Mimosa A5x - Field performance tests

A5x is a new creation by Mimosa Airspan. The new access point is perfect for both short and long distance applications. Of course, it is a typical point-multipoint solution (PTMP) working in the unlicensed 5GHz band. Mimosa A5x is a smaller version of the famous A5c access point and is ideal for places where the capabilities and performance of the A5c are not so necessary.

Mimosa A5x is a powerful access point, which guarantees a bandwidth of up to 700Mbps on the 5GHz band. It is a solution of comparable quality to fiber optic service, but one should take into account the fact that fiber optic cannot reach everywhere. Many times it cannot be installed because of the terrain or too big urbanization.
The device works in the 2x2 MU-MIMO technology and allows you to use the frequency range from 4.9GHz to 6.4Ghz, so we can set up a safe and efficient link beyond the noise that is generated by other access points working in a similar frequency range.

A5x this is only the electronics to which the appropriate type of antenna should be connected. Although the Mimosa A5x works with most 2x2 antennas of other manufacturers, Mimosa Airspan suggests using a dedicated Mimosa N5-45x2 sector antenna. In our test we used this antenna because N5-45 offers high gain and 42 degrees of beam coverage, with no side lobes.

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When doing field tests, the biggest challenge is power. After all, we don't have a 230V power supply everywhere, and the devices require power to work. In the case of Mimosa A5x as well as Mimosa C5c devices, we need to power PoE 802.3af/at, but we can also power them using Passive PoE. In this situation, the best solution is to use AGM batteries! In our tests we used Extralink 12V 9Ah batteries, which we connected in a series to obtain a voltage of 24V. In this way we managed to power both access point and client station.

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We conducted field tests in the vicinity of Częstochowa, the link was set up at a distance of 1.5km. On the Access Point side we set the 5530MHz channel, with a width of 80MHz and Tx Power of 19dBm.

We already know the configuration of the access point A5x, so now it's worth knowing which device served as a client (CPE) during our tests. As a receiving device (CPE) we used Mimosa C5c, which can work in both PTP and PTMP modes. Of course in our case, C5c works as PTMP.
Of course, electronics alone is not everything! Therefore, with the TwistPort TP-ADAP-C5C adapter, we have connected our CPE unit to an ULTRADISH TP 400 from RF Elements, and thus we have achieved a very efficient client station. We have to admit that the solutions provided by Rf-Elements worked out perfectly in this case.

Signal strength

As I mentioned before, the link was set at a distance of 1.5km, and as you can see on the radio spectrum analyzer, there was a slight noise in the 5GHz band all around. We managed to establish a very good link between the access point and the client device. After connecting Mimosa C5c, we got a RSSI signal at -49dBm, with PHY Rate amounting to about 860Mbps. Therefore, we can start performance testing.

To make the test results as reliable as possible, we checked the throughput using a powerful MikroTik heX S (RB760IGS). We have checked the capabilities of the set connection with the help of the indispensable MikroTik Bandwidth Test tool:
The tests were conducted using both TCP and UDP protocols. For both send, receive, both duration protocols. Below are the screens from the obtained bandwidth results using MikroTik BTest:

UDP receive ~365Mbps

We have to admit that the new solution from Mimosa Airspan is really worth recommending, taking into account the price/quality ratio and its performance. Although A5x is a cheaper solution compared to the A5c, it is an equally efficient access point. The versatility and variety that using wifi antennas of different manufacturers also speaks in favour. It is also worth remembering that Mimosa products, apart from the SRS Spectrum Reuse Synchronization (TDMA) protocol, also use the WiFi Interop (CSMA) protocol. This allows us to connect client stations CPE of other manufacturers. In general, a very wide frequency range is also important. In Mimosa A5x we have a very wide frequency range at 4.9-6.4 GHz, which combined with SRS (GPS sync), i.e. reusing the channel, makes it possible to get very good throughput in the 5GHz band. The Mimosa A5x is also a very robust device. The manufacturer has equipped the access point with a metal base made of die-cast aluminium, which makes it resistant to the most difficult weather conditions. To sum up, the new solution from Mimosa Airspan is a great solution to get a very good quality Internet service in the noisy 5GHz band. All we have to do is wait for the next novelties, which we will probably have a chance to test.

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