Canopy (wireless)

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**Motorola Canopy**
An example of an Access Point system (on top) and a Backhaul unit bringing the data to the access points. (bottom)
Type of signal:	LOS (Line of Sight), NLOS (for OFDM versions)
Maximum Range:	30km (Very difficult to accomplish), 120km (OFDM versions)
Minimum Range:	500 meters (The Subscriber Modules (SMs) do not like having a "full blast" signal)
Maximum speed::	20 MBps aggregated nominal, 300 MBps (OFDM versions)

Motorola Canopy is a point-to-multipoint wireless networking system designed for WISPs (wireless internet service providers) based on a star network topology.

Canopy relies on a central access point (AP) placed on a hilltop or tower. These APs usually have 6 panels, allowing for omni-directional coverage of an area. Customers of the system receive service through subscriber modules (SMs) aimed towards the AP. The SMs must be mounted on a tall point of a building to get a reliable connection, else ground clutter will weaken the signal. Under ideal circumstances, no further equipment is required to receive service within a 3.5 mile radius of the AP, but most WISPs install dishes, reflectors and other high gain antennas to increase received signal strength. Some WISPs use altered APs to further increase gain and narrow the signal beam width.

The Motorola canopy product is available in 5.7 GHz, 5.4 GHz ETSI, 5.3 GHz, 5.2 GHz, 2.4 GHz and 900 MHz versions. In general, the 900 MHz version is easier to use in outlying areas, because of its ability to penetrate through trees, and reach further. However, this signal does not provide as high speeds as 2.4 or 5.7 would.

The 5.7 GHz is the most popular frequency because it does not interference with existing wifi installations. WISPs that use the 2.4 GHz version can use add-on products to get more gain, allowing communications at distances of up to 15 miles, throughputs of 14 Mbps, and latencies of 7 ms. 5.7 GHz units are also used as backhauls, bringing data to and from the APs.

Point to point connections are capable of throughput ranging from 10 Mbps to 300 Mbps with latencies of 2 ms.