What is the best way to site test Ubiquiti NanoStation loco M5 & Ubiquiti INS-3AF-O-G Outdoor Gigabit Adapter?

[rufunky]

I have a few sites using these and they have been awesome . The one time I did have an issue at one of the sites it was kind of a nightmare figuring out the culprit. Turned out the issue was one of the Ubiquiti INS-3AF-O-G Outdoor Gigabit Adapters....

The frustrating part is the activity light is on the back of the unit and when pole monted its imposible to see and when you unmount it and the sun is out, the LED is so dim its hard to tell if its on....

I'm hoping some of you have some better ways to test these so here I am.

What is the best way to site test Ubiquiti NanoStation loco M5 & Ubiquiti INS-3AF-O-G Outdoor Gigabit Adapter?

 

[TonyR]

I'm thinking the BEST way is with an in-place PtP Layer 2 transparent bridge consisting of 2 NS 5 Loco's that have been setup using the tools in Airmax to set wireless channels, channel width, perform alignment and adjust power levels for the best quality links.

Although the wireless may achieve up to 150Mbps, the radio's wired LAN is a 10/100Meg NIC so a well aligned and optimally configured PtP link of 2 of these NS Loco 5's at best will likely no provide better than 80Mbps.

FWIW, the 5AC Loco has a gigabit LAN port.

EDITED 12/5/25 @ 2042 CDT: added link to UBNT layer 2 wireless bridge

 

[lalan455]

I have a few sites using these and they have been awesome . The one time I did have an issue at one of the sites it was kind of a nightmare figuring out the culprit. Turned out the issue was one of the Ubiquiti INS-3AF-O-G Outdoor Gigabit Adapters....

The frustrating part is the activity light is on the back of the unit and when pole monted its imposible to see and when you unmount it and the sun is out, the LED is so dim its hard to tell if its on....

I'm hoping some of you have some better ways to test these so here I am.

What is the best way to site test Ubiquiti NanoStation loco M5 & Ubiquiti INS-3AF-O-G Outdoor Gigabit Adapter?

Those adapters can be a pain to troubleshoot, especially with the tiny LED on the back. The easiest way I’ve found to test a NanoStation Loco M5 and the INS-3AF-O-G is to bring a small PoE tester or inline network tester on-site. It lets you check power output and link status without guessing. You can also plug the adapter into a known-good switch and a laptop to confirm it’s passing data and delivering PoE correctly before mounting it back up.

 

[rufunky]

Thank you guys for the ideas! I'll be honest I do not know much about PtP Layer 2 transparent bridges but I will for sure read up!

I was looking at POE testers and found THIS.
It says it does Passive 24v POE do you think that would work?