PowerBeams for 1Km Range?

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Prim0

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Hey chaps,

So here's the situation. I want Fibre, I need Fibre, my area ain't getting Fibre... My uncle on the other hand is connected to Fibre. He stays around 1.2km away from my place. I went to him yesterday, stood on his roof with a pair of binoculars and found out we had a clear LOS with one another without any obstructions. I have two PowerBeams at home, it was from when I was in the CTWUG. I also have two POE's and two RB950's. Thing is I have no idea where to begin and how to go about this. My setup was done by another guy years ago and I was an idiot to never pick up the skills and teach myself. If anyone could please offer me advice on where to start and what to do. He spoke to his ISP and was told that another seperate line could be installed which I'll then use as my own. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
 
I would start by resetting the powerbeams to default settings. Holding down the reset switch on UBNT gear and then and keeping it held for 10 seconds while the power is on usually does this.

Then you set the IP on your machine to something like 192.168.1.5. Usually , the routers default fallback IP is 192.168.1.20.

Once done , you have to setup the powerbeams in bridge mode via a web browser at 192.168.1.20.


Once you've done that , connect the fiber router to one of the powerbeams. Now connect the other powerbeam to a PC. It should get DHCP from the fiber router.

Now you have a link. Get those two powerbeams up on poles facing each other. The angles are pretty sensitive , and you'll have to get them right by adjusting the antenna direction and then watching the signal lights.

Setting a wireless router further down the line to connect end devices is another story - but this should get you started
 
retromodcoza said:
I would start by resetting the powerbeams to default settings. Holding down the reset switch on UBNT gear and then and keeping it held for 10 seconds while the power is on usually does this.

Then you set the IP on your machine to something like 192.168.1.5. Usually , the routers default fallback IP is 192.168.1.20.

Once done , you have to setup the powerbeams in bridge mode via a web browser at 192.168.1.20.


Once you've done that , connect the fiber router to one of the powerbeams. Now connect the other powerbeam to a PC. It should get DHCP from the fiber router.

Now you have a link. Get those two powerbeams up on poles facing each other. The angles are pretty sensitive , and you'll have to get them right by adjusting the antenna direction and then watching the signal lights.

Setting a wireless router further down the line to connect end devices is another story - but this should get you started
Click to expand...
Thanks so much for this, I'm heading down again this weekend and I'll try and set it up then. Just another question, I noticed on a few vids where they checked another value, can't remember the name, but it there was a threshold that was being looked for, something like -65db or so, I was wondering what would the ideal threshold for this be? Thanks in advance.
 
Are any of the wugs active in south Africa still
One in PE died a slow death a year or two ago.
 
thehuman said:
Are any of the wugs active in south Africa still
One in PE died a slow death a year or two ago.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the CTWUG here in Cape Town is still somewhat active. A ton of links were shutdown, but some are still up mostly in Mitchell's Plain.
 
Prim0 said:
Thanks so much for this, I'm heading down again this weekend and I'll try and set it up then. Just another question, I noticed on a few vids where they checked another value, can't remember the name, but it there was a threshold that was being looked for, something like -65db or so, I was wondering what would the ideal threshold for this be? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

-65db is signal strength (of sorts). Its what the colour bars on the unit represent. -90db would be a weak signal. -65 would be stronger. -55 would be very strong.

Theres no cutoff here (or threshold) , but the stronger the signal , the higher the bitrate the powerbeams will select. So , you'll get more throughput. I would say minimum -75 or so for this setup. However , you have line of sight. Good alignment should yield -60 or above.
 
Prim0 said:
Hey chaps,

So here's the situation. I want Fibre, I need Fibre, my area ain't getting Fibre... My uncle on the other hand is connected to Fibre. He stays around 1.2km away from my place. I went to him yesterday, stood on his roof with a pair of binoculars and found out we had a clear LOS with one another without any obstructions. I have two PowerBeams at home, it was from when I was in the CTWUG. I also have two POE's and two RB950's. Thing is I have no idea where to begin and how to go about this. My setup was done by another guy years ago and I was an idiot to never pick up the skills and teach myself. If anyone could please offer me advice on where to start and what to do. He spoke to his ISP and was told that another seperate line could be installed which I'll then use as my own. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
Click to expand...
Problem comes in when you cross a public road, even if its wifi...
As you then need to apply for licensing...
 
