Industry
Part of Fixed wireless: questions about the unit, path and hub
Fixed wireless setup: survey, mount, ground, test
A fixed wireless setup is decided outdoors: survey the sight line, mount for stability, route and ground the cable, then test the link for a week.
A fixed wireless link is a radio path between an antenna on your building and one on a mast. It runs in microwave bands the provider is licensed or permitted to use, from the unlicensed spectrum around 5 GHz upward, and it does not go usefully through a wall. Fixed wireless setup is therefore decided by things you can see: where the antenna goes, what is in the way, and how the cable gets inside. Small businesses use it where cable and fiber stop short of the building, and almost everything that decides whether it works is done before anyone touches a router.
What to take away
- The survey is the install. If the sight line is marginal in summer, it will be worse when the trees fill out and worse again in heavy rain.
- Mount for stability, not convenience. A dish that moves in wind produces a link that degrades in wind, and nobody connects the two.
- Grounding and cable entry are safety work. They are also where a cheap install becomes an expensive building repair.
The survey, and what it has to establish
- A clear line to the mast. Radio at these frequencies does not go usefully through buildings, and it is attenuated by wet foliage. A gap
Survey checklist
- Clear line to the mast
- Enough clearance around direct line
- Mounting point that does not move
- Cable routeentry, run, obstacles
- Powered, ventilated indoor space
- Record signal readings as baseline
through branches is a link that changes with the weather and the season. 2. Enough clearance around the direct line. The path needs room, not just an unobstructed straight line. A parapet or a roof ridge just below the line will still degrade it. 3. A mounting point that does not move. Masonry beats a pole. A pole beats a bracket on a gutter. A gutter is not a mounting point. 4. A cable route. Where it enters, how far it runs, and what it passes. 5. Somewhere for the equipment inside. Powered, ventilated, and reachable without a ladder.
Record the signal strength and signal-to-noise readings taken during the survey and keep them. They are the baseline you will compare against in eighteen months when somebody says the link has got worse, and they belong with the rest of the install notes that our guide to setup and troubleshooting keeps.
Mounting, cable and grounding
| Item | Do this | Because |
|---|---|---|
| Mount | Fix to structure, not to trim or guttering | Movement in wind shows up as a variable link |
| Alignment | Tighten in stages, checking the reading, then lock every bolt | An antenna that drifts a degree loses more than you expect |
| Cable | Outdoor-rated, with a drip loop before entry | Water runs down a cable and into the wall |
| Entry | Sealed, sloping outward | This is the repair that costs more than the link |
| Grounding | Bonded per local electrical practice, by someone competent | An antenna on a roof is a lightning consideration |
| Power | Fed from the switch over the same cable where supported, on a battery | The link is useless if the equipment inside is dark |
Grounding follows a written standard, not a habit. In the United States the document that applies is the National Electrical Code, and Article 810 is the part that covers antenna and radio equipment, including the grounding conductor and the bond to the building's grounding electrode system. The mast is a structure in its own right, and antenna supporting structures and the loads they carry are governed by the TIA-222 standard. The code is adopted and amended locally, so the electrician doing the work is the one who confirms what applies to your building.
Grounding is the item to hand to a qualified electrician rather than to
Mount, cable, grounding
- Mount to structure, not trim or guttering
- Tighten in stages, then lock every bolt
- Outdoor-rated cable with drip loop
- Sealed entry, sloping outward
- Grounding bonded by a competent person
- Power over the same cable, on a battery
What to get in writing before the visit
An install usually means a contract, and the commitments are easier to check before the visit than after it. Ask for these in writing before you book:
- The service tier.The speed you are sold, and whether it is shared with other customers on the same mast.
- The fault path.The number to call when the link drops, and the response time the provider commits to in the contract.
- The term.How long the agreement runs, and what it takes to end it early.
- What the visit covers.Whether the outdoor work, the mount and the electrician are in the quote or added separately.
After it is up, before you sign it off
The installer's tablet showing a good signal is not an acceptance test.
Acceptance test steps
- Measure continuously for a full week
- Include evenings for mast congestion
- Test upload direction separately
- Make real calls if the link carries them
- Note readings during first heavy rain
- Photograph mount, entry and equipment
- Run continuous measurement for a full week, including evenings. Congestion at the mast is a time-of-day effect and will not appear at eleven in the morning.
- Test the upload direction separately. The FCC's consumer guide to broadband and internet is a reasonable reference for what different activities need, and calls and backups live in the direction that is usually narrower.
- Make real calls if the link will carry them. What to listen for is set out in our guide to VoIP systems.
- Note the readings during the first heavy rain. That number is your worst case, and it is worth knowing before you depend on the link.
- Photograph the mount, the entry point and the equipment, and file the photographs with the contract. The next person will not have been there.
What to keep for later
Three records make every future fault shorter: the survey readings, the photographs, and a note of who installed it and what they covered. Without them, every fault begins with an argument about whether anything has changed.
The preparedness guidance on power outages from Ready.gov is a plain checklist for the part of this that no antenna solves.
The antenna and the cable are only half the job. What the finished connection has to deliver, and how to judge whether it does, is the subject of our guide to business internet.
Common questions
Can we install it ourselves?
The indoor half, often. The roof, the mount and the grounding are work for someone insured to do it, and most providers require their own installer for the outdoor half anyway.
Does the antenna need to point at the nearest mast?
At the best one, which is not always the nearest. The installer's alignment tool decides this, and it is worth asking which site you are on and whether there is an alternative.
Will trees be a problem?
Wet leaves absorb these frequencies. A link that grazes a treeline in winter can be noticeably worse in summer, and the tree keeps growing.
How long does an install take?
Half a day if the survey was honest. A survey that skipped the roof is how a half-day becomes two visits.
