MikroTik

First, let me say that I'm an audio professional, not an IT professional. That said, I have taught myself the basics of Mikrotik and now install these routers exclusively.

I wish to send uncompressed stereo audio (about 1.6 Mbps) over a distance of about 7-10 miles using a point-to-point radio link. I'll use Barix codecs to encode and decode the audio. My line-of-sight is decent, but there may be a tree or two betweens points.

Here are my concerns. 1) Which band would be the best choice 2.4, 5 ghz, or something else? 2) Also, there will no doubt be other radios in the area. How does Mikrotik distinguish my traffic and filter the others? Of course, the IP address of the receiving device will do this, but what about other radios using the same IP address? Can Mikrotik be configured so that it is completely immune to the other radios?

If it looks like this configuration may work for me, which Mikrotik hardware would be appropriate?

Thanks to all for any suggestions. I'm slightly lost in this area..

THANK YOU!

1. It probably depends on where you live, but the 2GHz spectrum is generally the most heavily used, so 5GHz would probably be the better choice. You could also go licensed, which means $$ and many hoops to jump through.
http://forum.mikrotik.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=25657
http://forum.mikrotik.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=35468

2. When you set up a private point-to-point link, you want to configure both units to talk ONLY to each other. In other words, you want to secure the wireless link. You will need to configure both units with the same wireless SSID, security profile keys, etc. These links are a starting point:
http://forum.mikrotik.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=33401
http://blog.butchevans.com/2009/12/poin ... -mikrotik/
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sup ... secure.htm

As for hardware, there's a lot of choices these days, but for a setup similar to yours, I generally use a 411 board with an R52H card: http://www.roc-noc.com/product.php?prod ... =38&page=1. With good line of sight, a pair of these will do 10+ miles no problem. With trees in the way, you might be asking for problems...

Skot-

Thank you very much for the helpful reply. It was exactly what I was looking for. I'll give you some Karma for the help.

Thanks again!

why not directly grooves?

Mmm, yes grooves would be a good way as well. You'll have to get external antennas. Overall, this would probably cost less.

You could do a setup something like this:
http://www.roc-noc.com/mikrotik/outoor/ ... e/5Hn.html
http://www.roc-noc.com/product.php?productid=337&page=1

Great! Thanks everyone for the additional information.

A final question. Given reasonable distances between points and good LOS, are these links rock solid? I use Mikrotik as office routers only, and they are extremely stable. Are these radio links just as stable? Are these P2P radio links able to stay up 24/7 for a year or more?

Thanks again for great information. Learning alot.

Yes they are extremely stable I setup properly.

I've had these type of links set up for a 3+ years, very few problems.

The only complaint I have with the Groove is they are not good neighbors. If you plan on having any other 5GHz equipment on the tower, shield the Groove or use something else.

Other than that, they work excellent. For a single point to point shot they are ideal, cheap and reliable.

Everyone. Thank you very much for the advice. I do appreciate it!

First, let me say that I'm an audio professional, not an IT professional. That said, I have taught myself the basics of Mikrotik and now install these routers exclusively.

I wish to send uncompressed stereo audio (about 1.6 Mbps) over a distance of about 7-10 miles using a point-to-point radio link. I'll use Barix codecs to encode and decode the audio. My line-of-sight is decent, but there may be a tree or two betweens points.

Here are my concerns. 1) Which band would be the best choice 2.4, 5 ghz, or something else? 2) Also, there will no doubt be other radios in the area. How does Mikrotik distinguish my traffic and filter the others? Of course, the IP address of the receiving device will do this, but what about other radios using the same IP address? Can Mikrotik be configured so that it is completely immune to the other radios?

If it looks like this configuration may work for me, which Mikrotik hardware would be appropriate?

Thanks to all for any suggestions. I'm slightly lost in this area..

THANK YOU!

I have a passing interest in your project - can you keep us updated on any progress on this project,

"Barix codecs" how much is the cost for a pair,

Remember higher gain antennas have a narrower receive and transmit beamwidth with high attenuation outside the beamwidth which is good for interference rejection, if you have a tree or two in the way do a calculation on Fresnel zone and with 5ghz band it will be half the size compared with 2.4ghz also which polarity has the best Fresnel zone

if you have a tree or two in the way do a calculation on Fresnel zone and with 5ghz band it will be half the size compared with 2.4ghz also which polarity has the best Fresnel zone

Polarity doesn't have any affect on the fresnel zone.

Thank you everyone. This project is in the planning stages and may or may not happen based on the site survey. That said, I will definitely keep you updated.

As for the Barix, I'm looking at the Barix 500 for about $1,100 (USD) a pair. There are other less expensive models of Barix, but those lack balanced outputs. My favorite codec, however, is the Tieline Bridge-it made by an Australian company. These may be used in place of the Barix codecs. Not sure yet.

Thanks again!

if you have a tree or two in the way do a calculation on Fresnel zone and with 5ghz band it will be half the size compared with 2.4ghz also which polarity has the best Fresnel zone

Polarity doesn't have any affect on the fresnel zone.

Correct for example if the distance using imperial 10 miles at 2.4ghz the fresnel zone would be 145feet either in horizontal or vertical polarity, at 5.8ghz this is reduced to 96feet, so my advice was which polariry can give you the required clearance.
And normally because PTP's are usually located on high sites then horizontal is first choice
http://www.terabeam.com/support/calcula ... e.php#feet

Thank you everyone. This project is in the planning stages and may or may not happen based on the site survey. That said, I will definitely keep you updated.

As for the Barix, I'm looking at the Barix 500 for about $1,100 (USD) a pair. There are other less expensive models of Barix, but those lack balanced outputs. My favorite codec, however, is the Tieline Bridge-it made by an Australian company. These may be used in place of the Barix codecs. Not sure yet.

Thanks again!

Ah yes, sorry to go off from topic posted but at a previous employment I used Tieline (only pots,isdn codec's) and the only universally compliant ISDN codec we found was zephyr xstream also used Musictaxi, have you checked out http://www.stl-ip.com/ for studio STL.

Actually, I am familiar with the software made by the company, not the appliance. The choice of the Barix or Tieline is partially because we have them available (sitting on a shelf). We would be sending linear audio (PCM).

I'm hoping to get some approvals so that we can start on the project. Right now, we're on the "hope it happens" phase.

Thank you for the advice