|
FSO |
Microwave |
Radio Wireless |
Traditional Cabling (fibre) |
|
Distance Range |
Up to 6000 m |
Typically under 10km (longer distances are possible) |
100m indoors (regulations limit the outdoors use to a few km) |
100km |
|
Supported Bandwidth (max.) |
2.5 Gbps (higher bandwidth enabled by the technonolgy) |
Practically 155 Mbps (300 Mbps possible) |
11 Mbps (Wi-Fi) 54 Mbps (802.11a) |
Unlimited |
|
IP Compatible |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
SNMP Compatible |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Investment Protection (can it be upgraded) |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Security |
High due to positioning and beam size |
High |
No encryption: Low
Encryption: Medium |
High |
|
Deployment |
Quick (within a day) |
Moderate (several days)
Long (several months)
Incl. Frequency licensing |
V. quick (hours)-indoors
Moderate (days)- outdoors |
Very long (up to a year) |
|
Installation Complexity |
Easy |
Complex |
Moderate |
Moderate to complex |
|
Safety |
No |
Electromagnetic radiation in public areas |
No |
No |
|
Licence Required |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes (in public areas) |
|
Interference Issues |
No |
Unlikely |
Yes |
No |
|
Line of Sight required |
Yes |
Yes |
No- indoors
Yes- outdoors |
No |
|
Transparent Operation |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
Special Features |
Very high power budget, best cost per bit. High reliability. |
|
|
High reliability |