1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,900
In this lesson,

2
00:00:00,900 --> 00:00:03,120
we're going to talk about microwave connections,

3
00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:04,140
we'll not talk about the kind

4
00:00:04,140 --> 00:00:06,360
that you reheat your frozen burrito with.

5
00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:08,490
Instead, we're talking about microwave links.

6
00:00:08,490 --> 00:00:10,500
And a microwave link is a communication system

7
00:00:10,500 --> 00:00:12,210
that uses a beam of radio waves

8
00:00:12,210 --> 00:00:13,860
in the microwave frequency band

9
00:00:13,860 --> 00:00:17,100
to transmit information between two fixed locations.

10
00:00:17,100 --> 00:00:19,170
When we're talking about the microwave frequency range,

11
00:00:19,170 --> 00:00:20,520
we're really talking about frequencies

12
00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,730
in the range of 300 megahertz to 300 gigahertz,

13
00:00:23,730 --> 00:00:26,730
which includes the UHF or ultra high frequency range,

14
00:00:26,730 --> 00:00:28,980
SHF or super high frequency range,

15
00:00:28,980 --> 00:00:32,070
and EHF, the extremely high frequency range.

16
00:00:32,070 --> 00:00:33,390
Now, there are lots of places

17
00:00:33,390 --> 00:00:35,820
that are going to use microwaves for their connections.

18
00:00:35,820 --> 00:00:37,800
It's quite popular for large college campuses,

19
00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:39,900
for example, to connect portions of their network

20
00:00:39,900 --> 00:00:41,730
over microwave antennas located

21
00:00:41,730 --> 00:00:43,110
on the top of their buildings,

22
00:00:43,110 --> 00:00:45,720
but some small businesses can use these, too.

23
00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:48,300
In fact, when I had my office down in Puerto Rico,

24
00:00:48,300 --> 00:00:51,120
we used our main internet connection as a microwave link

25
00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,130
between the antenna on our roof of our building

26
00:00:53,130 --> 00:00:55,380
and the roof of the hospital in our city.

27
00:00:55,380 --> 00:00:56,970
Our connection would reach the antenna

28
00:00:56,970 --> 00:00:58,890
at the top of the hospital and it was combined

29
00:00:58,890 --> 00:01:00,750
with other businesses from around our city

30
00:01:00,750 --> 00:01:01,980
who had a similar setup,

31
00:01:01,980 --> 00:01:03,750
and then it would be sent across the island

32
00:01:03,750 --> 00:01:05,129
to our internet service provider,

33
00:01:05,129 --> 00:01:07,020
using their fiber connection.

34
00:01:07,020 --> 00:01:09,060
Using the microwave link, we could get speeds

35
00:01:09,060 --> 00:01:11,310
of up to one gigabit per second to our offices,

36
00:01:11,310 --> 00:01:13,260
depending on how much we wanted to pay per month

37
00:01:13,260 --> 00:01:15,150
to our internet service provider.

38
00:01:15,150 --> 00:01:17,760
As you can see, microwaves can provide you with a very,

39
00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:19,380
very fast connection point,

40
00:01:19,380 --> 00:01:21,780
using point-to-point connections between two places,

41
00:01:21,780 --> 00:01:23,580
but they are limited to what they can see

42
00:01:23,580 --> 00:01:25,860
using a line of sight connection.

43
00:01:25,860 --> 00:01:27,720
So when they talk about line of sight,

44
00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:29,820
these are the two antennas have to point at each other

45
00:01:29,820 --> 00:01:31,470
and they have to be able to see each other.

46
00:01:31,470 --> 00:01:32,880
Because of this visual horizon

47
00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:34,410
and the curvature of the earth though,

48
00:01:34,410 --> 00:01:36,750
this normally means you're going to have a distance limitation

49
00:01:36,750 --> 00:01:39,750
of around 40 miles or 64 kilometers.

50
00:01:39,750 --> 00:01:41,070
And this is the exact reason

51
00:01:41,070 --> 00:01:43,830
why our internet service provider leased an antenna space

52
00:01:43,830 --> 00:01:45,750
on the top of the hospital in our town

53
00:01:45,750 --> 00:01:47,700
to place the receiving antenna.

