenario when planning your network. Why wouldn't they use smartphones on your network? Those are likely to be the most common devices used on your network, as nearly everyone has one these days, along with a tablet and/or laptop.

Without knowing the exact material of the walls and obstructions I can't say for sure if you could reach those distances, but I highly doubt it. You do not want to have clients anywhere near the fringe area anyways, as it's going to cause lots of disconnects and association problems, as well as slow speeds. Remember, when clients are connected at a slow data rate due to poor signal, it causes slow downs for everyone.

Since you seem pretty fixed on this, I'd say get a Ubiquity UAP-LR (long range), and mount it in the window facing the trailers for a best shot at getting it to work. It will likely work out in the open, but I highly doubt it would work inside all the trailers.

 

[farmerjohn1324]

How many trailers are there, and how many people on average are in each trailer? You may know your residents best, but the rule of thumb is 2-3 devices per person for a worst case scenario when planning your network. Why wouldn't they use smartphones on your network? Those are likely to be the most common devices used on your network, as nearly everyone has one these days, along with a tablet and/or laptop.

8 trailers. Average of 2.2 people per trailer. When you say 2-3 devices, do you mean the people will be using 2-3 devices at once, or do you mean that I need 2-3 Ubiquiti products per person? If they used their smartphones (as some of them already do), it would use Verizon's network. That's how my phone works.

Without knowing the exact material of the walls and obstructions I can't say for sure if you could reach those distances, but I highly doubt it. You do not want to have clients anywhere near the fringe area anyways, as it's going to cause lots of disconnects and association problems, as well as slow speeds. Remember, when clients are connected at a slow data rate due to poor signal, it causes slow downs for everyone.

Most of the trailers have a metal exterior.

Since you seem pretty fixed on this, I'd say get a Ubiquity UAP-LR (long range), and mount it in the window facing the trailers for a best shot at getting it to work. It will likely work out in the open, but I highly doubt it would work inside all the trailers.

How would I get a signal inside the trailers?

 

[Geoff]

8 trailers. Average of 2.2 people per trailer. When you say 2-3 devices, do you mean the people will be using 2-3 devices at once, or do you mean that I need 2-3 Ubiquiti products per person? If they used their smartphones (as some of them already do), it would use Verizon's network. That's how my phone works.



Most of the trailers have a metal exterior.



How would I get a signal inside the trailers?

When planning a wireless network you determine how many people would be present at peak times, use the 2-3 device estimate per person, and then you usually use a percentage of that to determine the day-to-day traffic. So if you figure 2 devices per person, with 2 people per trailer, that's 32 potential devices. I'm not sure what sort of percentage you'd use in this exact scenario, but it's good to look at the worst case scenario to plan for capacity in your network.

Yes smartphones can use mobile data, but most people do not have unlimited data, and connect to WiFi whenever possible. If there is WiFi, they will connect their phones to it. Mobile devices are the primary use on residential and educational wireless networks.

Metal is a bad material to try and get wireless through.

It could work if you have an AP mounted next to a trailer, such as every other or every 2 trailers you mount an AP on a pole of some sorts.