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Looking to see if this is possible. We are looking to see if we can use AirFiber to bridge two locations together. Here is the issue. We have a tree between the two locations. Our first idea is find the tree and see if the owners will take cash to cut it down. If not, here is the “idea” we are wondering about. Can we put an antenna on building 1, point it to an antenna on the water tower, point a second antenna on the water tower to building 2. If possible, what do I need at the water tower to make it work? Do I need a POE switch there to provide power to both antennas or can I do a crossover cable between them? I have attached a quick diagram of what I am contemplating.

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@Ubiquiti_Inc

5 Spice ups
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Mesh is what you want.

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No, the OP is talking about point to point. Not mesh wifi. PtP and mesh are two very different animals.

OP - what you are talking about will work fine, if you have proper line of sight from A to B and from B to C. I’ve done this exact thing very successfully with Ubiquiti point to point radios. At site B, where the two radios connect directly to each other, first, be sure not to have them too close to each other. In the Ubiquiti world, 10 feet minimum spacing is preferred, more is much better, to reduce interference between the two radios. Second, for power, you could definitely do a POE switch. In my case, it was cheaper to use the included POE adapters on each radio and put a short patch cable between them. No switch necessary.

4 Spice ups
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I should mention the distance between building 1 and 2 is approximately 1.5 miles.

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Not a problem, so long as you use radios/models that can handle this distance. Ubiquiti Nanobeam 5AC16 or 5AC19 is a good choice, I think. My distances between A and B and C are more like 3/4 mile, so maybe there’s a better model for your use case.

2 Spice ups
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Currently running our Nanobeam 5AC19 at a 3.4 mile distance and they work great! Running data backups and VOIP over that connection daily. Just be careful with the Airfiber, the beam is very narrow, and aligning them can be very tricky, almost like lining up a laser at that distance. I would use a Ubiquiti Toughswitch at the tower. It will provide POE to both devices, and is more weather tolerant than most devices. Will you be running multiple subnets over the link?

2 Spice ups
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Not running multiple subnets. It actually is a temp thing as we will eventually move everything over to building 2. Just needed connectivity for about 10 people to start. I am seeing if I can get two NanoBeams to do a proof of concept and checking on how much rental is on the water tower from the city.

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Easy setup then, I would just purchase a Toughswitch with it, and move everything to your native VLAN. Just an FYI I am seeing over 60mbps across my link at that distance. I believe I could get more but one end is almost 200ft in the air, so adjusting the alignment is not an option for the faint of heart x)

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At that distance, I’m not sure I would bother if this is a single tree.

Raise the AirFiber units up for a little more elevation, but due to signal spread, a single tree shouldn’t matter much unless it has lots of metal in it.

2 Spice ups
10

Do you own the watertower? If not, “rent” can get pretty costly - and for what the cell companies are willing to pay, it may even be shocking. Plus, you need voltage there…

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Just get a chainsaw

2 Spice ups
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Why are you opting to beam this wireless in the first place? Is there no Internet at the other location? Seems easier just to get some commodity grade Internet at the other side and tunnel back to the other office over a carrier than to do all this. I am assuming that is somehow not an option?

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Called about getting either internet but timeline may dictate I do wifi to get up and running and buy us time to get a fiber WAN link.

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Because one capex purchase and installation is always better than opex forever for a lesser grade service.

Yes OP, you can do this. if the horizontal spread is close enough you could do a PtMP, but hard to say without actually surveying it. Yes, you can hook two radios up to each other. No, you don’t need a crossover cable (auto MDIX).

F that other nonsense, roll those UBNT radios and never look back. I’m dying to do my 26 mile project one of these days, but I have to go to 180’ to beat the curvature to keep the f-zone clear enough. Lot of planning and convincing there.

One tree? If you’re pretty open with not a lot else in the specturm around, turn the heat up a little and see if it works with a pair of Nano AC’s.

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If you’re really ambitious… you can retrofit a pair of old directv dishes with an AC wireless adapter on each end.

I did this with some 802.11N usb wifi adapters and hit a range of 14 miles from my roof to my friend’s place for doing Xbox360 lan gaming with gears of war 2. wasnt the most stable connection at that range, but it did work. I have some New Zealand friends that run their wireless internet over a 6+mile range for every day use because of their house location being away from municipal internet access.