How to Choose Pharos Products for Outdoor Wi-Fi?

This document introduces how to choose CPE and WBS products from the following aspects:

Differences between CPE and WBS Products

Application Scenarios

Factors that should be Considered When Choosing Product Model

Differences between CPE and WBS Products

1. Antenna

CPE210/CPE220/CPE510/CPE520 have built-in antennas. There is no need to install external antennas for CPE products.

WBS210/WBS510 have no built-in antennas and need to work together with external antennas. For now, three kinds of antennas are available for WBS products for specific applications. The dish antenna with suffix MD in the model name, is applicable for long distance Point-to-Point scenario. The sector antenna with suffix MS in the model name and omni antenna with suffix MO in the model name, are applicable for wide coverage Point-to-Multi-Point scenario.

2. Distance and Coverage

CPE and WBS products vary in transmit power, antenna gain and antenna pattern, so that their supported transmit distance and signal coverage are different. The following table lists the specification of CPE products and typical combinations of WBS products and antennas:

Application Scenarios

CPE and WBS products can be used not only separately but also together. You can choose the proper products according to different application scenarios.

1. P2P (Point-to-Point)

The following figure shows the typical P2P application scenario.

There are two solutions: the economy one based on CPE and the enhanced one based on WBS.

2. P2MP (Point-to-Multi-Point)

The following figure shows the typical P2MP application scenario.

There are two solutions: the economy one based on CPE and the enhanced one based on WBS.

3. WISP (Wireless Internet Service Provider)

The following figure shows the typical WISP application scenario.

The WISP topology can be divided into two parts: the backbone network (Point-to-Point) and wireless access network (Point-to-Multi-Point). Therefore, you can refer to the P2P and P2MP solutions that have been introduced before.
 

Factors that should be Considered When Choosing Product Model

1. Distance

Estimate the installation distance between sites via map or other tools, and choose the product model that supports a longer distance to ensure link quality.

2. Coverage

This factor should be considered when deploying a Point-to-Multi-Point scenario. Client devices should be installed within the coverage.

3. Power Supply

All Pharos products are powered by 24VDC passive PoE, which supports up to 60meter (200ft) Power over Ethernet.

4. Wireless Speed

All Pharos products have 2x2 MIMO antenna, which supports the wireless speed of 300Mbps.