MRV Communications MRW55, User Manual

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Chapter 1: Introduction
The MRV Dual-band Outdoor Access Point / Bridge system consists of two models
that provide point-to-point or point-to-multipoint bridge links between remote
Ethernet LANs, and wireless access point services for clients in the local LAN area:
• MRW55 – Includes an integrated high-gain antenna for the 802.11a radio and is
designed to operate as a “Slave” bridge in point-to-multipoint configurations, or
provide a high-speed point-to-point wireless link between two sites that can be up
to 15.4 km (9.6 miles) apart. The 802.11b/g radio requires an external antenna
option.
• MRW55M – Provides only external antenna options and is designed to operate as
the “Master” bridge in point-to-multipoint configurations, supporting wireless bridge
connections to as many as 16 MRW55 Slave units.
Each model is housed in a weatherproof enclosure for mounting outdoors and
includes its own brackets for attaching to a wall, pole, radio mast, or tower structure.
The unit is powered through its Ethernet cable connection from a power injector
module that is installed indoors.
The wireless bridge system offers a fast, reliable, and cost-effective solution for
connectivity between remote Ethernet wired LANs or to provide Internet access to
an isolated site. The system is also easy to install and operate, ideal for situations
where a wired link may be difficult or expensive to deploy. The wireless bridge
connection provides data rates of up to 108 Mbps.
In addition, both wireless bridge models offer full network management capabilities
through an easy-to-use web interface, a command-line interface, and support for
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) tools.
Radio Characteristics – The IEEE 802.11a and 802.11g standards use a radio
modulation technique known as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
(OFDM), and a shared collision domain (CSMA/CA). The 802.11a standard operates
in the 5 GHz Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (UNII) band, and the
802.11g standard in the 2.4 GHz band.
IEEE 802.11g includes backward compatibility with the IEEE 802.11b standard.
IEEE 802.11b also operates at 2.4 GHz, but uses Direct Sequence Spread
Spectrum (DSSS) and Complementary Code Keying (CCK) modulation technology
to achieve a communication rate of up to 11 Mbps.
The wireless bridge provides a 54 Mbps half-duplex connection for each active
channel (up to 108 Mbps in turbo mode on the 802.11a interface).