Ubiquiti Networks and the Italian Center for Radio Activities (C.I.S.A.R), an association founded by a group of Italian radio amateur operators, today announced the new world record for a 5 GHz Wi-Fi link achieving a distance of 304km (188.89 miles). The link was established using Ubiquiti’s XtremeRange5 High-Power Carrier Class mini-PCI radio modules and 35dBi 5 GHz parabolic dish antennas. The link extends from Sardinia Island to Central Italy achieving data-rates of about 5Mbps.

What does the link do and why is it important?

It allows ham operators on Sardinia Island to stay in touch with their community on the Italian Peninsula. “At C.I.S.A.R, we have a ’superb’ project,” said Mr. Mirco Paesante of the C.I.S.A.R. “After successfully inter-connecting the whole Italian country with analog FM repeaters, we’d like to realize a new wide-band digital network, to connect all Italian ham radio users to each other and to other services (Echolink, ATV, dstar, etc…) provided by our associations. This link was particularly important, because in the event of an emergency, it will provide communications with authorities for help.”

How did we make it work?

“To make this link possible we chose the Ubiquiti Networks XR5 card because we get the best signal sensitivities and because no other card currently available on the market can achieve same results,” said Paesante. “The alignment of two 35dBi antennas at 304km (188.89 miles) spanning sea and land is a very difficult and complicated technical endeavor, but with the Ubiquiti Networks XR5 this was made simple without the need for additional devices. This saved us a lot of time, expense, and resources.”

The first alignment was made by providing a beacon through a semi-directional antenna (short-backfire 17dBi, 25°V, 25°H) on the Sardinia Island and one of the two 35dBi antennas on Monte Amiata (Amiata Mountain) about 5,220 feet (1,740m) above sea level. Without “Ubiquiti Networks” XR5, we would have to purchase a power amplifier and lose a lot of time aligning the antennas (which has a very narrow lobe).

“We are very excited with C.I.S.A.R.’s achievement and proud to be a part of it. When we set out to design the XR5 radio, our goal was to design the highest performance WLAN radio in the market without compromise,” said Robert J. Pera, President at “Ubiquiti Networks.”