1. www.planet.com.tw Application Guide For Mesh AP – MAP-3120 How to remove the unnecessary link to enhance the backhaul performance? F/W: 3.1.4 S/W: 2.3

2. www.planet.com.tw Page 2 of 14 Preface This guide shows how to remove the weak link in the Mesh Network so that to keep the efficiency of the Mesh Network backhaul The concepts can work at MAP-2000 series and MAP-3000 series, however, MAP-3000 is with more easier setup With the removal of the weak link, it shall reduce the “request to resend” and “re-sent” packets (from logical link) just because of in Mesh Network, the physical link is existed but the signal are too weak to be heard/recognized efficiently

3. www.planet.com.tw Page 3 of 14 Topics Network Hypothesis The facts How to improve it from Web Setup The Result Appendix  Web setup for MAP-2000

4. www.planet.com.tw Page 4 of 14 Network Hypothesis Assumes the network is as the topology right-hand side  Three Nodes, two @ 1st Floor, one @ 2nd floor 1F: GW253 & Relay252 2F: Relay251  The pink link is the weak link that’s our target to remove 192.168.0.251 @ 2F 192.168.0.252 @ 1F 192.168.0.253 @ 1F 2.4GHz 802.11b/g Wireless Coverage 5.8GHz 802.11a Wireless Backhaul Link 5.8GHz 802.11a Wireless Backhaul Indirect Link 192.168.0.250

5. www.planet.com.tw Page 5 of 14 Due to the cement wall toward floor one and floor two, there is serious db loss for Relay 251 and Relay 252 The facts Strength to Gateway OK! BUT not good to Relay 2 The same for Relay 2 to Relay 1!

6. www.planet.com.tw Page 6 of 14 The facts Take ping for example, a PC in Relay252 ping to Relay 251. For Relay 251, in the Mesh Backhaul Network, the transmit power from Gateway is stronger then Relay 252, this will effect the communication or backhaul control protocol (AODV). And results in bad performance Long packets Short packets Ping Request 1 Ping Reply 1 Ping Request 2 What did you say?? I can not hear you clearly!! Relay 252 @ 1F Relay 251 @ 2F

7. www.planet.com.tw Page 7 of 14 Start up the Web page of Relay 251  Services -> MAC Access  Click on “New Entry” button  Key in the MAC Address of the link partner How to Improve it 1. Click on New Entry. And in the Add page, key in the MAC address 2. Enable the MAC Access 3. Apply the changes and Reboot to make the settings take effect Hint: By default, MAC Access is Disable. That will Allow all the MAC address. With Active Enable and Type Allow, it will then a. Allow ALL MAC b. ONLY deny the listed MAC with option “Deny” Hint: Be ware of the use of this feature. With Active Enable, and Type Deny. And NOTHING in MAC Access List, there will have problem to access this device the next time system reboot. In such case, hold the reset button to factory default the device. Relay 251 Block Relay252

8. www.planet.com.tw Page 8 of 14 How to Improve it Do the same setting to Relay 252 After both devices rebooted, check the Neighbors Relay 252 Block Relay251 Gateway listen to both nodes Relay only listen to Gateway

9. www.planet.com.tw Page 9 of 14 The Result Take ping again from PC in Relay252 ping to Relay 251. The burden for Backhaul negotiation is removed so the backhaul performance is improved Long packets Short packets Ping Request 1 Ping Reply 1 Ping Request 2 Relay 252 @ 1F Relay 251 @ 2F Ping Reply 2

10. www.planet.com.tw Page 10 of 14 From the NMS Re-start up the map, the link is changed as below

11. www.planet.com.tw Page 11 of 14 A small example In side a room (the backhaul Ad-hoc network), three workers are talking to each other Help me to forward the data! There? Yes! No problem! Say again! Help me to forward the data! No problem! A B C A’s RSSI: 51 B’s RSSI: 26 The talk toward A and C should be more efficient for B and C.

12. www.planet.com.tw Page 12 of 14 Summary To remove the weak link from Mesh backhaul can prevent unnecessary resend packets such as backhaul AODV packets, user data packets, etc. This shall ease the burden of the backhaul bandwidth and keep the efficiency However, all the packets route/bridge through a desired node, say the gateway in this example, will increase the loading of this node The optimal way is to avoid such a removed link by empower the antenna, add a booster or remove the objects in between And if the above can not be reached, Remove the Link will be one of the optimal way

13. www.planet.com.tw Page 13 of 14 Appendix How to remove the link in MAP-2000?  In Web page, click on Network -> Node to Node Click on this button to bring up the List page and click on Add Key in the MAC address of the Relay node you would like to block. Just tart up the web page of the Relay node and the MAC address can be found in Network -> WLAN -> Backhaul page Then Apply and Reboot the device After system rebooted, check the Topology. The link you would like block should disappeared

14. www.planet.com.tw Page 14 of 14 Appendix Reminder of MAP-2000 - Layer 3 Mesh  Layer 3 Mesh also means the Mesh node, say MAP-2000 will modify both IP header and MAC header at the same time.  If the backhaul can not work efficiently, it shall double the effort of system of MAP-2000.  To keep the network efficiently, remove the weak link and keep at one or two strong link(s) is especially important.  This also apply to MAP-3100 in Layer 3 mode, though MAP-3100 is with more powerful CPU then MAP-2000. However, the more CPU power saved, the more bandwidth you will get from 802.11a/11g 54Mbps wireless network