Mast/Aerial type?

shenanagans

Can anyone identify what type of mast this is?

It appeared on apartment complex rooftop recently and residents are unaware what it is or what it's being used for.

gouche

shenanagans wrote: »

Can anyone identify what type of mast this is?

It appeared on apartment complex rooftop recently and residents are unaware what it is or what it's being used for.

Looks like a mobile operator.
Possibly 5G judging by the size of the antenna but not 100%.
Is there just 1 antenna on it?
There should be a dish for backhaul also.

ED E

Picture is a bit poor but it looks like two units though one could be an RRU. Behind the pole is a Kathrein probably providing 3G/4G and to the right I would have said was 5G but for the fact that its only got a single feeder.


You'll find it listed on http://siteviewer.comreg.ie/

shenanagans

gouche wrote: »

Looks like a mobile operator.
Possibly 5G judging by the size of the antenna but not 100%.
Is there just 1 antenna on it?
There should be a dish for backhaul also.

Not sure but it looks like one antenna. No sign of any dish but it could be out of sight.

shenanagans

ED E wrote: »

Picture is a bit poor but it looks like two units though one could be an RRU. Behind the pole is a Kathrein probably providing 3G/4G and to the right I would have said was 5G but for the fact that its only got a single feeder.


You'll find it listed on http://siteviewer.comreg.ie/

Thanks for the reply. It doesn't appear on this map. But it was erected very recently (3-4 weeks ago) and maybe this map isn't updated immediately?

I assume a 3G/4G/5G mast require planning permission. There's a business premises alongside the apartments, I suspect this business has allowed some company erect this mast on the roof without consulting residents.

shenanagans

shenanagans wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. It doesn't appear on this map. But it was erected very recently (3-4 weeks ago) and maybe this map isn't updated immediately?

I assume a 3G/4G/5G mast require planning permission. There's a business premises alongside the apartments, I suspect this business has allowed some company erect this mast on the roof without consulting residents.

Could also be PTMP for a WISP.

ED E

Do you get PP to erect a Sky dish? I doubt this requires permission as it's not a new structure. The OMC would be the ones who provided access and power to erect it. If you're an owner you should contact them to see details of the arrangement.


The siteviewer map can be a bit behind. Will update eventually.

shenanagans

ED E wrote: »

Do you get PP to erect a Sky dish? I doubt this requires permission as it's not a new structure. The OMC would be the ones who provided access and power to erect it. If you're an owner you should contact them to see details of the arrangement.


The siteviewer map can be a bit behind. Will update eventually.

The management company know nothing about it. A crane arrived crazy early one morning and put it on roof. The business in the complex is a public carpark, no idea why they'd need a mast on the roof.

No notification was given to management company or residents. If a crane was needed to get it onto roof then I'd say it's big enough to require permission from residents and possibly planning permission.

shenanagans

NoDrama wrote: »

Could also be PTMP for a WISP.

What does that mean in english?

ED E

WISP is a wireless ISP. IMO its far more likely to be for one of the three MNOs (3, Eir, Vodafone).


Even if the developer originally granted access rights the OMC should know. Just because they say they don't know doesn't mean they actually dont. OMCs in Ireland can be useless as fck. I'd push them first before trying to chase COMREG for the data.

shenanagans

ED E wrote: »

WISP is a wireless ISP. IMO its far more likely to be for one of the three MNOs (3, Eir, Vodafone).


Even if the developer originally granted access rights the OMC should know. Just because they say they don't know doesn't mean they actually dont. OMCs in Ireland can be useless as fck. I'd push them first before trying to chase COMREG for the data.

The management company stated at the AGM that they knew nothing about it. I suspect the business which shares the building either installed it for their own use or they allowed some other company put it up in exchange for rent or payment.

But the management company claim they knew nothing. And given it was installed crazy early one morning makes me suspect they weren't meant to know or find out.

AutoTuning

That looks like a mobile phone site - 2G,3G,4G,5G doesn’t really make any difference. I personally wouldn’t be worried about it from any point of view except that it’s very ugly and crudely installed.

shenanagans

AutoTuning wrote: »

That looks like a mobile phone site - 2G,3G,4G,5G doesn’t really make any difference. I personally wouldn’t be worried about it from any point of view except that it’s very ugly and crudely installed.

Shouldn't a company pay to put this on a building.....rent? If it is a mobile phone site then should it not require planning permission?

Cheeky to just lump it on a roof without consulting management or residents?

AutoTuning

shenanagans wrote: »

Shouldn't a company pay to put this on a building.....rent? If it is a mobile phone site then should it not require planning permission?

Cheeky to just lump it on a roof without consulting management or residents?

They’re almost certainly renting the space.
It’s incredibly unlikely they would do that without having signed off on it, secured a lease and all of that.

None of the 3 mobile companies operate like that. They’re all very formal about leasing locations and ensuring access and so on.

Also the sites are subject to licensing from both ComReg and any relevant local authority planning regulations.

It’s quite possible the management company do not own or manage that surface of the building.

They’re undoubtedly paying someone for the space though.

From a health and safety point of view though there’s really no risk. There’s a ton of conspiracy theory nonsense online about them, but that’s all it is.

If you’re worried about the visual impact of the mast, or you think you’re losing out financially from the money being paid to lease the site, maybe first port of call is your management company.

TheChizler

A ton of those 4g antennae at the rear went up around Cork over the summer, newspaper looked into it and the official story was they didn't need planning under a certain height. Awful looking yokes though.

Edit: it was a year ago now. https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30978534.html

AutoTuning

Reality of it is that without them though you won’t have decent mobile coverage. In dense urban areas, you basically have lots of relatively much lower powered sites that give networks sufficient bandwidth.

As data consumption soars, single sites just get swamped with users.

Older networks used fewer sites, but often with much stronger signals. Also in bad reception your handset will use much stronger signals to reach the site.

So overall you’re really looking a move to a mesh of low powered sites.

I agree though they should put more effort into blending them into the scenery. There’s no excuse for ugly.

That being said there’s plenty of other ugly infrastructure around - wires stung over poles, people’s TV antennas and satellite dishes, even some street lighting is hideous.

I think though in general this fear of 5G is absolutely nonsense. There’s just nothing to back it up other than a load of paranoid conspiracy theory stuff online and it’s seeping into real discussion.

The reality is without those sites we would be basically writing off ever having usable mobile broadband services on handsets or anything else.

They could do with generally improving the look of infrastructure though in our cities and towns.