A company that develops wireless broadband equipment has collaborated with a group of Italian amateur radio operators to set a new world record for a 5GHz Wi-Fi link.

The connection, which achieved a distance of 304km, was set up by Ubiquiti Networks and the Italian Center for Radio Activities (CISAR).

The link extended from Sardinia to central Italy and achieved data rates of about 5Mbps.

The first alignment was made using a beacon through a semi-directional 17dBi antenna on Sardinia and one of two 35dBi antennas on the Monte Amiata, which is about 1,740m above sea level.

The connection used Ubiquiti's XtremeRange5 high-power carrier class mini-PCI radio modules and 35dBi 5GHz parabolic dish antennas.

"The link spans far over the sea and is impossible to realise without a high sensitivity card," a statement from CISAR said.

"The alignment of two 35dBi antenna at 304km is a very complicated technical endeavour, but Ubiquiti's XtremeRange5 made it simple without additional devices and saved us a lot of time, expense and resources."

CISAR said that it would like to expand the project to connect every ham radio user in the region.

"After successfully interconnecting the whole Italian country with analogue FM repeaters, we would like to realise a new wide-band digital network to connect all Italian ham radio users to each other and to other services such as Echolink, ATV and Dstar," the statement said.