Reference RLXIB-IHW-66
♦
802.11a, b, g
User Manual
Industrial Hotspot
ProSoft Technology, Inc.
Page 81 of 109
May 18, 2009
6 Reference
In This Chapter
Product Overview .................................................................................. 81
Radio hardware ..................................................................................... 82
6.1 Product
Overview
The RLXIB-IHW-66 is an industrial high-speed Ethernet radio. You can use it in
place of Ethernet cables to save money, extend range, and make connections
that may not otherwise be feasible. The radio operates as a wireless Ethernet
switch, so any data that you can send over a wired network can also be sent over
the radio.
The RLXIB-IHW-66 is certified for unlicensed operation in the United States,
Canada and Europe at 2.4 and 5 GHz. With an output power of a 50mW (typical)
approved high-gain antennas, the radios can achieve distances of 5 miles line-of-
sight between them. You can use multiple repeaters (page 38) to extend this
range to far greater distances.
You can develop a highly reliable wireless network by creating redundant (page
49) wireless paths. Multiple master (page 41) radios can be installed without any
special programming or control. Repeater (page 41) radios can connect to any
master at anytime; if one master goes down, the repeater connects to another.
Likewise, if a repeater goes down, any repeater that was connected to it can
reconnect to a different repeater, keeping the network intact. You can create
large, self-healing tree-like networks in this fashion. Fully redundant paths are
possible because the Spanning Tree (page 49) protocol in the radios disables
and enables paths as necessary to avoid Ethernet loops, which would otherwise
make your network stop functioning.
In addition to acting as a switch, every master or repeater radio in an RLXIB-
IHW-66 wireless network can simultaneously act as an 802.11 a, b or g access
point. This allows 802.11 WiFi clients to connect and roam between radios for
monitoring of the wireless network or general network access. The RLXIB-IHW-
66 has a special client mode that allows connection of any Ethernet device to any
existing 802.11 a, b or g access point, regardless of the brand. (An example of
an 802.11 client is a laptop with a WLAN card.)
Note:
WiFi is a brand name originally issued by the WiFi Alliance, used to describe the underlying
technology of wireless_local area networks (WLAN) based on the IEEE 802.11 specifications.