What is the difference between mesh networking and wireless bridging?

Differences: 1. Different networking modes. Wireless bridge communicates in point-to-point or point-to-multipoint mode. Antenna applications are mainly directional transmission; in Mesh ad hoc network, all devices in the wireless network The status is equal, and any network node can access the wired network. 2. The transmission distance is different. 3. The transmission rates are different. The bridge transmission rates are mainly 300Mbps and 866Mbps. The Mesh rate is not obvious compared to the traditional bridge. 4. The communication frequencies are different.

The operating environment of this tutorial: Windows 7 system, Dell G3 computer.

What is mesh networking?

Mesh networking is a "wireless mesh network" and is a "multi-hop" Network, developed from ad hoc network, is one of the key technologies to solve the "last mile" problem. In the process of evolving to next-generation networks, wireless is an indispensable technology.

Wireless mesh can communicate collaboratively with other networks. It is a dynamic and continuously expandable network architecture. Any two devices can maintain wireless interconnection. With its multi-hop interconnection and mesh topology characteristics, wireless mesh networks have evolved into an effective solution for a variety of wireless access networks such as broadband home networks, community networks, enterprise networks, and metropolitan area networks.

Wireless Mesh routers form a self-organizing network in a multi-hop interconnection manner, providing higher reliability, wider service coverage and lower initial investment costs for WMN networking.

What is wireless bridging

Wireless bridging technology is a local area network wireless connection technology. It is a combination of wireless radio frequency technology and traditional wired network. The product of a combination of bridge technologies, it can seamlessly connect local area networks that are tens of kilometers apart to create a unified enterprise or metropolitan area network system.

Wireless bridging technology In the simplest network architecture, the Ethernet port of the bridge is connected to a hub or switch in the LAN, and the signal transmitting port is connected through a cable and antenna; in this way Implement network system expansion.

The wireless bridging (WDS) function can expand the wireless network through wireless. It only needs simple settings to achieve wireless expansion and roaming needs.

The difference between mesh networking and wireless bridging:

1. Networking mode

Wireless bridging is point-to-point or point-to-point For multi-point mode networking communications, antenna applications are mainly directional transmission. In some specific scenarios, wireless bridges can also be used with omnidirectional antennas to perform some short-range wireless communication transmissions. The central access device can communicate with a single or multiple wireless terminal devices at the same time. When the main central device fails, data from the same group of wireless terminals will not be transmitted back.

In a Mesh ad hoc network, all devices have equal status in the wireless network, and any network node can access the wired network. The entire network has a self-healing function, and each wireless node can communicate with other nearby wireless network nodes as long as the transmission requirements are met. If a single node fails and goes offline, the nearby node will automatically find a suitable path to transmit the signal back through the wireless link signal.

2. Distance

Wireless bridging is mainly based on fixed point monitoring. Antenna selection is mainly based on selecting antennas with different gains and angles according to each different application scenario. Usually, the transmission distance is long, and the antenna selected is a directional antenna with high gain and good directivity. If the coverage area is large, choose a large-angle directional antenna with appropriate gain according to actual needs.

Mesh ad hoc network communication is characterized by flexible deployment and is mainly oriented to scenarios that require rapid network establishment to meet transmission requirements. In order to build the system as quickly as possible, the antennas used with Mesh ad hoc network equipment are mainly omnidirectional antennas. Compared with the directional antennas that have been used by wireless bridges, they do not have the advantages of traditional directional bridges in terms of transmission distance.

3. Transmission rate

The current design transmission rate of the bridge is mainly 300Mbps and 866Mbps. In practical applications, antennas are basically directional antennas. The wireless networking mode is point-to-point or single-point-to-multipoint mode. The physical and software loads are low, so the effective communication rate is high.

The design of the software and hardware of the Mesh ad hoc network is significantly different from that of traditional bridges. During the communication process, when the equipment is running, it needs to regularly monitor the communication status with other nearby nodes. For example, communication signal strength, speed, online status, etc. Therefore, the requirements for hardware and software are high and the load is high. In addition, the configuration of the antenna is mainly omnidirectional antenna, which has relatively large attenuation. Therefore, the speed is not obvious compared with traditional bridges.

4. Communication frequency

When the bridge networking mode works in point-to-point or point-to-point mode, devices communicating in the same group will occupy one frequency point. If there are multiple communication groups working in the same place, the on-site electromagnetic environment needs to be detected through the device itself. Clean wireless frequency points should be selected as much as possible to ensure the best signal communication quality.

Mesh self-organizing network equipment In the entire system, each device has an equal network status, just like a single entity, and does not have a master-slave working mode. Select a clean frequency through frequency detection on site to ensure smooth communication.

Wireless Networking Through the above analysis, we know that when designing and selecting wireless solutions, we should select wireless video transmission equipment suitable for the application in the project based on the specific needs of the site.

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