Airspan ASN-700 AS.

NET Flexnet 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 Equipment

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 Remote Access
3.3 Setting up the ASN-700 Wireless Connection
3.4 Setting up the Radio ASN-700 Interface

4.0 Product Support

5.0 The Conclusion

6.0 Product Review Rating

7.0 Contacts for the Product

1.0 Introduction
This week, I have been testing and reviewing a few pairs of Airspan ASN-700 FlexNet radios. The
Airspan company is a leading supplier of the world’s most advanced, performance-driven, scalable,
and reliable fixed and mobile wireless broadband access and backhaul solutions.
The Airspan Flexnet units are their new PTP and PTMP wireless access and backhaul product,
which is part of Airspan's AS.NET family of products. Including the ASN-700 and ASN-900
wireless backhaul products.

The units I am testing can operate at 108Mbps over the air data-rate and for point to point operation.
The ASN-700 uses OFDM radios with TDD, on 5Mhz, 10 MHz, 20MHz and 40MHz channels.
With using TDD with 40MHz channels, over the air throughputs of up to 108Mbps can be achieved.
The ASN-700 works in the, 5.3Ghz, 5.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz radio band configurations and can be
used with over the air DES encryption ability.

For more information, click here for the AS.NET Flexnet data sheet located at the Airspan website.

2.0 The Equipment

Now it is time to open up the box and have a look at the equipment within. Two boxes with part
numbers. Couple of cable boxes, lighting arrestors, two POE/transformer adapters and two ODUs.

2.1 The ODU (Out Door Unit)

Airspan ASN-700 has an outdoor unit with POE adapter for the power. The package also includes
the integrated POE adapter, cables, lighting arrestor and mounting equipment.

The ODU unit is painted white, with a metal casing and heatsink fins. Which should make it
resistant to hail, wind related damage and a good heat sink for hot days.
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
needed to get access to the units.

3.1 Getting Access

Access to the ASN-700 backhaul interface can either be done by the web interface or by ssh
(Console).
To get the unit ready for configuration, I hooked it up to our laptop, with the IP address set to
192.168.1.10. Then 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 192.168.1.1. Once connected, a password prompt will come up.
Just enter into the field the username of admin and the password of default (default settings). Then
a few things need to be set in the ASN-700 ODUs before deployment.

3.2 Setting Up Remote Access

After clicking on the "Networking" selection in the side menu , the "Ethernet" option appears in the
menu. On selecting the "Ethernet" menu, the options of Interface Eth0 will appear. To configure ,
enter the IP address and netmask address into the logical fields and click "Add". Also, set the
Ethernet mode set to the required duplex/speed. Then click the "Commit Changes" option on the
left to activate the changes.

3.3 Setting up the ASN-700 Wireless Connection

Once you have your network interface configured, you need to setup the wradio interface. By
clicking on the "Radio" submenu option will bring up the radio Wlan0 interface. You will need to
set one unit to the AP mode and the other as Station mode. Also, setting the "Data Rate" and
"Channel Selection" to automatic. Then click the "Commit Changes" option on the left to activate
the changes.

3.4 Setting up the Radio ASN-700 Interface

To configure the radio interface, you will need to set the desired SSID and tick enable for "Fast
Frames" and "Brusting". In AP mode, you will need to enter the peer MAC address of the other
radio pair into the "Station MAC Address" field. Then click the "Commit Changes" option on the
left to activate the changes.

4.0 Product Support

Airspan's support and sales for the ASN-700 Flexnet product is done by their various regional
headquarters and product distribution partners.

Airspan offers its customers a choice of three supportservices ranging from a post-warranty
Equipment Repair or Replacement service to a full 24x7 technical supportservice provided by
Airspan’s experienced technical team. Airspan can tailor its support services to work with each
customer’s existing organisation and processes.
I have found their technical and sales staff are helpful and quick to resolve any issues and handle
any requirement requests.

There is a lack of public forums and blogs on the product, but that is not to say that makes good
product support.

5.0 The Conclusion

The Airspam ASN-700 Flexnet units work well with our equipment and seemed to do a good job as
a back haul for a dedicated backhaul connection. The average latency is less than 1ms and the over
the Ethernet rate is pretty close to the over the air rate.

Set-up is simple and only takes a few minutes to get the ASN-700 going on the bench. The web
interface on the ASN-700 unit is snappy and easy to use. 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 auto modulation controls work well. During rain/hail/cloud, they adjust well to changing
conditions.
The ODU is a painted white, metal case with heatsink fins. Which makes it resistant to hail, wind
related damage and a good heatsink for hot days. But I am still testing the resistance to sea salt.

Airspan's product support is good, with competent technicians and sales staff giving worth while
service.
The only downsides are 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.

I would have liked to have done some more tests with the ASN-900 units. But that will be for a
future review.

6.0 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:

7.0 Contacts for the Product

Name: Airspan
Company Profile: Airspan has been a leading vendor of wireless products and solutions since 1992.
Today we have more than 500 customers in 100 countries around the world. In Airspan we believe
in forging a long-term partnership with our customers because we understand that our success
depends on the success of our customers.
Website: http://www.airspan.com/