Unifi Building Bridge XG - 6Gbps wireless link!

[@ciaranfarley]

You need thicker mounting poles. That shimmeying is likely the cause of the slow speed. I had wave radios on 3/4 conduit with really bad speeds then i swapped it to 2in eliminating the shimmeying and instantly got a major speed upgrade

[@LarsKlintTech]

Yes, I absolutely do. That is good advice. Thanks mate.

[@PhillHills]

Lars, you need to find the left most and right most points where the lights are all green and then centre the antenna in the middle of both extremes, then do this again for the up/down alinement. then go to the other end and repeat the process there too. Most point to point systems at this 60GHz band will have a few degrees angle where the link will work but you need to be in the middle at both ends. You can think of the antennas like flashlight / torches pointed at each other and you looking for the maximum light coming from the other end to have the strongest signal and therefore the optimum bandwidth. Let me know how you get on, and, Happy New Year buddy !!!

[@Manc-king]

or make a bracket to stick on it to hold a laser that you can point centre to centre just a just a thought. in a mark im going to be fitting a few that cover over a few miles ive been wondering about the alignment part

[@andrewr886]

@@PhillHills nailed it in one. He is quite possibly be on a side lobe too dependent on how wide the beam is from the antennas. The method you describe is how real microwave links are aligned (it’s fun doing it with a 3.0m dish !!)

[@LarsKlintTech]

Thank you so much Phil for the help. I will spend some more time aligning the points using that approach (someone else suggested that too). The 5Ghz is a lot more forgiving for alignment too, so I am learning 😁

[@SeijinSA]

^ This, so much this.

[@spinneraz]

Hope you get that problem fixed. And big thank you for all those vid you have done so far and will be doing in future.

[@LarsKlintTech]

Thanks mate, that is very kind. Yes, I will keep at it until it is fixed. I need ALL THE SPEEDS 😂

[@staticfade08]

Happy New Years Lars. Here is to 50k and beyond. 🎉

[@LarsKlintTech]

Happy New Year to you too my friend. Thanks for the support 😊

[@jcnash02]

Lars, you also have to consider phase. These radios are polarized, so they have to be level (rotationally). For the speed test, you can get iPerf, which is an open source project and measure between devices on your network.

[@LarsKlintTech]

I don't think phase is the issue, as you can't mount the devices wrong. Once the click into place they are in the right position on the mount. I will check out iPerf too. Thanks.

[@EsotericArctos]

Phasing can be reasonably important, but all sorts of other things can influence these systems and the speed, even down to temperature of the day and humidity once you get to these sort of frequencies and speeds. If it does turn out to be phasing, it could be a case of one pole not being quite straight, or just the mounting bracket being slightly off plane. This can be a bit tricky. 60GHz can be a little finnicky, but with the short distance you are travelling and your link showing 100% shows that the phasing is okay...... Sounds like it's real world vs ideal theoretical speed. I doubt POE+ is the issue, but maybe a couple of 60Watt PoE Adapters from Ubiquiti would be worth a try. I'd also try manually setting the channel and see if that works better.

[@DozIT]

Not certain but I think UI’s PoE injectors double as surge suppression, even if you don’t need them they may be worth using in your setup.

[@LarsKlintTech]

That is interesting if true. I wasn't aware of that. In this case, the PoE injectors seems to be underpowered as well 🤔

[@LuftdroneDk]

Happy New Year from cold, rainy and windy Denmark :) These XG´s look really nice and I might consider a set like that to help out a local school to transfer their network between a few locations as they cant really dig a cable down between these. I have used the old NanoBeam type before on another site with full 655mps across 200m so I am a fan of these Bridging antennas from UI :)

[@LarsKlintTech]

I am a big fan of the wireless links as well. I still use a NanoStation pair as well, which connects through lots of trees over 80 meters with no issues. I get about 400mbps on that link still. Happy new year from hot, dry, sunny Victoria 🥳

[@badler050]

Enjoy your videos. Pretty sure your speed is limited by your alignment and or other circumstances (weather, other signals). Would love to know how these handle large amounts of data sustained going both directions. How's the throughput?

[@LarsKlintTech]

Yes, many comments suggest it is the alignment, even though the tool says it is aligned. The throughput seems solid, and I have a instant smooth connection to both the NAS and NVR in the office. I will do more testing once I get the rest of the gear set up too.

