Alvarion, a player in the WiMAX space, also sells a series of P2P backhaul systems. The Alvarion BreezeNet B100 radios we tested fall solidly into the middle of the pack in performance and, at $7,990 per pair, represent a good value.
The BreezeNet B100s come in 5.3-GHz, 5.4-GHz and 5.8-GHz models, though the 5.4-GHz model is not yet available in North America, and the company does not offer integral antennas.
Configuration of the BreezeNet B100 was a generally positive experience. We appreciated the inclusion of LED indicators on the radios to show signal strength. A visible signal-strength indicator aids not only in mounting and configuration, but also troubleshooting. Connectivity for the B100 is provided through a copper Fast Ethernet interface.
Alvarion is the only vendor in our review that does not provide a GUI for configuration; the company told us it wanted to optimize processing power for the radio itself rather than expend resources handling a Web server for configurations. This wasn't a problem--Alvarion's menu-driven command interface was easy to use, even for novices--and the company does provide a graphical, SNMP-based configuration utility. The geek in us prefers the menu-driven interface at the end of the day, but GUI configurations like Motorola's are currently the benchmark.
The BreezeNet B100 fared well in our performance tests. Alvarion advertises a maximum data rate of 108 Mbps using a modulation scheme of 64 QAM. In our tests, throughput ranged from 77 Mbps to 79 Mbps, depending on the level of attenuation in the signal and modulation scheme used. Alvarion also showed well in our latency tests, with times ranging from 1.6 ms to 2.5 ms. The company's published numbers state that typical latency ranges from 5 ms to 7 ms.
