EX-1 provides a raw data rate of 16 Mbps with a range of up to 7 miles when using a 2-foot dish antenna. The system is also FCC-certified for operation with 6-inch, 12-inch and 24-inch flat panels as well as with 1- and 2-foot solid dish antennas. The EX-1 was easy to set up because there is little to configure. The device offers no Web interface, no telnet support, not even a console port. Instead, the system is configured via small DIP switches, which let you choose one of eight channels on which the bridges will communicate, their transmit power, and half- or full-duplex Ethernet operation. The eight channels let you install multiple point-to-point systems in close proximity to one another. As for ease of use, the bridges worked right out the box.
The modem is designed to install outdoors and comes with two weatherized connectors that affix to the bridge. The two connectors are part of a special-purpose cable that comes with the unit, combining both power and Ethernet into a single cable shroud. This works fine, but a true Power-over-Ethernet design would provide for additional cabling flexibility.
Unlike the other products we tested, aligning the EX-1 antennas requires that a separate voltmeter be attached to a special port on the unit. Not only is this inconvenient, but it makes it difficult to troubleshoot physical-layer problems after the unit is operational. Young Design suggests you take preventative maintenance readings each month to catch weak-signal problems before an outage occurs.
We received much higher throughput when we switched the Ethernet port into full-duplex mode, so we configured the unit for full-duplex operation for all our performance tests. Not only did our full-duplex test work better, but this change also improved the device's unidirectional performance because our test used TCP and full-duplex facilitated ACKs.
Average performance in our unidirectional test was 7.7 Mbps, while bidirectional performance came in at around 14.5 Mbps. That placed it around the middle of the pack. At a cost of $8,500 with 2-foot antennas, the Young Design offering was the second most expensive of any of the products tested. In our range measurements, the EX-1 conformed to manufacturer's specifications.
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