A network technician is troubleshooting a wireless point-to-point bridge between two campus buildings situated 250 meters apart. Following a storm, maintenance crews re-anchored the directional antenna on Building B. Although there is a completely clear line of sight and transmit power settings remain unchanged on both units, the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) has dropped significantly from -58 dBm to -80 dBm. Inspection reveals that the antenna on Building A remains oriented with vertical polarization, whereas the antenna on Building B was reinstalled turned 90 degrees in horizontal polarization. Which of the following is the primary cause of the link degradation?
- Antenna polarization mismatch between the transmitter and receiverCevap
- BCo-channel interference from overlapping 2.4 GHz channels on neighboring access points
- CSubnet gateway misconfiguration on the wireless bridge interface
- DAutomatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) fallback on the bridge wireless management card
Cevap
Antenna polarization mismatch between the transmitter and receiver is the primary cause of the severe RSSI drop.
Wireless signals travel as electromagnetic waves oriented in a specific spatial plane (polarization). For maximum energy transfer, directional bridge antennas must share the same polarization alignment. A 90-degree alignment difference between vertical and horizontal polarization introduces cross-polarization discrimination loss, typically causing a 20 dB to 30 dB drop in received signal power.
Adım Adım Çözüm
Anahtar Kavram
Antenna Polarization and Alignment in Wireless Systems