[@kenpauley9044]

I have the regular UBB. Increasing the channel width as you did is important. I moved mine off Auto though. I can’t recall if that was significant or not, but simple to try.

[@LarsKlintTech]

Thanks for the feedback. I can't move them off Auto on the 4320 width unfortunately.

[@simonhall886]

Darn, I was waiting for a sneaker file transfer montage with a Yakkity Sax backed montage..... 😁. Others might disagree, but I have seen this with domestic antenna installs, where they loop the cables after the exit of the device or balun and zip tie to the post. I assume this is to create a drip point for moisture to drip off rather than it travel down the cable down to the entry point potentially causing a water ingress problem, this should also help with strain relief. I am not a certified cable, just my observations

[@LarsKlintTech]

Yes, I do drip loops too, just didn't film it in this case. I am also getting some split sleeve conduit to wrap around them for extra protection.

[@JasonsLabVideos]

Good video, nice to see this setup and working ! Why did you connect them with a dac cable and not a transceiver and some fiber ?

[@LarsKlintTech]

Thanks Jason. I am using a fiber cable either end.

[@JasonsLabVideos]

@@LarsKlintTech i see a DAC cable. @ 7:19

[@LarsKlintTech]

@@JasonsLabVideos Oh right. It isn't copper, but a fiber cable though. As I mention at 1:00 it is a lot more work, money, time, mess, equipment needed than just using a wireless link.

[@storyinmemo]

That looks like you could put direct burial fiber in with just an edger which is what I've done for a 400 foot run. I'm really confused why you say digging would cost more.

[@LarsKlintTech]

I would have to dig through established garden, dig through old pipes and old undocumented electrical runs and water pipes, up hills, go under buildings, install connections either end, and then still run the cable. That would be a LOT more time, mess and money than simply attaching a wireless link. There is nothing "just" about digging.

[@farmersllamas6619]

Exactly, this would guarantee a consistent higher speed.

[@jrr851]

I would get some UV resistant conduit and run your fiber in it. That indoor fiber won't last more than a year in the Aussie sun.

[@LarsKlintTech]

Oh, absolutely. That is the immediate plan but couldn't get it (out of stock) in time for the video. Thanks for the tip.

[@tselectricandnetworking3614]

Check alignment with a Lazer. Also try different channels.

[@LarsKlintTech]

For the 4320Mhz channel width you can only choose "auto" so there are no different channels to try unfortunately. A laser is not a bad idea, I would need to build some sort of mount to make sure it is dead center though.

[@tselectricandnetworking3614]

@@LarsKlintTech I have had great success with just eyeballing the laser on the front of the PtP. I have used double sided tape, and placed it on the center of the device, then use a Bore sight laser, they have a nice flat surface that sticks to the tape. this allows you to place the red or green dot right on target.

[@LarsKlintTech]

@@tselectricandnetworking3614 Very nice. I am thinking something similar to get it right. Thanks for sharing.

[@jrr851]

iPerf or OpenSpeedTest. I run openspeedtest on a docker container on my Asus NAS.

[@LarsKlintTech]

I’ll give that a go. Thanks!

[@MatsAkerberg]

Informative video and I will certainly enjoy 2025 looking at your videos.

[@LarsKlintTech]

Thanks Mats. Appreciate the support as always 😊

[@MrCorSmit]

Hi Lars, project time tech has a video regarding alignment this unifi kit, please have a look at that, love the vids, thk you, happy new year

[@LarsKlintTech]

Awesome, I haven't come across that. Will check that out. Thanks mate and Happy New Year 🥳 Edit: I think I found his video, but that is an airFiber setup, which is UISP, so the alignment tool is different.

[@austinhamby8699]

Love your content!!!

[@LarsKlintTech]

Thanks mate. I appreciate the support 😊

[@justinknash]

Wouldn't using cat6 or cat6a be just fine without running the fiber cables? Just get SFP+ to RJ45 adapters.

[@LarsKlintTech]

I _think_ so, but not sure. I wanted to make sure at least, and am upgrading a bunch of things to fiber/SFP as well. Thanks for the input.

[@darrickrw]

Catching the edge of the tree? At the end of the video it looks like it is pointing at the little trees just off the roof

[@LarsKlintTech]

Fair call, but I think the angle of the shot is making it look like that. It is way off that pear tree (I've cut it back multiple times). Thanks for the feedback.

