HOW UNITS COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER- BACK-HAUL POSSIBILITIES WITH DKT WAVE2 Wi-Fi MESH

The DKT WAVE2 Wi-Fi mesh platform offers various possibilities for intra-communi-cation between Wi-Fi units. One unit must always be cabled directly with the router. For optimal performance, the additional units should also be cabled. However, the units also allow for wireless intra-communication, or intra-communication through the electricity network in the home, the latter is only possible with the Powerline model. The router connected to the units must be capable of accessing the Internet before the DKT WAVE2 Wi-Fi mesh units will function. The unit connected directly to the router will be automatically configured as the master on the network.
Back-haul is defined as the manner in which Wi-Fi units communicate in your mesh network, and thereby the manner in which they send data between units. There are various possibilities to establish this communication between units with the DKT WAVE2 Wi-Fi mesh solution. The units can however only use one type of back-haul, meaning either cabled, wireless or powerline.

BACK-HAUL VIA CABLES

The best way to connect your DKT WAVE2 Wi-Fi mesh units is via Internet cables. These should preferably be in the so-called CAT5e category or better so as to minimize network bottle-necks. The cabled back-haul ensures that you have a stable and quick connection between the DKT WAVE2 Wi-Fi mesh units. If the units are cabled, then the connection can achieve speeds of up to ca. 1Gbps, depending on the switch that connects the units/cables.

WIRELESS BACK-HAUL

The DKT WAVE2 Air model can be connected via Internet cables which create optimal back-haul performance, or can be wirelessly connected (paired) via the WPS button, placed on the side of the unit. When two or more units are paired, intra-communication occurs between the units (also termed back-haul) wirelessly via the 5GHz band. All DKT WAVE2 Air units ”talk to each other” on the same 5GHz frequency.
The more units are wirelessly connected, the more of the 5GHZ frequency is reserved to create backhaul between units. Therefore DKT recommends that no more than 3 units are paired via wireless backhaul. At the same time, special consideration must be given to the distance between units. For large distances this means that it is not possible to establish intra-communication (back-haul) between units.

BACK-HAUL VIA POWERLINE

In a large house without Internet cables, and the house’s condition significantly affects Wi-Fi signals due to thick walls, floor heating or large distances that prevent the use of DKT WAVE2 Air units, then the best alternative is DKT WAVE2 PowerLine units.
Here intra-communication occurs between units via (back-haul) with the help of the electricity network. The electricity network has the advantage that there are usually many power sockets in a home, and units can be connected directly at any power socket (without the need for a power supply). Due to the limitations in PowerLine (PLC) technology, one should always strive to place the unit directly in the power socket and not in a power strip or other power divider, as this can have a strong negative influence on intra-communication (back-haul) performance between units.
The disadvantage of using the electricity network is that we at DKT cannot guarantee a specific performance between units. This is because the performance depends upon the ”quality” of the electricity network, noise from other devices, whether there is a grounding connection on the property and if the power sockets are placed in the same group (phase). A long list of parameters influences the combined performance between units. A theoretical bandwidth of up to 200Mbps is achievable, but a somewhat lower bandwidth should be expected.

DKT RECOMMEND

DKT recommends that intra-communication (back-haul) between DKT WAVE2 Wi-Fi mesh units is planned according to the following priority:

1. In1. Internet cabling (Ethernet cabling) with up to 1Gbps performance between units.

   DKT WAVE2 Air model
   


2. 2. Wi-Fi pairing via WPS, by using the GHz band, theoretically up to 800 Mbps performance between units.

   DKT WAVE2 Air model
   


3. P3. Powerline parring via WPS, y using the electricity network, theoretically up to 200Mbps performance between units.

   DKT WAVE2 Powerline model