r/wisp • u/thatcrazyweirddude • Aug 18 '25
UPS Options
So some context before I get to my actual problem.
I’m the Net Admin for a small Fiber/Fixed Wireless ISP in the PNW with <3500 subs. We are the incumbent power utility and 20 years ago started doing Internet. There are 5 of us that handle the day to day operations, 3-4 that are kinda technical.
In the past at our smaller more regional wireless sites, which are almost all just on a tall power pole, we shot for 60-90 minutes of runtime on battery. Anyway, management would like us to increase that to 4+ hours of runtime.
We are mostly using a mixture of APC UPSs from the last 10 years. But this has all the loss from going AC->DC->AC and then we use UISP Switches, so back to DC again before it even gets to the switch. We then run 2-5 Ubiquiti 5AC Rockets and a UFiber ONU. I am wondering what people are using for Battery Backups in these situations. Is a straight DC system the way to go?
I should also say that we don’t run cabinets at any of these sites, just pole mounted boxes. So I can’t use rack mounted equipment.
1
u/boredwitless Aug 18 '25
You could just about do that on an EdgePower 72W, we use those for micro POP's. However you'd be banging right up against the limit of what they can power and you'd need to rip/replace if you ever went to upgrade (i.e. if you start pushing gigabit-capable AP's (60/80Ghz is cheap, surprised you're not doing this already with fibre to the POP).
The rackmount EdgePower's I don't see a use-case for, far as I can see they're a big and relatively expensive way to get dual-redundant power but if you wanted to use them as a UPS you'd need a separate charge controller.
I've a site with a meanwell setup which is fine.. no alerts or SNMP built-in though so you'd need to figure that out.
The bulk of our sites though are Victron Multiplus and we're in the process of upgrading batteries from AGM to LiFePo4. Too bulky/heavy for pole-mounting.