Mimosa Networks Unveils New Addition to 'N Series' Sector Antennas

Mimosa Networks has launched new N5-45x2 and N5-45x4 antennas as the latest addition to its family of purpose-built “N” series of antennas.

The two new 5 GHz antennas represent the industry’s highest performing extended frequency 45-degree sector antennas, supporting ultra-wideband spectrum from 4.9 GHz – 6.4 GHz. Providing the high gain and ground coverage of a sector with the sidelobe rejection of a horn, the new antennas outperform traditional sectors and horn antennas that are plagued with interference, very low gain and limited distance.

With the introduction of the N5-45 sector antennas, operators can take advantage of meaningful cost reductions and revenue opportunities by adding more clients on a sector and use spectrum more efficiently.

The antennas have been custom engineered to mitigate the interference seen in traditional sectors, caused by unmanaged sidelobes and poor front-to-back (FTB) ratios. They provide the industry’s highest 43 dB FTB ratio and leading sidelobe rejection, reducing interference and enabling twice the spectrum reuse. Their specialized design also tackles low gain and poor ground coverage, typically seen in horn antennas, and are optimized for both short and long-distance links. In addition, the antennas support an extended frequency range from 4.9 GHz – 6.4GHz, enabling service providers to escape noise in the congested 5.15 – 5.85 GHz band by providing an additional 800 MHz of spectrum beyond unlicensed 5 GHz, including the 4.9 GHz Public Safety band in the United States.

Speeds Quadrupled With New Antennas

Travis Schlater, Network Technician at Wabash Communications, recently installed N5-45x4 antennas in his network. “At a site in Rockford, Ohio, we upgraded the existing deployment using N4-45x4 antennas with A5c access points. The results were incredible – speeds have tripled and even quadrupled for some clients, and thanks to the noise mitigation properties, we now have the opportunity to add more clients, something which is critical for a company growing as fast as we are. We are a big fan of the antennas and of Mimosa – the company has supported us every step of the way and I know they will continue to be there as we grow our network.”

Due to the noise mitigation characteristics of the N5-45 antennas, network operators have colocation opportunities not previously available with other antennas. According to Scott Miller, CTO of Kansas Broadband, the N5-45 fills a product gap that currently exists in the market for high-performance sectors. “We were excited to try the new N5-45x2 antennas and started by switching out the antennas and leaving radio settings unchanged. We were amazed by the before-and-after noise comparison in the A5c Spectrum Analyzer – the noise reduction with Mimosa N5-45x2 was far superior to the previous antennas we’ve used.” Miller continued, “I am excited to deploy these antennas widely throughout my network and experience the benefits of such great noise suppression! The N5-45x2 will allow us to increase the client count on our Mimosa A5c radios so that each tower deployment can now support more clients and get us to a compelling ROI even more quickly.”

Prairie Hills Wireless, a leading wireless provider in Nebraska, was one of the first customers to deploy the new antennas. “We replaced an existing horn antenna with the Mimosa N5-45x4 antenna and were blown away,” said Kent Urwiller, Founder and CEO of Prairie Hills Wireless. “These antennas have immediately improved the performance of our fixed access deployments with average downstream rates increasing by 90% and upstream rates increasing by over 40%! We are getting the noise fighting characteristics of a horn antenna combined with all the gain of a sector – the combination is definitely the best of both worlds. For the same price as our previous solution, we have dramatically increased speeds and link reliability.”

Support for Third Party Radios

The Mimosa N5-45x2 delivers 19 dBi of gain and works with any third party 2x2 MIMO radio, while the N5-45x4 is designed to be paired with Mimosa’s 4x4 MIMO A5c or any other third party 4-port MIMO Access Point, providing downlink and uplink beamforming increasing client signal strength by +3dB.

According to Mimosa President and CEO, Brian L. Hinman, “These two new antennas are a great addition to our product family. We are excited to see the incredible results and predict great demand from service providers who understand the enormous impact these antennas will have on the performance of their PTMP deployments. With the addition of these antennas to their networks, they will be able to enhance their service offerings and immediately increase their return on investment.”