54
00:01:47,700 --> 00:01:50,010
That hospital was actually on the top of a hill

55
00:01:50,010 --> 00:01:51,750
and it was one of the tallest buildings around,

56
00:01:51,750 --> 00:01:54,300
so most of the buildings in our city could get a direct line

57
00:01:54,300 --> 00:01:56,010
of sight to the top of the hospital

58
00:01:56,010 --> 00:01:58,410
if they were within about 20 to 30 miles of it,

59
00:01:58,410 --> 00:02:01,380
and this made it an ideal place to install their antenna.

60
00:02:01,380 --> 00:02:03,060
Now this allowed the internet service provider

61
00:02:03,060 --> 00:02:05,580
to pay for one fiber connection from the hospital

62
00:02:05,580 --> 00:02:07,830
and connect all their microwave customers back

63
00:02:07,830 --> 00:02:09,360
to the high speed fiber connection

64
00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:10,949
to get them out to the internet.

65
00:02:10,949 --> 00:02:11,850
And that's really the benefit

66
00:02:11,850 --> 00:02:14,580
of using one of these microwave point-to-point connections.

67
00:02:14,580 --> 00:02:16,680
Now, when microwave connections were first being sold

68
00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:19,800
to consumers, they marketed under the name WiMAX,

69
00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,460
but really it's under the standard IEEE 802.16

70
00:02:23,460 --> 00:02:25,020
when you're dealing with microwave access,

71
00:02:25,020 --> 00:02:28,690
instead of the Wi-Fi standard of 802.11.

72
00:02:28,690 --> 00:02:30,510
WiMAX was just an abbreviation

73
00:02:30,510 --> 00:02:33,870
for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access.

74
00:02:33,870 --> 00:02:36,870
Microwave is a good alternative for cellular and DSL service

75
00:02:36,870 --> 00:02:38,730
because it does provide faster speeds,

76
00:02:38,730 --> 00:02:41,580
but it is more expensive than just getting a cable modem

77
00:02:41,580 --> 00:02:43,770
from your local internet service provider.

78
00:02:43,770 --> 00:02:46,170
Also, microwave access does require an antenna

79
00:02:46,170 --> 00:02:48,690
to be installed on your roof of your home or office.

80
00:02:48,690 --> 00:02:51,690
This usually requires a professional to install it for you.

81
00:02:51,690 --> 00:02:53,160
Microwave connections are considered

82
00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:55,230
to be a wireless fixed location service

83
00:02:55,230 --> 00:02:57,090
because you're going to have to have a larger antenna

84
00:02:57,090 --> 00:02:59,820
and a larger radio to pick up that signal properly

85
00:02:59,820 --> 00:03:01,920
than you would using just a cellular modem.

86
00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:03,990
WiMAX was popular for a very long time

87
00:03:03,990 --> 00:03:05,880
because of its high speeds in comparison

88
00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:09,540
to other wireless technologies like cellular and satellite.

89
00:03:09,540 --> 00:03:12,630
But with the introduction of 4G and 5G cellular,

90
00:03:12,630 --> 00:03:14,970
WiMAX does tend to be in the same range,

91
00:03:14,970 --> 00:03:17,340
but the cellular modems are much easier to install

92
00:03:17,340 --> 00:03:18,570
because they don't require mounting

93
00:03:18,570 --> 00:03:20,070
of special antennas on your roof,

94
00:03:20,070 --> 00:03:22,860
and they can be moved from location to location easier.

95
00:03:22,860 --> 00:03:25,140
For this reason, WiMAX and Microwave

96
00:03:25,140 --> 00:03:26,790
is beginning to lose a lot of popularity

97
00:03:26,790 --> 00:03:28,770
as a direct to consumer internet service,

98
00:03:28,770 --> 00:03:30,510
but you may still see it used a lot

99
00:03:30,510 --> 00:03:33,390
for internal WAN connections such as in business parks

100
00:03:33,390 --> 00:03:34,500
or college campuses

101
00:03:34,500 --> 00:03:37,020
where you can't run fibers easily between two buildings.

102
00:03:37,020 --> 00:03:38,880
So it is still something you should be aware of

103
00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:41,230
and be able to work on as a network technician.