On Wed, Nov 1, 2017 at 2:21 AM, keoma <keoma@kbl.netlib.re> wrote:

Hi,

We are starting a mesh in Paris and we are looking for hardware
recommendations.

Cool! There are many more mesh networks in Europe so you may want to ask some of the people from e.g. Guifi about what's available and affordable in Europe.

We have been looking at the Ubiquity devices so far. Do
you have any other brand to recommend ?

If you are looking for OpenWRT/LEDE support then that limits you quite a bit, especially since new versions of Ubiquiti AirOS prevent reflashing (though you should be able to bypass this). There is also limited support for 802.11ac devices. If you don't care about running open source on these devices then Ubiquiti AirMax 802.11ac stuff is great for the price. You might also want to look at the Ubiquiti AirFiber stuff for backhaul and then there is Mikrotik and Mimosa. Alpha networks also has some outdoor stuff but I haven't tried any of it: http://www.alfa.com.tw/product_category.php?pc=1

Which antennas/device would you recommend for the following scenarios
(each scenario being independent):
* Outdoor Long-range connection (>1km) between two devices with Line of
Sight

Anything very directional, e.g. NanoBridge or NanoBeam or anything with a dish. There are some affordable 60 GHz stuff hitting the market soon but that is not really usable above 1 km range as far as I understand.

* Outdoor Area covering: one device (AP) at high altitude proving access
to multiple end-points in a square/park/building

You will want TDMA so probably not a good idea to run OpenWRT/LEDE on these as I don't think there are any drivers with stable TDMA support yet (unless I missed something). Use a device with a high-gain sector antenna on 5 GHz (assuming line of sight) and aim a bunch of highly directional devices like NanoBeams at it.

Be careful if using Ubiquiti gear with the official firmware as you cannot just mix and match devices freely. Make sure the two devices you want to link are compatible.

What do you usually use the following for:
* Picostation

We don't really use these anymore.

* NanoBean

Directional links over a few miles or less.

* NanoStation

Point to multipoint with only a few nodes and over shorter distances. Also to give access to devices in public areas like parks by placing them in windows (usually 2.4 GHz model).

Have you ever played with the Unify Mesh hardware ?

I haven't personally.

Thank you,

Keoma

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