Wireless Installations

What this chapter covers

Wireless Installations is about the physical parts that every radio link depends on.

It looks at the RouterBOARD that carries the radio, the wireless card that does the work, and the antenna that shapes the signal. Settings in RouterOS can only improve a link that the hardware makes possible.

The chapter follows the first part of the MTCWE syllabus. It has three topics, and each has its own page.

How the topics fit together

A link is a chain of parts, and the weakest part limits the result.

The topics follow that chain from the board to the antenna:

• Hardware covers the board, its slots, its power and its housing.
• Cards cover the radio module and what its numbers mean.
• Antennas cover how the signal leaves the system and how the legal power is worked out.

The hardware choices also set the limits for later chapters. The number of chains decides the 802.11n speeds, the connectors decide which antennas you can use, and the power input decides where the device can be mounted.

Planning these points before you configure anything saves a site visit later. A radio that is mounted in the wrong place, or powered by the wrong source, cannot be fixed with a RouterOS setting.

How to use these pages

Each topic page has the same shape, so you can skim for what you need.

• What it is: the idea in plain words.
• How it works: the mechanism, with diagrams and example commands.
• What to remember for the exam: the facts to memorise.
• Common mistakes: the classic traps.
• Check yourself: three questions to test your understanding.

Read the pages in order, then try the console commands on a real device or in a lab. Look at the hardware information of your own radios, and work out the EIRP of an example link on paper.