What are the differences between mesh networking and wireless bridging?

Differences: 1. Different networking modes. Wireless bridging uses point-to-point or point-to-multipoint mode networking and communication. Antenna applications are mainly directional transmission; in Mesh ad hoc networks, All devices have equal status in the wireless network, 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.

What is mesh networking?

Mesh networking is a "wireless mesh network" and is a "multi-hop" network. Developed from ad hoc networks, it 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 product of the combination of wireless radio frequency technology and traditional wired bridge technology. , 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

The antenna application is mainly based on directional transmission and is used for Wireless bridged point-to-point or point-to-multipoint mode network communication. In some cases, short-range wireless communication transmission can be achieved by using omnidirectional antennas in conjunction with wireless bridges. 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 wireless network status peers, and any network node can connect to 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. When a single node fails and goes offline, it will use the wireless link signal to find the most suitable path to return the signal to the nearest node.

2. Distance

Wireless bridging mainly focuses on fixed point monitoring, and antenna selection uses antennas with different gains and angles based on different application scenarios. In general, in order to transmit signals over long distances, people will choose antennas with high gain and good directivity. If you need to cover a larger area, you should choose a large-angle directional antenna with appropriate gain based on actual needs.

The main feature of Mesh ad hoc network communication is its flexible deployment, which is suitable for scenarios where a network needs to be quickly established to meet transmission needs. Omnidirectional antennas are mainly used to quickly establish a Mesh self-organizing network system. Compared with traditional directional bridges, the non-directional antennas used by wireless bridges lack advantages in transmission distance.

3. Transmission rate

The currently designed bridge specifications mainly include two transmission rates of 300Mbps and 866Mbps. In practical applications, antennas are basically directional antennas. Since the wireless networking mode adopts point-to-point or single-point-to-multipoint mode, its load is relatively low in terms of physics and software, so efficient communication rates can be achieved.

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

In the bridge networking mode, whether it is point-to-point or point-to-multipoint, the communication frequency of the same group All devices use the same frequency. 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.

In the Mesh ad hoc network system, the network status of each device is equal, similar to a whole, and there is no 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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