[@gingerbadger]

You’ll probably find the wobbly pole you have it attached to isn’t helping at all. Brace it as they tune themselves to be stable once lined up. Also, looking at the closing shots there’s a bush in front of it?

[@LarsKlintTech]

Thanks mate. I do know the poles aren't ideal. I have some plans of changing them too. They do self-tune? The bush (pear tree) is way off. The angle is misleading.

[@gingerbadger]

@ as in once they’re linked they then work out how stable it is and start increasing the bandwidth. The wobbly poles will stop that balancing from happening.

[@LarsKlintTech]

@@gingerbadger Oh, right. Hmm, I don't think they wobble very much when I am not working on them but point taken.

[@johnabriggs6044]

In my experience doing Microwave point-to-point transmitters with the telephone company, we always tried to walk the box as what is known as taking the dishes taking each end one at a time and looking at the best less negative signal strength. what are the readings of the signal level . The leds are nice to get you close but know that the better the signal level the higher the throughput on your bridges. do not know if their app gives you that choice hopefully, UI will share more info to get you there to 6 mbps

[@LarsKlintTech]

Good advise. The issue I have is that I don't have a dBm readout for the UBB XG. All I have is the LED alignment indicator, so I can't fine tune it easily. I will continue to "walk the box" as you say. Thanks for the feedback mate.

[@johnabriggs6044]

@@LarsKlintTech the best I can tell you may have to use the brightness of the lED and look at there fade and look to center between the up and down left and right first at one end then the other a few time till you see a better thru put on your data scales.

[@johnfranks]

If you want the highest performance, consistency and reliability, fiber is it. Microwave will always be a compromise. At 60Ghz, your setup has to be rock solid, clear line of site, and properly aimed. If you haven't made half a dozen trips up and down the ladder aiming watching RSSI, you can't expect perfect results. You don't have to dig under the buildings, around also works. A trenching spade is a relatively low effort, low impact method to get fiber in the ground.

[@LarsKlintTech]

I have done a fair few trips up the roof, but obviously not enough 😂 You are welcome to come and dig with a space as well. Clay and rock makes Lars a sad boy.

[@matttaylor8390]

@@johnfranks I agree totally, after mucking around with wifi meshes and then point to pint links, I put my big boy pants on and dug a trench to the shed from the house. It was a hard weekends work as I have basalt at around 200mm, but I have 2 conduits in there, one is free and the other has a underground cat6, Multi mode fibre and coax for tv. I have never regretted it and have a rock solid connection (fiber) with a redundant link (cat 6). I convinced myself it’s sometimes easier to just do the hard work than what it is to cobble together solutions that never really hit the mark. Just some food for thought.

[@tomaszmilos]

I probably set chanel to manual value and test transfer speads - on may location seting auto chanel is like lotery game with wi-fi speads and stability

[@LarsKlintTech]

To get the wide channel of 4320Mhz you have to set it to Auto, so there is no choice.

[@VW_Fan]

The prize for the most oversized bolts of the week goes to...

[@LarsKlintTech]

Hahaha, yeah, they aren't falling off any time soon 😂

[@DJ369-Miami]

The wobbley Pole is not helping that’s for sure.

[@LarsKlintTech]

No, probably not. Although, when it isn't wobbling (i.e. I am not touching it), there should be perfect connection.

[@roberto3815]

You have a tree in the way for best connection you need clear line of site.

[@LarsKlintTech]

Nope, the line of sight is clear. The camera angle makes it look like there is a tree.

[@Matti804]

Hi lars nice video but my g3 flex isnt still runing😢

[@LarsKlintTech]

That sucks, but how does that relate to the UBB XG?

[@MaceMacAte1818]

Could be a tree line.

[@LarsKlintTech]

I don't think so. There are no trees in the path, even though the angle at the end looks like it.

[@a9503128]

Dig baby dig 😂 Farm without a Kubota is un Australian Thinking about your speed, upgrade those polls or remove the wobble in the wind, at 60Ghz vs say 5Ghz bridge the analogy I’d use is you’re moving from a torchlight to a laser beam thus the alignment is critical and thus while the led lights and beam forming helps its db loss that matters

[@LarsKlintTech]

😂😂😂 I'd love a Kubota, which will arrive eventually. I am not digging here though. Not worth it. That is really good analogy. Unfortunately, I don't have a db readout for this device. Looks like a lot of trial and error still to go.

