Ubiquiti Releases V5.2.1 for"M' Devices 

Until now, our recommendation for Ubiquiti "M" devices (i.e. Wireless-N) was to use:

• V5.1.2, and lock the ACK TIMEOUT value to the actual distance + 20%

We have been monitoring the many releases since V5.1.2 (including all the various BETA and RC versions). We (and Ubiquiti) are pleased that V5.2.1 is now very stable. Our current recommendation is to use:

• V5.2.1, and use AUTO  ACK TIMEOUT

Notes:

1. If your Ubiquiti product is working fine ... you probably don't need to upgrade to V5.2.1. Most problems with older versions were only seen by WISPs running APs with many wireless connections.
    
2. When using all versions before V5.2.1, be very careful about using the TEST feature when changing configurations. The device will operate with the changes you have made .. but they are not permanent. If the device is power cycled, it will revert back to the 'old' configuration. This even happens if you click TEST , then APPLY. This bug is fixed in V5.2.1.
    
3. V5.3 Beta .... includes VLAN support.  More information ...
   

New Products

We have continued to add to our range of products. New products this month are below.  

Product	Description
SR71-E Technology: Wireless-A/N	The SR71-E is a PCI-E format, high-power, dual band (2.4 & 5 GHz), dual antenna card. It supports: 2.4GHz 802.11b 802.11g 802.11n 5 GHz 802.11a 802.11n More ...  Now in stock
25 dBi NanoBridgeM Technology: Wireless-A//N	The NanoBridgeM5-25 is a high performance end point station. Activity and signal strength LED's simplify installation. Enhanced RF and Ethernet ESD/Surge protection enables prolonged operation in harshest environments. A pair of these is ideal for high speed, long distance links of 60 km or more. Freenet Antennas makes available a pre-configured Point-to-Point (PtP) kit  ready for point-plug-play operation.  More on the NBM5-25 ... More on the Point-to-Point link using NBM5-25s ...    Due in stock Nov 2010
25 dBi PowerBridgeM Technology: Wireless-A//N	The PowerBridgeM5-25 is a high performance end point station - in a visually unobtrusive package. Activity and signal strength LED's simplify installation. Enhanced RF and Ethernet ESD/Surge protection enables prolonged operation in harshest environments. A pair of these is ideal for high speed, long distance links of 60 km or more. Freenet Antennas makes available a pre-configured Point-to-Point (PtP) kit  ready for point-plug-play operation.  More on the PBM5-25 ... More on the Point-to-Point link using PBM5s ...    Due in stock Nov 2010
	Rugged 5GHz Directional antennas ... coming soon Many of you are familiar with our Rugged range of 2.4 GHz antennas - with built-in enclosures. Coming soon .... we will have the following antennas in the same rugged form factor. These antennas have been custom made to Freenet Antenna specifications. 20 dBi, 5GHz, single polarity (H or V) 18 dBi, 5 GHz, dual polarity (MIMO) We plan on offering these antennas with 5 GHz BulletM (single polarity), and 5 GHz RocketM (dual polarity) Contact Us for more information  Due in stock Nov 2010

 Ubiquiti 900 MHz ....We were wrong!

In our last newsletter, we said:

"the ACMA only allows operation in a narrow 8 MHz of spectrum (918 to 926 MHz)"

That was wrong.

The ACMA has clarified that we can use 915 to 928 MHz for spread spectrum data communication (i.e. WiFi). This gives us more than 10 MHz of usable spectrum, which means we can make non-Line of Sight (nLOS) 900 MHz links with up to 40 Mbps TCP/IP throughput.

Based on this, Freenet Antennas has decided to stock Ubiquiti 900 MHz gear - and we have some on order. However ... it is on back order as Ubiquiti has (typically) announced the product before it was shipping. We SHOULD have 900 MHz gear in stock before the end of the year.

Reminder: If you are considering 900 MHz for future applications:

• The range is not very high. Yes - we can use 900 MHz, but not at the 4W EIRP we are used to in other WiFI bands. This limits the useful range. Also - high gain (long range) 900 MHz antenna are big and expensive. 
• The bandwidth is not very high. As we can not use 20 and 40 MHz channel widths that we are used to in other WiFi bands, don't expect speeds over 40 Mbps.
• Mis-configuration can hurt your bank balance. The mobile phone industry in Australia uses frequencies close to 900 MHz. These guys have the full backing of the ACMA to prosecute anyone with a transmitter that is causing interference on their networks. If you make a mistake and configure your gear so that it interferes with the phone carriers, it could be a very expensive mistake. The onus is on the installer to do this correctly.

More from Ubiquiti ... 

Vivid Picture?

While scanning the 2.3 GHz band with our BulletM2 (in Spectrum Analyser mode) and a 2 dBi, 2.4 GHz whip antenna we saw the plot below.

There is a clear signal from 2.33 to 2.43 GHz. We suspect this is Vivid Wireless's signal in Perth.

Can anyone confirm this?

Click image to enlarge

Tell us of Your Success

Do you have a WiFi success story you would like to share with other Freenet Antennas customers? If so email us the details and we might publish in our next newsletter.

Here are two customer reports we received this month:

Rocket Dish with RocketM5s
Distance: 30 km
Datarate: 75Mbps
More info ...

NBM5-22
Distance: 10 km
Datarate:  65 Mbps
More info ...

Recommended Firmware

Each month we will update this table.