Their main task was to create several radio relay connections and a fiber optic connection together with Kabel-TV Aue e.V. for Tag der Sachsen.

The radio relay applications connected the PoP, the relay station at Nickelhütten-Esse, Agricolastrasse and the media stage on the site of the former foundry. These connections were used to transmit data services as well as TETRA radio for public authorities. However, transmission of the TETRA radio service via antennas was not part of the contract – only the connection of the sites via radio relay.

A coordination center for Tag der Sachsen also had to be connected via fiber optics so that telephony and Internet could run there.

In addition, there were over 8 information points operated by the city of Aue-Bad Schlema on Tag der Sachsen. WLAN had to be made available at these locations. In addition, a WLAN network was implemented at the media stage.

Equipment

For the fiber network, they relied on routers from Mikrotik (2x CCR-2004). Why MikroTik in particular? Mikrotik is characterized by simple configuration and high availability. The 2 separate power supplies meant they could easily make changes to the power supply – even during operation.

This is particularly practical when integrating a UPS. By using the routers as PPPoE servers, they could easily store the bandwidths and the IP addresses of the end devices centrally using Radius servers.

On the other hand, Ubiquiti was chosen for the radio relay network because they had already gained experience in operating these systems and were very impressed with the bandwidth, especially in the 60 GHz range. The following were used: 4x AF60-XR, 2x AF60HD, 2x PowerBeam 5GHz and an EdgeSwitch.

With this, they were then able to be at each radio site at Tag der Sachsen min. 100 Mbit/s symmetrically. What impressed the most with Ubiquiti was the amazingly good 60GHz signal, and with the AF60-XR, the integrated 5GHz backup WLANs, which never had to be used.

Due to the missing 5GHz function of the AF60-HD, a backup was additionally built by Servernetz TK UG itself from an additional PowerBeam set. This could have stepped in during very heavy rain during the Tag der  Sachsen event, which again did not become necessary.

Access points from Ubiquiti were used for the WLAN network at the media stage. Two WLAN networks were then set up there, one for the artists and one for the technology.

Since this was a spontaneous request on site, it was necessary to reschedule and organize new equipment. Thanks to the possibility of picking up goods on site at Varia, they could be procured quickly. For which the team of Servernetz TK UG is very grateful.

Thanks to the Cloud Key Gen 2, the setup of the four access points went smoothly and could even be done directly on site using the Unifi app. This allowed them to remotely access the connection quality, throughput and much more easily for any WLAN device that was logged in.

If a malfunction then occurs, it is then possible to intervene quickly. However, this had not occurred during Tag der Sachsen.

A Mikrotik CRS326 was used as the switch, which did its job without any problems or major configuration.

For the info points at the huts in the festival area for Tag der Sachsen, they relied on 2.4GHz or 5GHz radio links, also from Ubiquiti, or on normal DOCSIS modems. The special feature here was that the Internet came from their colleagues (Kabel-TV Aue e.V.) via coaxial cable.

At some critical points, a special solution had to be built there because there was no existing coaxial cable nearby. As a result, 2 info points had to be connected via directional radio from attics, e.g. on the Simmel site.

In addition, Ubiquiti’s Nanostation M2 and M5 antennas were used. Due to the intervening cable network, a special setting had to be made when configuring the radio modules. They were able to figure this out after some searching and thus successfully proceed with the alignment.

Requirements

The system was able to fully meet the requirements of a large event like Tag der Sachsen.

The most important point was resilience, especially in the fiber-optic and radio network.

By selecting the right radio links, they were able to offer more bandwidth than was needed everywhere while maintaining a high interference margin. UPSs also provided additional fail-safety for the radio systems.

Another internal requirement was that every employee should have access to the radio systems and to the WLAN APs.

They therefore decided to set up a UNMS server from Ubiquiti and were able to monitor their radio equipment without any problems. Conveniently, they were able to use the UniFi app for the WLAN APs right away.

Implementation

By and large, the implementation went smoothly.

Configuring the routers, switches and wireless links was a breeze. The setting on the roofs or at the Nickelhütten-Esse was very lengthy, especially for the AF60-HD – whereby 1.1km distance is already the limit for AF60-HD. In contrast, there were few problems with the XR and 5GHz models.

Conclusion

In total, we spent 1.5 months of planning for the project. For us it was a great experience to see how the long planning of the project gradually turned into reality.

Of course, it was even more great to be part of Tag der Sachsen and to have made a significant contribution to the success of this festival.

While we were “only” responsible for the telecommunications, we would also like to say thank you to everyone else who made Tag der Sachsen what it was – a great and unforgettable event for Aue-Bad Schlema and the region – Glück auf!

Thanks again to you at Varia – for the straightforward ordering process and quick availability of products. This has really helped us and we are pleased to have found a competent and regional partner in Varia. – Servernetz TK UG

Text: Immanuel Engel & Leon Daunderer – Servernetz TK UG