5G pushes equipment to the edge — street poles, rooftops, highway corridors, and rural towers. Enclosures now face higher heat loads, tighter spaces, stricter EMI demands, and harsher environments than any previous generation. This guide covers exactly what to specify before sending your next RFQ.
Previous-generation networks concentrated equipment in large, climate-controlled shelters. 5G flips this model. To deliver low latency and high bandwidth, carriers must deploy radios, edge compute nodes, power systems, and fibre terminations much closer to users — on street poles, building facades, rooftops, and highway gantries.
This means telecom enclosures must now perform in locations where there is no room for oversized cabinets, no controlled temperature environment, and often no permanent technician on site. The enclosure becomes the primary line of defense for equipment worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Every 5G enclosure RFQ must address these six areas. Miss any one, and you risk field failures, rework, or cost overruns.
5G radios dissipate 500–1500 W each. Edge servers add 500–2000 W more. Without proper thermal design, equipment throttles or fails. Specify heat load (W), ambient range, solar exposure, and cooling method.
Street-level small cells exposed to rain, road splash, and dust need IP65 minimum. The IP number means nothing if cable entries, gland plates, and door gaskets are poorly executed.
5G operates on higher frequencies (sub-6 GHz and mmWave) that are more susceptible to interference. Enclosures must provide continuous metal-to-metal contact, conductive gaskets, and proper bonding.
Pole-mounted enclosures face wind loads, vibration, and limited weight budgets. Ground cabinets need seismic and vandal resistance. Always specify mounting method, equipment weight, and wind zone.
Outdoor enclosures must survive 15+ years. Material + coating stack must match the deployment environment: urban, coastal salt fog, desert dust, or industrial pollution.
5G edge sites are serviced by field technicians — often on ladders or in confined spaces. Quick-access doors, tool-less panel removal, and clear cable routing reduce MTTR and prevent errors.
The right material depends on deployment environment, weight constraints, service life expectation, and budget. Here is a practical comparison:
| Material | Best for | EMI shielding | Weight | Corrosion | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galvanized steel (GI) | Ground-mount outdoor, most 5G macro sites | Excellent | Heavy | Good (with powder coat) | $ |
| CRCA steel | Indoor telecom rooms, sheltered locations | Excellent | Heavy | Requires coating | $ |
| Aluminium | Pole-mount small cells, weight-sensitive | Good | Light | Very good | $$ |
| Stainless steel 304 | Coastal, chemical, extreme environments | Excellent | Heavy | Excellent | $$$ |
Different 5G site types have fundamentally different enclosure needs. Select the deployment type closest to your project:
Heat is the single biggest killer of 5G equipment reliability. Unlike 4G base stations that could rely on air-conditioned shelters, 5G edge enclosures must manage significant thermal loads in compact, often sun-exposed housings.
| Cooling method | Heat capacity | IP preserved? | Maintenance | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural convection | Up to ~300 W | IP reduced | None | Low-power fibre/passive nodes |
| Filtered fans | 300–800 W | IP reduced | Filter replacement | Sheltered small cells |
| Heat exchanger (air-to-air) | 500–2000 W | Yes (sealed) | Low | Most outdoor 5G sites |
| Integrated AC unit | 1000–5000+ W | Yes (sealed) | Regular servicing | High-density edge, hot climates |
Choose your deployment parameters below. This tool outputs a practical recommendation you can use as a starting point for your specification.
These are the errors we see most often in RFQs. Avoid them to save time, cost, and field failures.
Specifying "IP65" with no gland plate or cable entry design. Real IP failures happen at penetrations, not walls.
Ignoring solar gain, future equipment additions, and battery charging losses leads to thermal failures within months.
Adding EMI shielding after manufacturing is expensive and often ineffective. Specify it upfront so seam design and gaskets are built in.
A 25 kg enclosure on a 10 m pole in a wind zone creates significant moment loads. Failure to specify this is dangerous.
5G equipment runs hotter, needs better EMI shielding, more antenna pass-throughs, and higher load ratings. Retrofitting usually costs more.
5G rollouts are global procurement projects. Enclosures that arrive damaged due to inadequate export packaging waste time and money.
Share the basics below — our engineering team will respond within 24 hours with a specification recommendation and quote.
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