Package Contents

Antenna Compatibility

The airFiber AF-3X radio is designed for use with the following airFiber X antenna model:

• AF-3G26-S45

The AF-3X can also operate with the following RocketDish™ antenna model:

• RD-3G26 (requires Universal Bracket)

Installation Requirements

• Clear line of sight between airFiber radios
• Clear view of the sky for proper GPS operation
• Vertical mounting orientation
• Mounting point:
  • At least 1 m below the highest point on the structure
  • For tower installations, at least 3 m below the top of the tower
• Ground wires – min. 10 AWG (5 mm2) and max. length: 1 m. As a safety precaution, ground the airFiber radio to grounded masts, poles, towers, or grounding bars.

	WARNING: Failure to properly ground your airFiber radio will void your warranty.

• (Recommended) 2 Outdoor Gigabit PoE surge protectors

	Note: For guidelines about grounding and lightning protection, follow your local electrical regulatory codes.

• Outdoor, shielded Category 6 (or above) cabling and shielded RJ-45 connectors are required for all wired Ethernet connections.

Hardware Overview

airFiber Antenna Connectors
Used to attach RF antenna cables (not included).
GPS Antenna Connector
Used to attach the GPS Antenna.
Signal LEDs
Signal 4 LED will light blue when on. Signal 3 LED will light green when on. Signal 2 LED will light yellow when on. Signal 1 LED will light red when on. Bootup to airOS When powering on, the Power, GPS, LINK, and Signal 1-4 LEDs light on. Once the CPU code takes over, the GPS, LINK, and Signal 1-3 LEDs turn off. Signal 4 LED remains on to indicate the boot sequence is underway. Initializing airFiber Software When the airFiber application begins to boot under airOS, the Signal 4 LED goes from solidly on to a 2.5 Hz flash. This continues until the device is fully booted. Signal Level Once fully booted, the Signal 1-4 LEDs act as a bar graph showing how close the device is to ideal aiming. This is auto-scaled based on the link range, the antenna gains, and the configured TX power of the remote device. Each Signal LED has three possible states: On, Flashing, and Off. All Signal LEDs would be solidly on in an ideal link. If the link has a 1 dB loss, the Signal 4 LED will flash; a 2 dB loss and the Signal 4 LED will turn off. The full bar graph LED states are shown below. dB loss 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 -10 -11 -12 -13
Link LED
Off	RF Off
	Syncing
	Beaconing
	Registering
On	Operational
GPS LED
Off	No GPS Synchronization
	Non-Operational (Weak Signal)
On	Operational (Strong Signal)
MGMT LED
Off	No Ethernet Link
On	Ethernet Link Established
Random Flash	Ethernet Activity
Data LED
Off	No Ethernet Link
On	Ethernet Link Established
Random Flash	Ethernet Activity
Power LED
Off	No Power
On	Powered On
Management Port
Management Port 10/100 Mbps, secured Ethernet port for configuration. In-Band Management is enabled by default in the airFiber Configuration Interface. When In-Band Management is disabled, the MGMT port is the only port that can monitor, configure, and/or update firmware.
Reset Button
To reset to factory defaults, press and hold the Reset button for more than 10 seconds while the device is already powered on.
Data Port
Gigabit PoE port for handling all user traffic and powering the device.

Installation Overview

We recommend that you configure your paired AF-3X radios before site installation. The overview below summarizes the installation procedure, and the subsequent sections provide detailed installation information.

• Connect the airFiber PoE Adapter to the DATA port, and connect your computer to the MGMT port.
• Configure the radio.
• Install a ground wire and mount the radio on an airFiber X or RocketDish antenna.
• At the installation site, install the airFiber X or RocketDish antenna with the mounted radio (see the antenna’s Quick Start Guide for installation instructions).
• Secure the ground wire and mount the GPS antenna.
• Establish and optimize the RF link.

Connecting Power over Ethernet

1. 

2. 

3. 

	WARNING: Use only the included adapter, model POE-24-AF5X. Failure to do so can damage the unit and void the product warranty.

airFiber Configuration

Use the airFiber Configuration Interface to configure the following settings:

• Wireless Mode Configure one radio as the Master and the other as the Slave.
• Frequency This must be the same on both Master and Slave.

  1. 

  2. Configure the Ethernet adapter on your computer with a static IP address on the 192.168.1.x subnet.
  3. Launch your web browser. Type http://192.168.1.20 in the address field and press enter (PC) or return (Mac).

     

  4. Enter ubnt in the Username and Password fields. Select your Country and Language. You must agree to the Terms of Use to use the product. Click Login.

  	Note: U.S. product versions are locked to the U.S. Country Code to ensure compliance with FCC regulations.

  5. Go to Settings . Click the Wireless tab.
  6. Configure the Basic Wireless Settings:
     1. For one radio, select Master as the Wireless Mode. For the other radio, keep the default, Slave.
     2. Enter a name in the Link Name field. This should be the same on both the Master and the Slave.
     3. If needed, change the Channel Bandwidth, (Master) Duty Cycle, Output Power and/or Maximum Modulation Rate.
  7. Configure the Frequency setting. The selected Frequency must be the same on both airFiber radios.
  8. Configure the Wireless Security:
     1. Select the AES Key Type, HEX or ASCII.
     2. For the Key field:
        • HEX Enter 16 bytes (eight, 16-bit HEX values: 0-9, A-F, or a-f). You can omit zeroes and use colons, similar to the IPv6 format.

        	Note: The airFiber Configuration Interface supports IPv6 formats excluding dotted quad and “::” (double-colon) notation.

