Cisco Meraki Mr74 in Point to point setup

[Ritchie]

Folk, 

Have you tried implementing cisco meraki mr to be a wireless bridge or p2p?

How far can it reach?

[kYutobi]

Meraki does wireless mesh. Meraki access points equipped with omnidirectional antennas typically reach a range of 100 meters.

[MerakiDave]

@Ritchie  Yes, no problem, however there is no distance specification, that is always an "it depends" answer, and one of the biggest factors is which antennas you'll use.  It is fairly common to have an MR74 mesh AP out in a distant field for example, with an ANT-25 patch or ANT-27 sector antenna on the 5GHz ports, aimed back at the gateway AP to create a 5GHz backhaul/bridge link, and then the mesh AP out in the field has ANT-20 omni antennas on the 2.4GHz ports for serving clients out in that area. 

Let me know if any specific concerns and/or what the deployment looks like and any specific requirements for this link.  I'd suggest going through these docs as well: 

https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/WiFi_Basics_and_Best_Practices/Wireless_Mesh_Networking

https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/WiFi_Basics_and_Best_Practices/Using_a_Cisco_Meraki_Access_Point...

https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/Deployment_Guides/Mesh_Deployment_Guide

https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/WiFi_Basics_and_Best_Practices/Extending_the_LAN_with_a_Wireless...

[RumorConsumer]

Hi Ritchie

I have a couple properties (I both own and manage). One has 20 APs and the other 5. I have a few words of advice here as we have a lot of ground to cover on both.

This is all based on my experience over the last 18 months Your mileage may vary.

I began trying to use Meraki kit for all of my PtP links. We're talking 200 feet max. In these cases, MR74s with sector antennas have generally provided solid links. Not too quick but sufficient for most needs - 140mbit or so is the highest Ive seen with the right antennas.

But it doenst always work right. I find the devices creating the mesh link need to be rebooted more often than Id like.

There is a feature called the "wired hop" that I have attempted to make use of because it has a lot of potential (https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/WiFi_Basics_and_Best_Practices/Extending_the_LAN_with_a_Wireless...) and its still immature. For example...

I have one property where I have a repeater MR74 with a sector antenna pointed directly at a gateway MR84 150 feet away and much further away from the repeater 74 is another repeater 74 with antennas pointed in the complete opposite direction. The two repeaters are connected via an unmanaged switch inside the building theyre mounted on. The docs state that the device with the best connection will allow its connection to be used by the others. One would think the 74 with the antennas pointed DIRECTLY at the gateway would be that one, but somehow, even after replacing *all the hardware*, the one with the antennas pointing in the opposite direction still gives a better aggregate connection score and often handles the connection for the rest of the APs on the switch. Which is insane. I have spent hours with support. Nobody can figure it out. 

Recently, for my PtP needs I have explored other options from other vendors. The Ubiquiti Gigabeams and Nanobeams used in a pair to make a PtP link work *very well*. I still prefer Meraki for everything else in my network. I would not switch over for anything at this point. But for this one think I have found their implementation quite robust.