You have been asked to design a public safety microwave radio system for the city of Fairbanks, Alaska. The requirement for reliability, maximum throughput, and minimum interference by fog, rain, or…

The 2.4 GHz band is an unlicensed ISM band subject to heavy interference from Wi-Fi and consumer devices, making it unsuitable for critical public safety infrastructure.

The 4.9 GHz band is designated by the FCC for public safety broadband but is intended for local-area wireless access, not licensed point-to-point microwave backhaul.

The 6 GHz licensed fixed microwave band delivers significant point-to-point capacity while remaining below the frequency threshold (~10 GHz) where rain fade and precipitation attenuation begin to seriously degrade link availability. In an environment like Fairbanks with frequent heavy snow and fog, 6 GHz provides reliable path performance over the required distances without the severe weather-related signal loss that affects higher frequency bands.

At 11 GHz, rain fade and precipitation scattering become significant factors that degrade link reliability in environments with heavy precipitation like Fairbanks.

At 19 GHz, rain attenuation is severe, making the band highly unreliable in environments with frequent heavy rain, snow, or dense fog.