Launching a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) in a Ugandan town — whether Mbarara, Gulu, Jinja, Mbale, or a rural trading centre — requires more than buying MikroTik equipment and pointing antennas. A poorly planned network leads to coverage gaps, interference, overloaded towers, and subscriber churn. A well-designed WISP network delivers consistent speeds, scales predictably, and integrates cleanly with your ISP billing system from day one.
Step 1: Coverage Planning
- Use Google Earth or Radio Mobile to identify terrain obstructions
- Mark potential tower sites — elevated ground, water towers, existing structures
- Draw coverage circles based on antenna type (typically 3–10 km radius for 5GHz flat terrain; 1–3 km hilly)
- Map subscriber density zones — residential estates, commercial areas, schools
Step 2: Tower and PoP Placement
- Height: minimum 15–30m above surrounding obstructions for reliable LOS
- Location: geographic centre of your subscriber density zone
- Power: mains + UPS or solar backup — power outages are common across Uganda
- Security: lockable cabinet for equipment; protect from weather and theft
Step 3: Subscriber Density and Capacity Planning
| Zone Type | Expected Subscribers | Sector Setup | Uplink Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small town (<500 homes) | 50–150 | 2–3 x 90° sectors | 50–100 Mbps |
| Medium town (500–2,000 homes) | 150–500 | 4 x 90° sectors | 100–300 Mbps |
| Dense urban zone | 500+ | 6 x 60° sectors or multiple PoPs | 300 Mbps+ |
Plan for a contention ratio of 10:1 to 20:1 for residential subscribers.
Recommended Hardware
PoP Core Routers
- MikroTik hEX S RB760iGS — Gigabit SFP uplink, PoE; handles PPPoE, firewall, and billing API
- MikroTik hEX RB750Gr3 — zone distribution router for smaller PoPs
Sector Antennas (Subscriber Access)
- MikroTik MANTBox 12s — 2.4GHz 90° sector; long-range residential subscriber coverage
- MikroTik wAP ac — dual-band outdoor AP for dense subscriber zones
Backhaul (Tower-to-Tower)
- MikroTik MANT 30 PA — 5GHz 30dBi dish; PtP backhaul for 5–20 km links
- MikroTik RouterBOARD Wireless Router — backhaul and distribution node
Subscriber CPE
- MikroTik hAP RouterBOARD with PoE — dual-band indoor CPE
- MikroTik hAP lite Wireless Router — affordable residential CPE
- MikroTik hAP lite RB941-2nD — budget CPE
- MikroTik RBGPOE PoE Injector — powers outdoor subscriber equipment
Cabling: Cat6 Flat Ethernet Cable (indoor) and Cat6 Indoor/Outdoor UTP Cable (outdoor). Browse the full MikroTik Routers collection.
Step 4: Backhaul Design
- PtP links: use MANT 30 PA dishes for dedicated high-capacity PoP-to-PoP links
- Frequency separation: 5GHz for backhaul, 2.4GHz for subscriber access
- Redundancy: design a secondary backhaul path for critical zones
- Capacity: backhaul should be 1.5–2x peak subscriber throughput per zone
Step 5: Frequency Planning
- 2.4GHz: longer range, better penetration; use channels 1, 6, 11 for non-overlapping sectors
- 5GHz: higher capacity, less interference; preferred for dense zones and backhaul
- Avoid mixing frequencies on adjacent sectors at the same PoP
Step 6: Billing System Integration
Every subscriber CPE authenticates via PPPoE to your PoP router, connected to your ISP billing system:
- Billing assigns bandwidth plan and IP on authentication
- Mobile money payments trigger instant reactivation via RouterOS API
- Suspension cuts PPPoE session without field intervention
- Usage feeds to billing dashboard via RADIUS accounting
Conclusion
Use hEX S routers at each PoP, MANTBox sectors for subscriber access, MANT 30 PA dishes for backhaul, and connect everything to your ISP billing system for automated subscriber management.
Launch your WISP with automated billing →
