RadioLAN Wireless Ethernet Bridges - Support

BridgeLINK-Pro, -II, Lite and Campus BridgeLINK FAQ

What different products are available ?

The BridgeLINK family consists of the following products:

BridgeLINK-Lite - a completely self-contained wireless bridge for sub 1 mile applications
BridgeLINK-Pro - a self-contained wireless bridge with external antenna for applications over 1 mile
Campus BridgeLINK-II - a modular wireless bridge where indoor mounting of the electronics is desired
Campus BridgeLINK - our original Wireless Ethernet Bridge
BridgeLINK-11a - a self-contained wireless bridge for Fast Ethernet (100BaseT) performance

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What comes with a BridgeLINK ?

The Campus BridgeLINK (CBL) and CBL-II come with a Bridge Processor (WAU/WAU-II), Radio module (CRM), Antenna and Antenna Cable, Antenna Mounting hardware, and a CD with the manual, a Quick-Start guide, and some useful installation and troubleshooting utilities. All the necessary software is programmed into chips on the unit, so no software installation is necessary.

The BridgeLINK-Lite and BridgeLINK-Pro consist of a self-contained Bridge Processor Unit (BPU), a Power-over-Ethernet Injector, and pre-installed, outdoor-rated, Ethernet cable, as well as the BridgeLINK CD described above.

The Professional Installer will need some tools to install and verify a link. These include a laptop PC with an Ethernet RJ-45 interface, Ethernet patch cable, and a Web Browser.

User Manual's can be found either on the RadioLAN CD that comes with every BridgeLINK Product, or on the RadioLAN web site under the "Print Materials" section.

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Is a BridgeLINK easy to install ??

Absolutely. While installing a wireless link is not a task for the unprepared, BridgeLINKs are designed with easy-installation in mind. First, each unit comes with just about everything you need to install a link. BridgeLINK-Lite and BridgeLINK-Pros use Power-over-Ethernet technology which minimizes hardware sizes, the number of cable interconnects, and the difficulty of pulling wire through conduit. Furthermore, every BridgeLINK product runs the renowned RadioNET Manager Software which has robust management tools and a simple aiming utility.

For software setup, everything is browser based. An IP address assignment utility called IPAssign is provided so you can quickly and easily find all BridgeLINK units on a subnet, and assign IP addresses individually to each. Once assigned, each unit can be managed by typing its IP address into a browser console anywhere on the network, or, in the case of assigned public IP addresses, anywhere on the Internet.

The best person to setup a BridgeLINK is a "Wireless Professional Installer". A Professional Installer is knowledgeable about RF links and the physical and regulatory rules that apply to products that operate in this frequency range.

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Do I need to order one or two units for a link ?

Two BridgeLINK units are required for a complete link.

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Can I extend the distance ?

The Campus BridgeLINK-II and BridgeLINK-Pro allow the professional installer to connect any approved antenna to the bridge, thereby providing tailored ranges of up to 50 miles. Antennas at either side may be different, but it is recommended, whenever possible, to keep identical antennas at both sides of a link. Click here for an Excel path loss tool that will help you decide which antenna system to use for a particular distance requirement.

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Is it full or half duplex ?

Just like Ethernet, the CBL is a half-duplex system that emulates a full duplex link. Each transceiver switches rapidly from transmit to receive mode as required.

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How can I configure or manage a CBL ??

RMG provides three user-interfaces for configuration and management of the wireless link. One is a serial interface via a DB9 connector on the WAU, another is Telnet access to the assigned IP Address, and the last is a standard HTTP browser interface. The latter two are particularly useful to System Administrators, since they allow monitoring and management of a BridgeLINK from anywhere in the world. Once installed, a BridgeLINK will require little, if any, configuration or management, but it's nice to know that the tools are there.

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Can I use LMR-400 cable to extend my antenna to a better location ?

The cables for the BridgeLINK are manufactured by Talley using Andrew's Heliax cable. Although somewhat expensive, this low-loss cable has a 7 dB loss for every 100' or .07 dB loss per foot. Each dB of loss in the RF cables results in loss of distance between antennas. In a point-to-point link, 3 dB of loss can result in halving of the range. With an omnidirectional antenna, 6 dB of loss will halve the range.

LMR-400 cable has a loss of about 20 dB per 100 feet at 5.8 GHz, meaning that you could only use 1/3rd the length of cable to achieve the same distance as the Heliax cable that RMG provides. RadioLAN recommends using RadioLAN provided cable, or the exact equivalent.

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Can I log to a Syslog server ?

Yes! Simply start the Syslog service, launch the CBL Manager, click "System Configuration"/"SNMP Parameters"/"Edit". Then enter the IP address of the machine hosting the Syslog Server, and select "Receive Syslog". Save your changes and restart. You will see the new entries in your Syslog Server.

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What do I do if I need to put more than one BridgeLINK on the same tower?

Two radio's operating at the same time and frequency tend to interfere with each other. In order to mitigate interference, you should 1) Make sure each pair of bridges has a unique, matching Subnet ID field value, which is different from the value of the other pair(s) 2) Turn both antennas of one communicating pair 90 degrees on their mounting poles to achieve polarization diversity, and 3) separate them by at least 20 feet. Please download and read the Co-Channel Interference white paper on the RadioLAN website.

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My IPAssign utility fails to install ?

If IPAsignInstaller fails to install the required libraries properly, you will experience two sequential errors on first running IPAssign.exe. The first is "No LAN Adapter found". If you experience this error, click here to download an utility to reset the IPAssign registry entries to properly point to the library files. Run this utility, called FixRIPAU.exe, twice. IPAssign should then properly run.

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What Troubleshooting tools exist ?

Goto http://www.radiolan.com/troubleshooter.html

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BridgeLINK-Pro and the Realtek 8139 Ethernet chip

There have been issues found with the BridgeLINK Products and the Realtek 8139 Ethernet Chip. If you experience hanging or random lockups, your BridgeLINK product is likely connected to an Ethernet Port controlled by a Realtek 8139 chip. The quick fix is to put an inexpensive hub between this Ethernet Port and the Power Injector of the BridgeLINK. A fix will be coming from RadioLAN.

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What 10BaseT and Radio Port protocol filters should be enabled?

None, which is the default for all RadioLAN configurations.

The filters seen in the Web Control Panel and Console Based Administration Menus are used to allow the bridge to perform basic network blocking based on the layer 2 protocol (e.g. Internet Protocol, IPX/SPX for Novell, and NetBEUI, which is an legacy protocol for Windows File Sharing). Some network administrators prefer to turn IPX and NetBEUI traffic off, as it is an easy way to keep broadcasts between Novell or NT servers/workstations limited to just the local segment of the network.

For most network segmentation objectives, we recommend routers, as routers work at layer 3 (IP) and can use more granular filters, as well as implement VoIP and VPN on networks.

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We would like to hear your suggestions for more FAQ's. Please email us at the following address: support@radiolan.com.

Revised: February 11, 2004.