See the Forest and the Trees

Good news today for those seeking to deploy access points in parks, tree-filled campuses, or other areas where leaves and branches abound. ArrowSpan today announced the release of a rugged new multi-radio full-duplex switching wireless 900 MHz mesh network access point for areas with heavy foliage.

Santa Clara-based ArrowSpan, which also has offices in Beijing, China, specifically designed the MeshAP MA3100-A9 to provide Wi-Fi access for outdoor communities, such as campsites and RV parks, where dense tree growth can interfere with coverage. By using a dedicated 802.11b/g radio for client connection, and dual 900 MHz radios for backhaul, it supports node-to-node distances of up to 5,413ft (under ideal conditions), and can penetrate foliage to extend the hop count. 

Because it is designed for outdoor environments, it is protected by a weatherproof enclosure, which can stand up to wind, rain, and extreme temperatures of as low as -40 degrees F, and as high as 131 degrees F.

The multiple radio, full-duplex design for both backhaul and user traffic helps to eliminate adjacent signal interference, and minimizes network performance degradation.

It supports both WEP and WPA.

Naomi Graychase is Managing Editor for Wi-FiPlanet.