[@opless]

@@LarsKlintTech does the mains feed to the office go to the house? If it's in conduit and you have draw strings - you could possibly throw fibre down assuming it's still within code (in your country)

[@a9503128]

@@LarsKlintTech fun > feasible. Don’t worry about feasible it’s a farm toy, it’s fun.

[@LarsKlintTech]

@@a9503128 Still need somewhere to store it, maintain it etc.

[@LarsKlintTech]

@@opless No it doesn't unfortunately and there isn't. It was done 40+ years ago and there are no drawings or anything.

[@ArnoSchmidt70]

Those things are so damn expensive! I'll never understand Unifis calculation on some items.

[@LarsKlintTech]

It's a hell of a lot cheaper than digging and running cable and connecting and drilling holes. You can get the non-XG version too, which is a lot cheaper.

[@flu1mio]

Still no outdoor rated cable 😂😂

[@LarsKlintTech]

@@flu1mio there's is wrap around conduit coming soon. It was out of stock, so didn't make it in this video 😊

[@techhead10000]

Funny, I install outdoor wire for my customers but at my house I used blue in wall rated riser wires. Still working after 3 years. They crack apart if I touch them, especially where they are exposed to the sun. Big reconfigure coming my way.

[@jcnash02]

@@techhead10000my biggest concern is the ingress of water. I went to a client site a few years ago for a malfunctioning outdoor device we hadn’t installed. Previous company used indoor cable outside. I found 2 things, first that the water that wicked it’s way thru the cable stank really bad and was unpleasant on my face (when I unplugged the device it sprayed me), and second that the port on the switch had been literally fried because they didn’t use a patch panel or outdoor cable, so the cable was a continuous pipe carrying water directly to the switch port.

[@LarsKlintTech]

@@techhead10000 I have used it in a few places too where I didn't have outdoor rated cables, and some have been working for years. At least I know when something breaks what the culprit is 😁

[@LarsKlintTech]

@@jcnash02 Fair point. I generally use outdoor rated cables too, and in this case conduit is coming as I can't easily replace the cables.

[@DozIT]

A few years ago I installed the UBB (non XG) over a 60m distance. I was able to shoot a laser from one building to the other, got 100% link on first try without the alignment tool. I did have to shoot the laser and mark the building at night, but if the setup permits I’d do it again. It’s been rock solid since install!

[@LarsKlintTech]

Very nice. Thanks for the tip. I got 100% link quality too in the first try according to the device info, but doesn't seem to be the case. I might see if I can (legally) get a laser.

[@EsotericArctos]

Ubiquiti have always been good with quality of packaging, though I preferred the slightly more glossy white retail packaging over the more plain cardboard. Though I do like the way the writing on the box is parially embossed, you can feel it when you run your fingers over the box, which is pretty nice. Are there any trees in the line of site between the two locations? Not sure from the video if the trees are in the way. Trees will definitely cause an issue at 60GHz. Maybe manually set channel as well. The 100% link quality indicates alignment and phase should be close enough. It could also fluctuate enough to reduce the speed with the movement in the pole in the breeze. You may need more secure guy wires to support the pole better at 60GHz. It is a bit more finnicky at that frequency than 5GHz

[@LarsKlintTech]

No trees in the way, you can't manually set the channel on 4320Mhz, and phase should be fine, as they lock into position. The poles are the main issue apart from aiming the devices correctly.

[@EsotericArctos]

@@LarsKlintTech Sounds like you have got it pretty well as good as you can get as far as physical install. Might be other factors externally or maybe switching factors affecting it. Might have to leave this to the experts at Ubiquiti :)

[@WonPXL]

I wish Unifi wasn’t so sexy. It’s costing me a fortune.

[@LarsKlintTech]

Sorry. Not sorry 😛

[@markturner7748]

For a local speed test, you could run Open Speed Test… hub.docker.com/r/openspeedtest/latest

[@opless]

or use iperf3 ;-)

[@LarsKlintTech]

Would that work from a specific IP/device to another though?

[@opless]

@@LarsKlintTech either would work between two pcs openspeed test would need docker one end and a web browser the other. Copying via SMB is slower because SMB is slow (according to Linus tech tips)

[@jakeharvey05]

Ohhh

[@Camhin1]

Your music so loud compared to your voice. It gave me jump scare.