        • ASCII Enter a combination of alphanumeric characters (0-9, A-Z, or a-z).
  9. Click Save Changes.
  10. In-Band Management is enabled by default, so each radio must have a unique IP Address, or you may lose access to the radios via the DATA ports. Click the Network tab.
      1. For the Management IP Address option:
         • DHCP Keep the default, DHCP, to use DHCP reservation on your router to assign a unique IP address.
         • Static Change the IP Address, Netmask, and other settings to be compatible with your network.
      2. Click Save Changes.

Repeat the instructions in the airFiber Configuration section on the other radio.

For details on the airFiber Configuration Interface, refer to the airFiber X User Guide, available at: ui.com/download/airfiber

Hardware Installation

Install a Ground Wire

1. 

2. 

3. At the installation site, secure the other end of the ground wire to a grounded mast, pole, tower, or grounding bar.

	WARNING: Failure to properly ground your airFiber radio will void your warranty.

	Note: The ground wire should be as short as possible and no longer than one meter in length.

Mount to the airFiber X Antenna

The airFiber X antenna AF-3G26-S45 is shown in this section:

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

Mount to a RocketDish Antenna

The RocketDish RD-3G26 antenna is shown in this section:

1. 

2. 

Mount the External GPS Antenna

Locate a mounting point that has a clear view to the sky, and is above and as far away as possible from the radio.

1.  



OR



2. 

3. 

Connecting Power over Ethernet

1. 

2. 

3. 

	WARNING: Use only the included adapter, model POE-24-AF5X. Failure to do so can damage the unit and void the product warranty.

Surge Protection

For added protection, install two surge suppressors, such as the Ubiquiti Ethernet Surge Protector, model ETH-SP-G2, at the end of each link. Install the first surge protector within one meter of the airFiber DATA port, and install the second surge protector at the ingress point of the location housing the wired network equipment.

Alignment

Tips

• To accurately align the airFiber radios for best performance, you MUST align only one end of the link at a time.
• You may need to use additional hardware to compensate for issues such as the improper orientation of a mounting pole or significant elevation differences between airFiber radios.

Establishing a Link

Adjust the positions of the Master and the Slave to establish a link.

	Note: The Master must be aimed first at the Slave because the Slave does not transmit any RF signal until it detects transmissions from the Master.

1. Master Visually aim the Master at the Slave. To adjust the Master’s position:
   1. Rotate the antenna while it is supported by the stabilizer brackets to align the azimuth.
   2. Tighten or loosen the nuts on the elevation rod to adjust the elevation.
   3. Tighten all bolts and nuts to approximately 50 N • m.



	Note: Do NOT make simultaneous adjustments on the Master and Slave.

2. Slave Visually aim the Slave at the Master. To adjust the Slave’s position:
   1. Rotate the antenna while it is supported by the stabilizer brackets to align the azimuth.
   2. Tighten or loosen the nuts on the elevation rod to adjust the elevation.
   3. Tighten all bolts and nuts to approximately 50 N-m.
3. Check to see if a link is established. Ensure that the LINK LED is solidly lit green and the Signal LEDs of the Slave are displaying signal levels.

   

4. Slave Aim the Slave at the Master to achieve the strongest signal level on the Master.

	Note: Refer to the Signal LEDs section for details on the signal values.

	Note: Maximum signal strength can best be achieved by iteratively sweeping through both azimuth and elevation.

5. Master Aim the Master at the Slave to achieve the strongest signal level on the Slave.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you achieve an optimal link, with all four Signal LEDs solidly lit. This ensures the best possible data rate between the airFiber radios.
7. Lock the alignment on both airFiber antennas by tightening all the nuts and bolts.
8. Observe the Signal LEDs of each airFiber radio to ensure that the values remain constant while tightening the nuts and bolts. If any LED value changes during the locking process, loosen the nuts and bolts, finalize the alignment of each airFiber antenna again, and retighten the nuts and bolts.

Installer Compliance Responsibility

Devices must be professionally installed and it is the professional installer’s responsibility to make sure the device is operated within local country regulatory requirements.

The Output Power, Antenna Gain, Cable Loss, and Frequency fields are provided to the professional installer to assist in meeting regulatory requirements.

Specifications

airFiber AF-3X
Dimensions	224 x 82 x 48 mm (8.82 x 3.23 x 1.89")
Weight	0.35 kg (0.77 lb)
RF Connectors	(2) RP-SMA Weatherproof (CH0, CH1) (1) SMA Weatherproof (GPS)
GPS Antenna	External, Magnetic Base
Power Supply	24V, 1A PoE Gigabit Adapter (Included)
Power Method	Passive Power over Ethernet
Mounting	Rocket Mount Compatible GPS Pole Mount (Included)
Certifications	FCC Part 90 Z CE EN 302 217-2-2
Operating Temperature	-40 to 55° C (-40 to 131° F)
Networking Interface
Data Port	(1) 10/100/1000 Ethernet Port
Management Port	(1) 10/100 Ethernet Port
System
Maximum Throughput	500 Mbps
Encryption	128-bit AES
OS	airOS F
Wireless Modes	Master/Slave
Radio
Operating Frequency	3300-3900 MHz (Depends on Regulatory Region)
Max. Conducted TX Power	29 dBm (Depends on Regulatory Region)
Frequency Accuracy	± 2.5 ppm without GPS Synchronization ± 0.2 ppm with GPS Synchronization
Channel Bandwidth	10/20/30/40/50 MHz Selectable Programmable Uplink and Downlink Duty Cycles