pico vs nano station wifi units

huguley3 · #1 (**permalink**) 07-11-2009

I have been going over threads about the pico and nano station units from ubiquiti and am having trouble figuring out what their different models do. I also have an email in to them.
They also have some other models like the bullet but I think what I am looking for is met with the pico or nano units.

I like that both are powered over ethernet so I don't have to do multiple cables.
One has an external whip antenae and the other looks like it has an internal array of some sort that is possibly directional. SInce I am going to be moving around having a directional antenae would not work so well but if it does its thing automatically then it would be ok. The range on the datasheet of the nano says 15km vs 500m for the pico. I am assuming the 15km is directional so I would not get near that kind of performance but 15000 vs 500 is a lot of difference.

Initially I am planning to put it on a shroud while I get it working and next time I am putting something on top fo the mast move it up there.

I am not worried about the networking part of it as I can get that to work in any number of ways once I get more signal out of the air. I just don't get the radio reception parts.

huguley3 · #2 (**permalink**) 07-14-2009

Got an email back from Ubiquiti and they recomended the bullet 2 with a high gain antenae. The bullet looks like kind a neat little unit. I ordered one with a cheaper antenae to try it out. They bullet 2 is pretty cheap at $40 but the high gain antenaes are about twice the price at $80 on top of that they are pretty large so don't lend themselves well to just messing with.

sailingdog · #3 (**permalink**) 07-15-2009

The problem that you can have with the bullets is that the high-gain antennas have a very narrow vertical angle of coverage. This is one major reason I recommend the NS2 or Loco... since most monohulls roll a fair bit more than they swing—if the anchorage has a consistent wind or current.

The vertical angle of coverage on the NS2 is 20˚ IIRC, and the Loco is 60˚ and both have a horizontal angle of coverage of 60˚ or so.