Banner SureCross DX80 Wireless Networks - Manual (Page 15)

Result Description
Green Packets received at a strong signal strength. A strong signal strength is
greater than −90 dBm at the receiver.
Yellow Packets received at a good signal strength. A good signal is between
−90 and −100 dBm at the receiver.
Red Packets received at a weak signal strength. A weak signal is less than
−100 dBm at the receiver.
Missed Packets not received on the first transmission and requiring a retry.
Judging if the reliability of a network’s signal meets the needs of the application is not simply a matter of green, yellow, and red packets
received. In normal operating mode, when data packets are not received, the transmitter re-sends the packet until all data is received.
For slow monitoring applications such as a tank farm, where data is required in terms of seconds or minutes, receiving most of the data in
the ‘red’ range, indicating a weak but reliable signal, transmits enough data for accurate monitoring. Nodes positioned near the outside
range of the radio signal may have 90% of the data packets received in the red zone, again indicating a weak, but reliable signal.
A good rule of thumb is to keep the missed packets average to less than 40%. When the network misses more than 40% of the data
packets, the signal is usually too unreliable or obstacles may be interfering with the signal. When Site Survey reports the missed packets
are 40% or higher, improve the radio system performance by:
• Mounting the network’s antennas higher,
• Using higher gain antennas, or
• Adding data radios to the network.
Mounting the devices’ antennas higher allows the radio signal to clear obstacles in the area and improves the line of sight between
SureCross® devices. Higher gain antennas focus the energy of the radio signal in a specific direction and extend the signal’s range.
Using data radios is another option to consider when trying to extend the range of a radio network. For more information on data radios,
please refer to Banner’s white paper on range extension on
www.bannerengineering.com/surecross .
Load and Save
Use the Load/Save screen to load or save specific configuration files to your hard drive.
SureCross User Configuration Tool (UCT)
Rev. G www.bannerengineering.com - tel: 763-544-3164 15