When developing a new product, companies and engineers put things through rigorous testing conditions to make sure they can hold up to the typical stresses that product may endure.
Waveform, a company that offers 5G antennas and related products, is quite familiar with this process. They ensure their products hold up to long-term outdoor use, sun exposure, and interference.
Over on Reddit, though, a user may have found a use case the company hasn’t entirely tested for: hurricane-force winds.
Back on October 8th, the user SilverCountryMan posted on the r/tmobileisp subreddit asking what windspeed Waveform antennas are rated for. Their Waveform 4×4 antenna was mounted outdoors, and the user was trying to decide if they should take it down or not in anticipation of the incoming Hurricane Milton in Florida.
Within a few hours, Waveform’s Director of Product Marcus Carstens responded, saying the antenna and it’s mount were rated for 130 MPH, but with a caveat.
That antenna and it’s mounting equipment is rated to 130 mph gusts, but I’ll be honest with you – we’ve never tested it in a hurricane.
…
But there are so many variables here I wouldn’t dare to make any promises. To be safe, and to avoid it coming down and doing damage to your house, I’d probably take it off the roof and bring it inside if that’s still possible.
You must admit, “we’ve never tested it in a hurricane” is a pretty surreal (and amusing) statement. Despite the warning, the user decided to risk it, and see what would happen. They promised to post again once the storm had passed (and they had a connection).
Needless to say, factory testing your product in a hurricane isn’t likely to be common practice for most companies. Even so, the Director of Product commented that if the antenna didn’t survive to email him for a replacement. Now that’s some quality customer service (and one of the reasons we highly recommend Waveform here on The Mobile Report)!
Fortunately, there was no need. The user reported back 2 days later that everything survived the resulting 100+MPH winds, and they were still able to get an LTE connection after the dust settled.
While no one can expect a product like a cellular antenna to hold up to such extreme conditions, it shows that when something is made with quality and care, it can exceed expectations.
If you’d like to check out what Waveform offers for yourself (and save 5%!), you can check them out at the (affiliate) links below, or check out our reviews of their latest models, the QuadPro and the QuadMini.
