Dual Radio Mesh
To satisfy user demand, address capacity requirements, and enable a full range of high-value applications, Muni Wi-Fi mesh networks designed for larger deployments will incorporate nodes built with multiple radios. The most basic multiple radio approach is the dual-radio.
In a dual-radio mesh, the nodes have two radios operating on different frequencies. One radio is used for client access and the other radio provides wireless backhaul. The radios operate in different frequency bands so they can run in parallel with no interference.
In a dual radio wireless mesh the scaling problem encountered in single radio mesh designs is solved with mesh forwarding.
Since the wireless mesh interconnection is done with a separate radio operating on a different channel, local wireless access capacity is not affected by traffic forwarding. However, there is still a scaling issue that limits capacity as the Muni WiFi network grows. But in this design, the scaling problem is with the wireless backhaul.
In a dual-radio design, the wireless backhaul mesh is a shared network. With only one radio dedicated to backhaul at each node, all of the mesh nodes must use the same channel fairly in order to get backhaul connectivity and participate in the mesh. Parallel operation is not possible and most of the wireless mesh nodes hear multiple nodes.
The nodes must contend for the channel and they generate interference for each other. The result is reduced system capacity as the Muni Wi-Fi network grows. The solution is to incorporate multi-radio nodes to handle the increased traffic requirements of the wireless mesh.
