What I am 'bitching' about is that a AB will report -19dbm when the signal is actually -65. I have quality tools. I have a calibrated spectrum analyzer and many years of experience using it. I also have a 802.11b (Cisco) card that I have a known reference level to, so It is accurate. What I am saying is that other manufactures easily make an accurate 'out of the box' RSSI display, normally within 10% accuracy, and I expect the same from smart bridges.
Displaying -19dbm on a 7 mile link with only 29db EIRP on the head end and 24 gain on the client end does not compute. My techs know to convert it, and not trust it, but it is dam annoying and for the price we pay for smartbridges, they can fix the software. We have taken to always putting a coax down the pole and using a pen-tablet with a Cisco Aironet card to aim the antenna and verify the link before we ever put the smartbridges on. (we originally started that because of the failure rate in smart bridges, its annoying to have to lower a H50 telescoping pole) Don't bitch at me for my demanding a quality product. Smartbridges are not cheep, I expect them to live up to their price. They are ESPECIALLY not cheep when we have to do a @#$%$ truck roll to fix them when they break. And Yes, I know many of you have had no problems with smart bridges, and I have had many sites with no problems too. But the most common thing in these sites with no problems seem to be that every thing is 'perfect'. Great ground, great signal, SB in the shade, 3 added lightning protectors (coax, power supply, and CAT5, adds 75$ to the cost, BTW), and low frequency of lightning and other bad weather nearby. the SB product line has a very low fudge factor. Donald Beckman Fort Worth, Texas -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of RFMS Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 8:27 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [smartBridges] Strange dbm values Beckman, None of them are accurate enough for a self respecting person to use more than once, unless you use the same card all the time to test the signal level, off-air. It would be best for the manufacturer to produce a QoS for data,AKA, BER instead of everyone discussing what the signal level should be for a CPE when installed. You want good data, start demanding it in print, with a corroborative source behind the printed spec's and then those folks selling junk will not be discussed here and this problem will cease to waste everyone's time here. In short, you do get what you pay for. Stop bitching. Ron The PART-15.ORG smartBridges Discussion List To Join: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (in the body type subscribe smartBridges <yournickname> To Remove: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (in the body type unsubscribe smartBridges) Archives: http://archives.part-15.org The PART-15.ORG smartBridges Discussion List To Join: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (in the body type subscribe smartBridges <yournickname> To Remove: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (in the body type unsubscribe smartBridges) Archives: http://archives.part-15.org
