Ubiquiti airFiber AF-5XHD Operating and maintenance instructions

5 GHz Carrier Radio
with LTU Technology
Model: AF-5XHD
DATA
MGMT
GPS
LINK
DATA
MGMT
GPS
LINK

Introduction
Thank you for purchasing the Ubiquiti Networks® airFiber®
AF-5XHD. This Quick Start Guide is designed to guide you
through installation. Warranty terms, safety notices, and
compliance information are in the airFiberAF-5XHD User
Guide, available at: www.ubnt.com/download/airfiber
Package Contents
airFiber AF-5XHD GPS Antenna
Mount
External GPS
Antenna
Metal Strap Cable Ties
(Qty. 2)
Universal Bracket
5 GHz Carrier Radio
with LTU Technology
Model: AF-5XHD
DATA
MGMT
GPS
LINK
DATA
MGMT
GPS
LINK
Gigabit PoE (24V, 1A)
with Mounting Bracket
Power Cord Quick Start Guide
TERMS OF USE: Ubiquiti radio devices must be professionally installed. Shielded Ethernet
cable and earth grounding must be used as conditions of product warranty. TOUGHCable™ is
designed for outdoor installations. It is the professional installer’s responsibility to follow local
country regulations, including operation within legal frequency channels, output power, and
Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) requirements.

Antenna Compatibility
The airFiber AF-5XHD radio is designed for use with the
following airFiber X antenna models:
• AF-5G23-S45
• AF-5G30-S45
• AF-5G34-S45
The AF-5XHD can also operate with the following RocketDish™
antenna models:
• RD-5G30*
• RD-5G34*
* Requires Universal Bracket (included) or AF-5G-OMT-S45 Conversion
Kit (not included).
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
Port Cover
LED
Panel
Connects to
External GPS
Antenna Chain 1: Connects to
- 45° on
airFiber Antenna
Chain 0: Connects to
+ 45° on
airFiber Antenna

Ports
Reset
Button
Management
Port
Data
Port
Management Port 10/100/1000 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. This port can
also be used to provide redundant PoE power.
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.

LEDs
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 AF-5XHD is fully
booted.
Signal Level Once fully booted, the Signal 1-4 LEDs act as a
bar graph showing how close the AF-5XHD is to ideal aiming.
This is auto-scaled based on the link range, the antenna gains,
and the configured TX power of the remote AF-5XHD. 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
1F000000000000
111F0000000000
11111FF0000000
1111111111FFF0
0 = Off, 1 = On, F = Flashing

Additional LEDs
LED State Status
LINK
Off RF Off
Short Flash* Syncing
Normal Flash* Beaconing
Long Flash* Registering
On Operational
GPS
Off No GPS Synchronization
Normal Flash* Non-Operational (Weak Signal)
On Operational (Strong Signal)
MGMT
Off No Ethernet Link
On Ethernet Link Established
Random Flash Ethernet Activity
DATA
Off No Ethernet Link
On Ethernet Link Established
Random Flash Ethernet Activity
Off No Power
On Powered On
* Short Flash (1:3 on/off cycle)
Normal Flash (1:1 on/off cycle)
Long Flash (3:1 on/off cycle)
*640-00338-01*
640-00338-01

Installation Overview
We recommend that you configure your paired AF-5XHD
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 AF-5XHD.
• Install a ground wire and mount the AF-5XHD on an
airFiberX or RocketDish antenna.
• At the installation site, install the airFiber X or RocketDish
antenna with the mounted AF-5XHD 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. Lift the release latch on the bottom of the AF-5XHD and
slide the Port Cover off.

2. Connect an Ethernet cable to the DATA port.
3. Connect the Ethernet cable from the DATA port of the
AF-5XHD to the POE port of the adapter.
WARNING: Use only the included adapter, model
GP‑H240‑100G‑WH‑03. Failure to do so can damage
the unit and void the product warranty.
4. Connect the Power Cord to the adapter’s power port.
Connect the other end of the Power Cord to a poweroutlet.

