What does the AyrMesh Hub2n do?
The Ayrstone AyrMesh Hub2n is the building block of your AyrMesh Network. Mounted at a high elevation outside, each compact, rugged AyrMesh Hub can cast its powerful signal to a laptop or other WiFi device up to half a mile away. Additional AyrMesh Hubs, requiring only an electrical connection, can extend your network even further. With clear line-of-sight, AyrMesh hubs can be placed up to 2.5 miles apart, although we recommend putting them 1 mile apart to maintain continuous coverage.
How do the AyrMesh Hubs build a long-range network?
The first AyrMesh Hub connects to your router with an Ethernet cable – it is called the Gateway Hub. A single Hub can usually provide service to your whole house or office plus your yard and nearby outbuildings. Additional Hubs, called “Remotes,” can be used to extend wireless network coverage miles from your homestead, bring the network into difficult-to-penetrate buildings, or even extend out into your fields for use with your farming equipment. AyrMesh Receivers can be used to connect non-WiFi devices or bring the network into buildings.
Is the AyrMesh Hub suitable for use in town? For a hotel or apartment? For use without a router or an Internet connection?
No – the interference from nearby sources and the presence of buildings that block the signal negate the value of a high-power WiFi access point in town. The AyrMesh Hub2n extends the Local Area Network of the router to which the Gateway Hub is connected and it is ONLY configurable via the Internet, so it must have a router that is connected to the Internet in order to work. It does not offer any form of client isolation, bandwidth throttling, or blocking, so it is not really suitable for hotel or apartment use UNLESS the router to which the Gateway Hub is attached supports those features.
Is the Ayrstone AyrMesh Hub secure?
Yes – links to the AyrMesh Hubs are encrypted using WPA2-AES/CCMP or WPA-TKIP encryption, which is unbreakable, and all traffic between the AyrMesh network and the AyrMesh portal is encrypted using 256-bit AES SSL encryption (the gold standard, the same as is probably used by your bank). Even with the aid of a supercomputer, it is impossible to break these encryption algorithms.
Will the AyrMesh system work on my property? Will its signal penetrate my buildings?
The ability for WiFi to penetrate solid objects – from trees to walls – is quite variable. This is the biggest reason we have our 90-day money-back guarantee – the best answer we can give is, “it depends.” It depends on how far your buildings are from the AyrMesh Hub, what is between the Hub and the buildings, and what the buildings are made of. Glass lets a lot of the radio signal through, so a building with a lot of windows may work very well. Trees, wooden walls, and even fences can block a significant amount of the signal; bricks, cinder blocks, and concrete (especially reinforced concrete) will block a lot more of the signal. Metal (even metal mesh) will block the signal almost completely – the best hope for getting signal into a metal building is through a window or door, or use an AyrMesh Receiver with an indoor WiFi Access Point. But it’s hard to tell how it’s going to work until you try it. With our 90-day money-back guarantee you can try the system yourself and see how it works with almost no risk.
How long can an Ethernet cable be?
Ethernet cables can be up to 100 meters. For the Ethernet cable between the power supply and the Hub, we recommend using no longer than a 200′ Category 5 or 6 Ethernet cable. Use a cable with pure, solid copper wires to ensure the Power Over Ethernet is maximized.
What is the benefit of meshing technology on the AyrMesh WiFi system?
Ayrstone AyrMesh Hubs use a mesh routing protocol so Hubs recognize each other and work together, actively adjusting routing to ensure the highest reliability and throughput on a network. Each AyrMesh Hub receives configuration directly from the AyrMesh.com Internet Portal, freeing the user from the chore of reconfiguring. Administrative adjustments like changing a broadcast channel or password require a single entry from the AyrMesh Portal and all the AyrMesh Hubs automatically reconfigure.
What is the difference between the AyrMesh Gateway Hub and the AyrMesh Remote Hub?
There is no actual difference – the Hubs configure themselves according to the role in which they find themselves. If they can “see” the Internet on their Ethernet ports, they configure themselves as Gateways; if not, they configure themselves as Remotes. You can switch the physical Hubs between Remote and Gateway locations and they’ll just reboot themselves to their new role.
How can I view a device (like an IP camera) on my AyrMesh Network from the Internet?
Absolutely – you simply “port forward” to the camera using your router, exactly as if the camera was connected directly to the router.
What do I need a Router for?
- Routers are simply devices that connect networks and make sure that the packets go to the correct network. Most “consumer-grade” routers have a single input (usually called the “WAN port,” indicating it is connected to the “Wide Area Network,” the internet). They usually provide a single output, which typically feeds into a switch (usually with four ports) and a wireless access point, which are together called the “LAN ports,” meaning they are connected to your private Local Area Network. The router makes sure that packets that are destined for the Internet get to the Internet, and packets destined for your LAN get to your LAN.
- The “LAN” ports on home routers almost always provide DHCP, so the AyrMesh Gateway Hub plugs into one of the LAN ports on the router. Backing up a little bit, please note that I mentioned that there is a single “LAN port” on the router connected to a four-port switch and a wireless access point. You see the wireless antennas and the four ports on the back of the router, but those are actually not part of the router – they are a four-port switch and a wireless access point that have been added into the same box with the router.
Does the WiFi signal from my router affect the AyrMesh Hub signal?
The WiFi signal from a router can interfere with the AyrMesh signal, especially when you are close to the router. For this reason, we strongly suggest turning off the WiFi capability of your router when you install and plan to use the AyrMesh system alone. If you want or need to use the WiFi Access Point on your router, we recommend you use a different SSID and a channel that’s at least 5 channels away from the one you select in AyrMesh.com for your Hubs.
Will the AyrMesh WiFi Hub work with the router I currently have?
The short answer is yes. To date, we have found very few routers that do not work with the AyrMesh Hub.
What’s the difference between the AyrMesh Hub2n and the original AyrMesh Hub?
- The original Hub works as a router, and creates its own IP subnet, complete with its own DHCP server for clients connected to it. The new Hub2n works as a switch, extending the IP subnet of the router to which it is connected. This means you can “port forward” from your router directly to devices attached to your AyrMesh Hubs.
- The original Hub uses 802.11g WiFi. The new hub uses 802.11n WiFi, which is newer and more flexible.
- The original Hub uses WPA authentication and TKIP encryption, which is unbreakable but older. The new Hub can use either WPA or WPA2 authentication and either TKIP or AES/CCMP encryption, which are newer and even stronger.
- The original Hub is limited to a range of a bit over 2 miles from Hub to Hub due to their meshing technology. The new Hub2n uses a more modern meshing technology that allows it to go even further – 2.5 miles or longer with clear line-of-sight.
I see other WiFi Access Points on the Internet that look just like the AyrMesh Hub, but, in some cases, cost less. Are they the same thing?
No. The AyrMesh Hub hardware is manufactured by Ubiquiti Networks, and they manufacture several products that use that same compact, weatherproof case. But the AyrMesh Hub uses completely different firmware (software that runs on the Hub itself) than any other product, and that firmware allows it to do things that no other product can do, including auto-configuration, meshing (connecting to other Hubs wirelessly), and centralized management through AyrMesh.com. When combined with Ayrstone’s generous guarantees and “beginner-friendly” customer support, those advantages make the AyrMesh Hub unique.