Figure 10.7 shows the capacity for the minimal overlap string of mesh APs shown in
Figure 10.6. The backhaul network offers 20 Mbps of capacity, so per-AP capacity is only
limited by AP client capacity for a few node mesh. After three or four nodes, the per-AP
capacity drops off because of the shared mesh link effects. In a more typical mesh cluster
with more overlap between mesh APs, useful access capacity could be worse than shown
here.
Dual-radio systems are a significant improvement over single-radio mesh designs and
provide for more potential growth of a mesh cluster.
Capacity of Wireless Mesh Networks 225
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Number of Mesh APs
Figure 10.7: Dual-Radio Shared Mesh Per-AP Capacity, Mesh Portal at End.
10.5 Multi-Radio Switched Wireless Mesh
Like a dual-radio shared wireless mesh, a Multi-Radio switched wireless mesh separates
access and mesh links. It goes a step further, however, to provide increased capacity by
overcoming the shared mesh limitations inherent to single and dual-radio mesh
architectures.
In a Multi-Radio switched mesh, multiple radios in each mesh node are dedicated to
the mesh links. The mesh is no longer a shared network, since it is built from multiple
mesh links where each of the mesh links operates on different independent channels.
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