Venomous said:
Problem comes in when you cross a public road, even if its wifi...
As you then need to apply for licensing...
Click to expand...
This is South Africa.. you *could*
But really who is going to go after you. I've had my setup for over a year now and no one has came knocking on my door yet
 
Prim0 said:
Hey chaps,

So here's the situation. I want Fibre, I need Fibre, my area ain't getting Fibre... My uncle on the other hand is connected to Fibre. He stays around 1.2km away from my place. I went to him yesterday, stood on his roof with a pair of binoculars and found out we had a clear LOS with one another without any obstructions. I have two PowerBeams at home, it was from when I was in the CTWUG. I also have two POE's and two RB950's. Thing is I have no idea where to begin and how to go about this. My setup was done by another guy years ago and I was an idiot to never pick up the skills and teach myself. If anyone could please offer me advice on where to start and what to do. He spoke to his ISP and was told that another seperate line could be installed which I'll then use as my own. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
Click to expand...
I have a ubiquiti setup across a more or less 1 km range. If you want to be safe apply for an Icasa license exemption. If its for personal use you can get that for free i think. But really I have had a wireless link for over a year now and still fine with no license. Was in the same situation as you but got fibre recently so sometime soon I will be taking them down unfortunately. They are quite fun to play with seeing that you can pick up signals from like 20km away haha. Anyway that's your only problem.

Just watch a YouTube tutorial on how to set them up and you're sorted.
 
jadenroux said:
I have a ubiquiti setup across a more or less 1 km range. If you want to be safe apply for an Icasa license exemption. If its for personal use you can get that for free i think. But really I have had a wireless link for over a year now and still fine with no license. Was in the same situation as you but got fibre recently so sometime soon I will be taking them down unfortunately. They are quite fun to play with seeing that you can pick up signals from like 20km away haha. Anyway that's your only problem.

Just watch a YouTube tutorial on how to set them up and you're sorted.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the heads up, this is for personal use exclusively as I have zero intentions of splitting the bandwidth and selling it to others. My area for the most part is getting Fibre(Mitchell's Plain) however my area is one of 3 that aren't part of the rollout plans hence me seeking an alternative. I had another offer from an old family friend that stayed around 300m away from me who was in the 'live' zone however that option didn't turn out viable since his household rarely had electricity.
 
Last edited:
retromodcoza said:
-65db is signal strength (of sorts). Its what the colour bars on the unit represent. -90db would be a weak signal. -65 would be stronger. -55 would be very strong.

Theres no cutoff here (or threshold) , but the stronger the signal , the higher the bitrate the powerbeams will select. So , you'll get more throughput. I would say minimum -75 or so for this setup. However , you have line of sight. Good alignment should yield -60 or above.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this.
 
Prim0 said:
Sorry for the late reply but they are the PBE-M5-300 models, not sure if that helps.
Click to expand...

The latest firmware, manuals and guides are all on the site. You should have no issues with those puppies over 1.2km

Configure, setup & test at home before deploying to site.
 
ponder said:
The latest firmware, manuals and guides are all on the site. You should have no issues with those puppies over 1.2km

Configure, setup & test at home before deploying to site.
Click to expand...
I'll be doing so hopefully this Friday since I'd like to have the setup running by the weekend.
 
thehuman said:
Are any of the wugs active in south Africa still
One in PE died a slow death a year or two ago.
Click to expand...
Yes the WUG, as far as I know, are still active, send me a pm with your details and I'll send them to one of the admins for PTAWUG maybe they can put you in touch
 
HartsockZA said:
Yes the WUG, as far as I know, are still active, send me a pm with your details and I'll send them to one of the admins for PTAWUG maybe they can put you in touch
Click to expand...
I was the last admin of port Elizabeth wug , there were like 5 connected users left when i pulled out , it was not financially viable no more .
 
On this topic , my brother stays about 200-300 metres away from me. I have a cambium unit and I think he has one of the airmax lite beam units. Can these be setup for us to share as well? Or would we have to get matching devices?
 
Smokey mcpot said:
On this topic , my brother stays about 200-300 metres away from me. I have a cambium unit and I think he has one of the airmax lite beam units. Can these be setup for us to share as well? Or would we have to get matching devices?
Click to expand...
Just get two Airmax AC devices, the cambium will give you a lot of hassles.
 
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