RF Engineering for Wireless Networks

Chapter 8 Outdoor Networks

1. Neither Snow Nor Rain Nor Heat Nor Gloom of Night…

… ought to keep an outdoor network from transporting its appointed packets—but then there are lightning strikes too. It’s a dangerous world out there in the wild outdoors for an access point as well as a very different sort of environment for propagation of radio waves. In this chapter, after examining some fundamental issues having to do with radio signals, we proceed from small to large and near to far, examining local coverage networks first, then point-to-point bridges and point-to-multipoint networks, and finally long line-of-sight links. We conclude with a few important notes on safety in design, construction, and working practices for outdoor facilities. ...