Terrible throughput - Ubiquiti Powerbeam

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ThatOtherDude

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Howdy,


We have a Powerbeam M5 (400MM dish 2 x) link setup between our 2 office in Midrand.
- 4KM apart.

Direct line of sight. (can see both antennas from both buildings)

We want at least 50Mbps.

We started off with 16Mbps, now down to 2.

Looks like the (*&(*& thing just gets slower every day.

:-(


Is there perhaps a knowledgeable person around who can come to our offices (Midrand) to sort this out ?

Cash customer.

PM me if interested.
 
How sure are you that they are aligned 100%?

Whats the signal strength on the ubiquity software?
 
The antennas used are designed to deliver a very sharp narrow beam, which means accurate alignment is essential.
Mast/mounting stability will then be critical.
The narrow beam is essential in mitigating against interference as well.
Anyone who comes along to help must have a suitable instrument/ Spectrum Analyser to verify the alignment as well as to identify possible interference from other systems.
 
Geoff.D said:
Interference is the most probable cause.
Click to expand...

+1 Interference and possible alignment...can OP post some screen shots of the master and slave status pages from the devices
 
@ThatOtherDude You are just way way out of alignment for that distance, or have obstructed Fresnel, those signals are basically terrible.

Absolute first thing to do is swap to 20mhz channel width, second thing is get those signals way better...cycle through the channels too

pinging @portcullis
 
ThatOtherDude said:
it's a "busy" area too..


View attachment 695307
Click to expand...

WoW! plenty of interference sources at signal levels >than the link! You might find that beyond restricting the bw to 20MHz and trying to find a relatively quiet channel, you will be in trouble either way. The above would be short term measures while you organise for someone to check the alignment and LOS conditions.

Any chance of a pic of the mast/mount on both sides or a view of the path?
 
I already tried 30 and 20Mhz channels - sadly speeds dip below 1Mbps on those frequencies.
 
pic of antenna 1.

#2 is on the oither side of the N1.
Mounted on a similarly size pole & bracket.


1565186648334.png
 
So here's what's bugging me:


Transmit power for station = 25dbm
Station is transmitting at 300Mbps



Transmit power for Access Point = 5dbm (setting is greyed out)
AP is transmitting at around 14mps



1565187292982.png
 
I will defer to the experts in these things but here are my comments:

The antenna mount is way below good enough, far too unstable and easily prone to change over time, meaning the alignment is almost dead certain to be out.
Secondly, if the deployment is a link between two offices then the link should be a fully duplex bi-directional link set up the same in both directions.
 
Last edited:
There is a setting somewhere, under advanced or such called installer EIRP or such, enable that then disable calculate EIRP limit. However technically you are then operating outside of the spec and law governing certain frequencies.

Over 4km - Signal should be low 60's or mid to high 50s. Only then can you really play around with frequencies.

Alternatively ditch the 5ghz and get a licensed 11Ghz link.
 
paul5186 said:
There is a setting somewhere, under advanced or such called installer EIRP or such, enable that then disable calculate EIRP limit. However technically you are then operating outside of the spec and law governing certain frequencies.

Over 4km - Signal should be low 60's or mid to high 50s. Only then can you really play around with frequencies.

Alternatively ditch the 5ghz and get a licensed 11Ghz link.
Click to expand...

Yes, that would be the correct thing to do and not try and do the impossible.
 
CCQ under 90% usually indicates some sort of interference.
Make sure you have clear LOS & get angle right
 
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