airFiber Configuration
The instructions in this section explain how to access the
airFiber Configuration Interface and configure the following
settings:
• Wireless Mode Configure one AF-5XHD as the AP and the
other as the CPE.
• Frequency Setting The operating Frequency must be the
same on both the AP and the CPE.
1. Connect an Ethernet cable from your computer to the
MGMT port on the AF-5XHD.
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. The login screen will appear. 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. Click the Wireless tab.
6. Configure the Basic Wireless Settings:
a. For one AF-5XHD, select AP PTP as the Wireless Mode.
For the other AF-5XHD, select CPE PTP as the Wireless
Mode.
b. Enter a name in the SSID field. This should be the same
on both the AP and the CPE.
c. Select USA for the Country code to ensure compliance
with FCC regulations.
d. Change the Distance Scale to be larger than the
anticipated distance between the AP and CPE.
e. If needed, change the Channel Width, Frequency,
Output Power (EIRP), Antenna Gain, and Maximum TX
Modulation settings. The Channel Width and Frequency
should be the same on both the AP and the CPE.
7. Configure the Wireless Security:
a. Select WPA2‑AES for the Security mode.
b. Select PSK for the WPA Authentication mode.
c. In the WPA Preshared Key field, enter a combination of
alphanumeric characters (0-9, A-Z, or a-z).
Note: Currently only ASCII mode is supported.
8. Configure the Advanced wireless settings:
a. Enter the Duty Cycle on the AP.
b. Enter the Frame Length on both the AP and the CPE.
This should be the same on both the AP and the CPE.
9. Click Save Changes.

10. Configure each airFiber radio with a unique IP address for
the DATA port:
a. Click the Network tab.
b. For both the Data LAN Address and Management IP
Address options:
- 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 make them compatible with your
network.
c. Enable the Ethernet Carrier Drop settings if needed.
d. Click Save Changes.
Repeat the instructions in the airFiber Configuration section on
the other AF-5XHD radio.
For details on the airFiber Configuration Interface, refer to the
airFiber AF-5XHD User Guide, available at:
www.ubnt.com/download/airfiber

Hardware Installation
Install a Ground Wire
1. Remove the nut from the Ground Bonding Point located on
the back of the AF-5XHD.
Ground
Bonding
Point
2. Attach a ground wire (min. 10 AWG or 5 mm2) to the lug
and replace the nut to secure the wire.
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 an airFiber X Antenna
Follow the instructions in this section to mount the AF-5XHD
to an airFiber X antenna or to a RocketDish antenna equipped
with the AF-5G-OMT-S45 Conversion Kit.
Note: To mount the AF-5XHD to a RocketDish using the
included Universal Bracket, see the Mount to a RocketDish
Antenna section.
The airFiber X antenna AF-5G23-S45 is shown in this section:
1. Attach the airFiber X radio to the antenna by aligning the
four tabs on the back of the radio with the slots of the radio
mount. Then slide the radio down to lock it into place.

2. Attach the RF connectors to the radio in this combination:
+45° to Chain0 and -45° to Chain 1. Then slide the jackets
over the RF connectors to protect them.
3. Attach the external GPS antenna (included with the radio)
to the RF connector labeled GPS on the radio.

4. Attach the Protective Shroud by sliding it down over the
radio until it locks into the radio mount.

Mount to a RocketDish Antenna
Note: If you are mounting the AF-5XHD on a RocketDish
equipped with the AF-5G-OMT-S45 Conversion Kit, the
Universal Bracket is not needed. Refer instead to the
Mount to an airFiber X Antenna section for instructions.
The RocketDish RD-5G30 antenna is shown in this section:
1. Position the Universal Bracket over the back of the AF-5XHD
with the bracket clips over the AF-5XHD mounting tabs.
2. Push the bracket onto the AF-5XHD until it locks in place.
3. Attach the AF-5XHD to the RocketDish mounting bracket.
a. Align the mounting tabs on the Universal Bracket with
the RocketDish mounting bracket.
b. Slide the AF-5XHD down to lock it into place.

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 AF-5XHD.
1. Attach the GPS Antenna Mount to the pole using the metal
strap,or attach it to a wall using the appropriate fasteners
(notincluded).
2. Place the External GPS Antenna on the mount.
3. Secure the cable of the External GPS Antenna to the mount
with a Cable Tie.

Connecting Power over Ethernet
1. Lift the release latch on the bottom of the AF-5XHD and
slide the Port Cover off.
2. Connect an outdoor, shielded Ethernet cable to the
DATAport.
3. Connect the Ethernet cable from the DATA port of the
AF-5XHD to the POE port of the adapter.
WARNING: Use only the included adapter,model
GP‑H240‑100G‑WH‑03. Failure to do so can damage
the unit and void the product warranty.

4. Connect an Ethernet cable from your LAN to the adapter’s
LAN port.
5. Connect the Power Cord to the adapter’s power port.
Connect the other end of the Power Cord to a power outlet.
Mount the PoE Adapter (Optional)
1. Remove the Mounting Bracket from the adapter, place the
bracket at the desired location, and mark the two holes.
2. Pre-drill the holes if necessary, and secure the bracket
using two fasteners (not included).
3. Align the adapter’s slots with the tabs of the Mounting
Bracket, and then slide the adapter down.
Surge Protection
For added protection, install two surge suppressors, such as
the Ubiquiti Ethernet Surge Protector, model ETH-SP, 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.