Tenda O3S (2pack) — 5km 5GHz 12dBi 11ac 867Mbps Outdoor CPE

Buying it, and when not to

This is the O3S as a matched two-pack: two 5km 5GHz 12dBi 11ac 867Mbps outdoor CPEs, the Loco 5AC class. A complete point-to-point link in one box.

This is the most useful single item here for anybody building wireless links. Five-kilometre-rated radios at both ends covers the overwhelming majority of real jobs - feeding a building across an estate, backhauling a hotspot in a market, linking a branch office, bringing service to a site the fibre has not reached - with enough headroom that the link survives rain rather than merely working on a dry day at commissioning. Buying the pair together is cheaper than two singles and means both ends are the same revision.

Buy a single O3S when you are replacing one end of an existing link. For a very short hop, the O1-5G pack is cheaper. For longer paths, the O6 pair handles about ten kilometres and the O9 about twenty-five; using a longer-range unit than the distance demands is good practice, not waste. For paths with trees or partial obstruction, the 2.4GHz O3 is more tolerant. And remember this is a link, not coverage: people and phones outdoors need an OAP1200.