I recently received a Ubiquiti NanoBridge M2 to evaluate. This is a discontinued model, but it is still available on eBay and other sources. It is a combined radio and antenna in the form of a solid dish 40 cm in diameter. The radio module is a derivative of the Bullet. The new model that replaces the NanoBridge is called the PowerBeam PBE-M2-400 which is likely based on the "XW" design and is currently not supported by BBHN. The NanoBridge M2 is fully compatible with BBHN firmware. It seems to be a well built assembly made of steel (dish and mount) and a heavy plastic for the radio and dipole. It weighs about 2 Kg. It has a substantial mount with 2 heavy u-bolts and provisions for up/downtilt.
The important specs are 23 dBm (200 mw) power out, -95 dBm receive sens. and 18 dBi antenna gain with dual polarity MIMO design. The Nanostation M2 by comparison is 28 dBm output with dual 8.5 dBi antennas and the same receiver specs.
After flashing the unit with BBH 3.1.0 it was time for some testing. The NanoStation M2 was taken down from the mast on my roof and the NBM2 put in it's place. I was expecting about 5 dB greater performance, but it did not quite happen. It worked only slightly better than the NSM2. Only about 2 dB more signal showed up at the 2.4G Usery node N13. Not too bad, but at a fraction of the weight, size and wind load it's tough to beat tne NSM2. It's unfortunate they did not provide 28 dBm power out on the NBM2 like they did on the NanoStation. Then it would be a clear winner with 18 dBi of antenna gain.
I'm going to continue testing and double check my aim. If anything greatly different is found I will report back.
The important specs are 23 dBm (200 mw) power out, -95 dBm receive sens. and 18 dBi antenna gain with dual polarity MIMO design. The Nanostation M2 by comparison is 28 dBm output with dual 8.5 dBi antennas and the same receiver specs.
After flashing the unit with BBH 3.1.0 it was time for some testing. The NanoStation M2 was taken down from the mast on my roof and the NBM2 put in it's place. I was expecting about 5 dB greater performance, but it did not quite happen. It worked only slightly better than the NSM2. Only about 2 dB more signal showed up at the 2.4G Usery node N13. Not too bad, but at a fraction of the weight, size and wind load it's tough to beat tne NSM2. It's unfortunate they did not provide 28 dBm power out on the NBM2 like they did on the NanoStation. Then it would be a clear winner with 18 dBi of antenna gain.
I'm going to continue testing and double check my aim. If anything greatly different is found I will report back.
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