TrangoLINK-10 Wireless Bridge Review

Author: Benjamin Luck – Synworks Development Group

Synworks DG Website http://www.synworks.info/

Email: contact@synworks.info
 Contents

1.0 Introduction

2.0 The Hardware

2.1 The ODU (Out Door Unit)

3.0 Setting up the Units for Deployment and Testing

3.1 Getting Access
3.2 Setting up the Radio Interface

4.0 The Bandwidth and Latency Test

5.0 Product Support

6.0 The Conclusion

7.0 Product Review Rating

1.0 Introduction
Decided to review some Trango Systems Trango-Link10 backhaul units that I have been using for a
few deployments recently.
The TrangoLink-10 a wireless bridge unit, designed to work in point to point mode. The radios
operating in the 5.3Ghz to 5.8Ghz frequency bands, using DSSS with 20Mhz channels for 10Mbit
over the air data rate.

For more information, click here for the TrangoLink-10 data sheet located at the Trango Systems
website.

2.0 The Hardware

Within two boxes, I found the pair of bridges, POE injectors, power supply adapters, ethernet cables
and console cables.

2.1 The ODU (Out Door Unit)

The TrangoLink-10 ODUs are painted white, metal cased and have easy mounting holes for
brackets on the back. The POE injector is simple, fairly small and wall mountable. One unit comes
as the Master Unit and the other called the Remote Unit.

Was simple to install the ethernet into the ODU screw socket and get the unit powered up the initial
configuration.
The ODU has a few LEDs near the ethernet cable connector that shows your RF link and ethernet
status.

3.0 Setting up the Units for Deployment and Testing

Our next steps are to review the set-up process and get the units into the field for testing. First, I
need to get access to the units.
3.1 Getting Access
Access to the Trango backhaul interface can either be done by the web interface or by
console(console cable or telnet).
To get the unit ready for configuration, I hooked it up to our laptop, with the IP address set to
192.168.100.10. Then I powered up the unit and after a few seconds, a link on the ethernet status
appeared.

Configuration is best done by the web interface. You can use Firefox or Internet Explorer to connect
to the unit's default IP address of 192.168.100.100. Once connected, a password prompt will come
up. Just enter into the field the password of Trango (default setting). Then a few things need to be
set in the Trango ODUs before deployment.

3.2 Setting up the Radio Interface

Clicking on the Configuration link, under the Installation menu, brings up the radio configuration
screen. To configure the TrangoLink-10 is easy and only requires this screen.
Filling out the IP address information for NMS and setting the Default Opmode to on so it will
automatically connect on reboot.

Also, setting the remote unit's MAC address for the radio ID ACL and the channel that you want to
use for the radio. The slave unit (RU) is much the same to set-up. By clicking the Save and Activate
Changes button, then clicking the Activate Opmode button, the radio changes its running config and
the radios will try to connect.
4.0 The Bandwidth and Latency Test
Our test was using TrangoLink10 units, with 20Mhz channels in the 5.8Ghz spectrum. This
apparently allows for a maximum raw data throughput of 10Mbps over the air. I have the three test
units located at tall towers, with good line of sight to each other.
For our test, I used an FTP server located at one end of the wireless bridge and a FTP client on a
laptop at the other end. The programs used for the client side test are GNU WPUT and WGET.
For the server side, I am using the open source FTP server, Proftpd. The data being transferred
is a large compressed file.

The Test Results

Unit Type Distance Avg Throughput Avg Latency

TrangoLink10 5KM 9.785Mbps 1.23ms

TrangoLink10 10KM 9.708Mbps 1.22ms

TrangoLink10 15KM 9.67Mbps 1.73ms

5.0 Product Support

Trango Systems support and sales for the TrangoLINK-10 product is done by their various regional
headquarters and product distribution partners. Their technical and sales staff are helpful and quick
to resolve any issues and handle any requirement requests.

6.0 The Conclusion

The Trango unit works well with our equipment and seemed to do a good job as a back haul or a
dedicated last mile client connection. The average latency is less than 2ms and the over the Ethernet
rate is pretty close to the over the air rate. I have deployed these units, with some that have an
uptime of over 600 days.
Set-up is simple and only takes a few minutes to get the Trango going on the bench. The web
interface on the Trango unit is function and easy to understand. Installation on the tower is pretty
simple as well, generally only requiring the supplied mounting brackets and since it is only the
ODU, no rack space is required.
The ODU is a painted white, metal case. Which makes it resistant to hail, wind related damage and
a good heatsink for hot days. I have found them to be resistance to sea salt.
Trango Systems product support is good, with competent technicians and sales staff giving worth
while service.
The only downsides are the lack of QOS in the radio and problems with towers about 100m tall or
taller (Ethernet standards shortfall, not the radio).
Pros:
 • Simple to set-up and get going.
• Minimal equipment at the tower. (only one unit)
Cons:
• Ethernet cable length to the unit can become an issue for large towers.
• No QOS ability for different traffic.

7.0 Product Review Rating

This is a rating from my in-house and field testing. With a rating out of 5 stars.

Reliability:

Ease of Setup:

Performance: