The airFiber line has come a long way since the first incarnation back in 2012, now expanding beyond 24GHz with 11GHz, 60GHz, 5GHz, 2GHz, 4GHz, 3GHz and more. However, with the complication of different frequencies comes a multitude of minimum and maximum distances that these devices can work at.

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Distance recommendations

• airFiber 5 and 5U – Minimum distance: 10 metres; Maximum distance: 100km
• airFiber 2X, 3X, 4X and 5X – Minimum distance: 25 metres; Maximum distance: 200km
• airFiber 24 and 24HD – Minimum distance: 25 metres; Maximum distance: AF24 - 13km / AF24HD - 20km
• airFiber 11 – Minimum distance: 25 metres; Maximum distance: 300km
• airFiber 60LR – Minimum distance: None provided; Maximum distance: 12km
• airFiber 60XR – Minimum distance: None provided; Maximum distance: 15km
• airFiber 60XG – Minimum distance: None provided; Maximum distance: 4km
• airFiber 60HD – Minimum distance: None provided; Maximum distance: 2km

Rain fade considerations

While the above maximum distances look good on a spec sheet, in the real world some of these are only achievable in lab conditions. For example, in UK weather the airFiber 24HD as a real world range of 8km without dropping the link completely.

The lower the frequency the less rain fade you'll experience.

Rain fade predictions at 24GHz

• 1 km – 1.25 mm/hr: 0.2 dB; 5 mm/hr: 0.7 dB; 25 mm/hr: 4 dB
• 2 km – 1.25 mm/hr: 0.4 dB; 5 mm/hr: 1.4 dB; 25 mm/hr: 8 dB
• 3 km – 1.25 mm/hr: 0.6 dB; 5 mm/hr: 2.1 dB; 25 mm/hr: 12 dB
• 4 km – 1.25 mm/hr: 0.8 dB; 5 mm/hr: 2.8 dB; 25 mm/hr: 16 dB
• 5 km – 1.25 mm/hr: 1 dB; 5 mm/hr: 3.5 dB; 25 mm/hr: 20 dB