asked on

Wi-Fi Bridge 5GHz, Cisco VLAN support

I have two buildings, about half a mile clear view. Need to build a Wi-Fi bridge between them.

Currently using AmpedWireless ARP175P as an access point and REB175P as a bridge. To get a stronger signal I'm using TL-ANT5823B 5GHz 23dBi Outdoor Directional Panel Antennas on both. The signal is strong, between 94 and 96%. The connection is stable.
All good, except that while Amped Wireless says they support VLANS, their VLANS do not support dot1q.

Here is a quote from their support: "We apologize for the experience you had with our product. The reason that our devices are not working with the Cisco is that Cisco devices are highly proprietary. If you have a non Cisco network with vlans our device will work just fine."

I need at least 2 VLANS - for VOICE and DATA. Any suggestions?

Craig Beck

That's absolute garbage. Cisco equipment uses industry-standard 802.1Q-encapsulated VLANs. There is nothing proprietary about them whatsoever. It is more likely that the Amped bridges don't support proper 802.1Q VLAN tags.

Depending on your switches you might be able to do QinQ tagging over a single VLAN.

IvanY

ASKER

Craig, I agree. Here is my review of this problem on Amazon and Amped support's answer. A little more details there.

http://www.amazon.com/review/RVNDWAI9DFFM3/ref=cm_cr_dp_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00TKFDY6S&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=541966

IvanY

ASKER

I'm giving up on Amped - their ports become dead as soon as I switch them to TAGGED (see Amazon link above).
Looking for advice on which AP-Bridge combo would you recommend in my case? I use Cisco Catalyst 3560 switches on both ends.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

ArneLovius

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

IvanY

ASKER

Thanks ArneLovius, looks like what I was looking for! I just purchased two - hope they work out good

Craig Beck

Arne beat me to it. You won't be disappointed.

IvanY

ASKER

Just to follow up. First - thank you guys for the great advice. I installed PowerBeam 5AC 500 ISO and the VLANs are working great!
Now I have question: during the thunderstorms users are complaining that everything is slower and the phone cuts out and the voice is delayed.
Here is a snapshot during the complaints - is there anything that you see there that would explain it?
PowerBeam.jpg

ArneLovius

Thunderstorms have large electrical discharges which can interfere with any type of RF transmission. Light (lasers) is not affected, but the other part of thunderstorms (rain) can, snow is worse :-)

I see a large spike in latency, but you would be better looking at the spectral analysis tab/page to look at what is happening with the RF side.