ePMP 3000 Webinar

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Cambium and CTIconnecxt put on a webinar about ePMP 3000 today.  This should be available online at one point.  Look for it in the Cambium forums.

Some notes I took
-ePMP 3000 offers Simultaneous MIMO downlink transmission
-You will be able to use the beamsteering antenna with the 3000.  Cambium is working on the software to make this work.
-3000 has a dedicated receiver chip.  This allows you to run the spectrum analyzer in realtime. Also has “edetect on steroids” which shows more information than the current edetect.
-Sector is a 4X4 90 degree sector with beamforming. Achieves and extra 3db in the downlink.

Beamforming vs Beamsteering
Beamsteering is for dealing with interference.
Beamforming is for downlink gain.

-Cambium mentioned the concept of Azimuth Delta.  This is groups of SMs in terms of how the AP talks to groups.  The gave an example on a google earth plot.  In a nutshell, when you have gain in one direction it takes advantage of the null in different directions. More to this, but that is for another post.

-“Sounding” -Sends a special packet and gets feedback from the subscriber. Determines how the phase shift works and other things.

-Elevated clients beta is coming to make the elevated clients work with the 3000.

I hope distributors work out a smaller cold shrink for the sma connectors on the ePMP Ap radios.  Weatherproofing these properly will be an issue due to the close proximity of the connectors.  I have not seen the connectors on a sector to see how those will be.  This is where folks could take a page from the coldshring that comes with the Baicells gear or the cables with the integrated boot some distributors sell.

 

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Bundle or no bundle data center cables

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Fluke networks has fired another volley in the “zip ties vs. velcro” for cables front.  While this article does not address velcro vs Zip ties directly, it does bring up some points about using zip ties.

https://www.flukenetworks.com/blog/cabling-chronicles/beauty-isn-t-skin-deep

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ePMP Beta 3.5.5-RC 8 released

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ePMP Beta Release 3.5.5-RC8 is now available for the ePMP and Elevate.  The software downloaded at our Software Download Site, ePMP Beta:  https://support.cambiumnetworks.com/files/epmp/beta

New Features

Force 190 FCC region support (including DFS functionality)

Improvements

Multiple improvements to IPv6 operation with cnMaestro and DHCPv6

Fixed Defects

[Elevate] NBE-M5-16 produces errors on Ethernet interface
RX Pause counter increases on Mikrotik routers with ePMP devices connected
PMAC details not updated in cnMaestro when changing associated AP
Error Drop Packet erroneously reporting packet drops
NTP server IP assignment cannot be changed after JSON configuration file import

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The addition of RF elements horns to a PTP550 link

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In a previous series of articles we talked about a new Cambium 550 link and the noise challenges we had.  You can start your reading in Part one and Part two.

Due to the frequency challenges, we decided to upgrade the dishes to RF Elements Ultra Horns.

If you recall our spectrum looked like this before.

After the horns. While not a night and day difference you will notice several improvements across the band.  Less red and yellow on the scan and sharper drop-offs. We saw the most improvement in the 5160 area and the 5720 ranges.  And this is with the horns pointed right at the source of most of the 5GHZ noise.   Not much you can do if you are pointed right at the noise.

What did this mean for the link? It meant we were able to find a 200 meg increase because we were able to obtain better modulation on the link.

So while we were not able to filter out all of the noise we wanted, we were able to increase our MCS rates on a very noisy link to increase bandwidth and increase the reliability of the link.  Before the horns, the MCS rates would be in a constant state of flux dealing with noise.

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Skullerz first looks

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I recently was able to get a pair of Skullerz Loki glasses from toweroneinc. You can pick up your own pair at https://toweroneinc.com/collections/clothing/products/skullerz-loki-safety-glasses-goggles

So why are these cool? First of all they are a google style. A good friend of mine Michael Pelsor figures out a few years ago if you keep your eyeballs warm in the winter your whole body thinks it’s warmer than it really is. These glasses fit around your eyes like a ski google, without the bulk.

Secondly, these glasses have a headband you can swap out the temple pieces with a stretchable headband so they stay on your head.

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Fear in IT

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I have always been a firm believer in re-evaluating yourself on a regular basis. Take a look at yourself, your behaviors, and your quirks. By doing this, you can uncover weaknesses you. Red to work on, but also build on your strengths.

Case in point. I am in the process of rolling out wiki software for many clients. This software deployment will be a cookie cutter rollout, with customizations for each client after the initial implementation. I am behind on this for one big reason. Fear. Now, this is not Michael Meyers standing over your bed fear. It’s a fear of choosing the wrong platform. I have evaluated several wiki packages and talked to several people deploying each of them. Like most things, they have strengths and weaknesses. The fear breeds indecision. Is there something out there which I haven’t found that is better? Is there a better way or a way I haven’t thought of to accomplish what I am trying? The answer to all of these is probably yes.

How do you not fall into the trap of indecision? Couple of things you can do.

1. Before anything like this sit-down and write out the problem you are trying to solve. In my case with the wikis, I needed something to keep track of not only documentation but the odds and ends notes.

2. Write down what would help solve the issue. In my case an online repository of information.

3. Create a list of ways to solve this problem. This step may involve research. What are the software packages out there to address my issue? Are we utilizing anything today which could resolve this issue?

3. Once you have done some research formulate the must needed features in your solution.  From there prioritize them.

4. Many people start to break down during this stage.  Whether it is getting overwhelmed from the sheer amount of choices or thinking every feature is needed.  The decision process begins to grind to a halt rather quickly. How do you overcome this? First, be realistic, how many of the features do you really need to accomplish your goal? Out of the features left, what does it take to implement them? How many times have you deployed a software tool and are only utilizing a fraction of the tools available? This happens quite a bit.

5.Set a hard time to make a decision.  Tell yourself you have ten business days to research and come up with the solution.  Once you have made the decision, have a rollout plan in place.  This plan should include a timeline of start and finish.  This way you don’t start to second guess yourself and drag your feet even more.

This method is not a foolproof way, but it will get you to implement more things than you are now.

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