NanoStation / NanoBeam / PowerBeam as WiFi Bridge
In the following installation guide we will show you an illustrated instruction for installation and configuration of two Ubiquiti NanoStation / NanoBeam / PowerBeam as WiFi Bridge. In our installation guide we use two Ubiquiti NanoStation LOCOM5, in other words a 5 GHz WiFIiBridge. The instruction can be used universally for all NanoStation / NanoBeam / PowerBeam models, no matter if it is a 900MHz, 2.4GHz, 5GHz or 10 GHz model. - Please note that this is inly a sample configuration of a simple WiFi Bridge. We only concentrate on the significant configuration parts.
1) Configuration of the first station:
1.1) Connect the first NanoStation / NanoBeam / PowerBeam with an Ethernet cable to your PC / Notebook.
1.2) To get access to the NanoStation / NanoBeam / PowerBeam you need to assign a static IP-address to you PC / Notebook. The Ubiquiti components by default have the IP-address 192.168.1.20 – please assign an IP-adress to your PC / Notebook from the same subnet, e.g. the IP-address 192.168.1.10. If you do not know how to do this, Google is a very reliable help here :) - Please remember the IP which you had before changing it to get access to the NanoStation / NanoBeam / PowerBeam. After finishing the configuration you need to change it back to the original value.
1.3) Now open the configuration panel of the NanoStation / NanoBeam / PowerBeam in any browser. Just type the IP-adress - 192.168.1.20 – into the address field of the browser::
1.4) Username and password by default are: ubnt
1.5) Wn the field "country" simply choose the country in which the WiFi bridge will be operated. Thereby all factory default settings are set automatically to operate the WiFi Bridge with the current communication regulations of the respective country.
1.6) In the field "language" simply choose the language of your choice.
1.7) For the configuration of the WiFi Bridge there are two relevant parts. Lets start with the menu "Wireless":
1.8) For "Wireless Mode" please select the mode "Access Point WDS"
1.9) In the field SSID you define the name for the WiFi network. Optionally you can select "Hide SSID". Choosing this option the SSID will not be broadcasted so nobody will see your WiFi network on his site survey.
1.10)On the seletc field "Frequency" you can chosse a fixed frequency / channel. It is worth it to choose automatic channel selection on 2.4GHz based WiFi-Bridges. If you operate a 5GHz based WiFi Bridges it is better to choose a channel up from "5500", because these channels are outdoor channels which allow the full transmission power of up to 1000mW.
1.11)On "Security" please choose "WPA2-AES" with "PSK". Put in any password at the field "Key". Thereby the connection between the two NanoStations will be fully encrypted.
1.12) All further selection fields dont have to be changed. Now please click "Change" and then "Apply" to confirm and aplly the settings you made before.
1.13) Now change to the menu point "Network":
1.14)Here you adjust the IP-address of the NanoStation / NanoBeam / PowerBeam according to your network. It is usefull to still make use of a static IP-address to always have a direct access to the NanoStation / NanoBeam / PowerBeam. For example: If you have a DSL router in your network with the IP-address 192.168.1.1 please assign a IP-address from the same subnet to the NanoStation / NanoBeam / PowerBeam - for example 192.168.1.2 – Please put it in the field "IP address". In the field "Gateway" you put in the IP-address from the responsible router in your network – according to the example 192.168.1.1
1.15)Any other selection fields do not have to be changed. Please click now "Change" and then "Apply" to confirm and apply the settings. If you put the IP-address onto a subnet other as in the shown example, an error will occur now - this is correct.
1.16)This station is now configured.
2) Configuration of the second station:
2.1) This is being configured nearly similar – connect the NanoStation / NanoBeam / PowerBeam via network cable to your PC / Notebook, log in to the configuration panel (see above) and change the menu to "Wireless".
2.2)Please choose in "Wireless Mode" the mode "Station WDS".
2.3)Important: In the field SSID you have to put in the EXACT same name fort the WiFi network that you used while first configuration with the first device.
2.4)Important: In "Security" you choose "WPA2-AES" with "PSK" and put in the EXACT same password that you used while first configuration with the first device.
2.5)Any other selection fields do not have to be changed. Please click now "Change" and then "Apply" to confirm and apply the settings.
2.6)Change the menu point now to "Network":
2.7)Here you also adapt the IP-address of the NanoStation / NanoBeam / NanoBridge according to your subnet in which it operated. According to the shown example (see above) you put in the IP-address 192.168.1.3 – Please note that there is no way you can operate two identical IP-addresses in the same network. They ALWAYS need to be different.
2.8)In "Gateway IP" you put in the IP-address of the router (see above) - 192.168.1.1
2.9)Now click again "Change" and "Apply". This station is now also fully configurated. :)
2.10) To increase the data throughput you can additionally activate the AirMAX Protokoll by clicking the Ubiquiti Symbol (far left in the menu navigation). This need to be changed on both devices. Important: It only works if you use components of the producer Ubiquiti within the WIFI bridge.
2.11)Any other selection fields do not need to be changed. Again: Click "Change" and "Apply" and the configuration is done! :)
2.12)Change your IP-address back to the original value, as already said in point 1.2.
Now you can connect the both NanoStation / NanoBeam / NanoBridge to your network(s) and put the WIFI Bridge into operation.
It is recommended to change the access passwords to the configuration panel of the NanoStation / NanoBeam / NanoBridge. Further it is also recommended to bring the firmware up-to-date. You can find the newest firmware directly on the website of Ubiquiti.
We hope we could help you with this step by step instruction.