Strix to add outdoor WLAN mesh to product mix

Wireless mesh vendor Strix Systems this week is set to unveil an outdoor product line designed to let users blanket spaces with wireless LAN connectivity while minimizing cable runs.

The product, called AccessOne Outdoor Wireless System (OWS), is designed to create a WLAN over a large area without having to cable each access point to a wired network. Instead, Strix's routing software lets WLAN traffic find various wireless routes through the mesh of AccessOne nodes, hopping from one to another.

Besides running less cable, the scheme lets the network balance traffic load and keeps the network up if a node fails.

Each OWS node consists of two to six radios in a rugged enclosure roughly the shape of an oversized shoebox. The radios can be any combination of standard 802.11b, g or a radios, or proprietary radios in the same frequency bands, such as Motorola's Canopy broadband radio.

One or more of the radios work just like any other access point: They connect with WLAN clients such as notebook PCs or wireless VoIP phones.

But usually two 5-GHz radios are dedicated to creating the wireless back-haul mesh among the OWS nodes. Two radios maximize throughput.

Using a single radio can result in bandwidth dropping by as much as one half with each hop, a point being made publicly for some time by Francis daCosta, CTO and founder of another dual-radio mesh vendor, Mesh Dynamics.

Other rivals with mesh offerings include BelAir, Firetide, Nortel and Tropos. All of them, like Strix, are targeting public safety and other municipal wireless applications.

The OWS radio nodes come without antennas. Customers select third-party antennas to meet their requirements.

The OWS nodes can support 100 to 800 milliwatts, far beyond the indoor WLAN power level, which is typically about 50. The six-radio model with a high-gain antenna could cover an area of up to about 1 square mile, Strix says.

The new products will be available in early 2005. Pricing has not been set.

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