Patent ID: 8688027

Claim:
A method implemented by an outdoor broadband unit, the method comprising: receiving, by the outdoor broadband unit, a current time from a remote network device; receiving, by the outdoor broadband unit, maintenance mode parameters from the network device, wherein the maintenance mode parameters: identify a short term maintenance mode and a first time associated with the short term maintenance mode, wherein the first time identifies the time at which the outdoor broadband unit is configured to enter into the short term maintenance mode, and identify a long term maintenance mode and a second time associated with the long term maintenance mode, wherein the second time identifies the time at which the outdoor broadband unit is configured to enter into the long term maintenance mode; determining, by the outdoor broadband unit, a mode associated with operation of the outdoor broadband unit based on the current time and the maintenance mode parameters; determining, by the outdoor broadband unit, an optimal serving cell via which to communicate based on the determined mode and strength of radio frequency (RF) signals received by the outdoor broadband unit; and selecting, by the outdoor broadband unit, the optimal serving cell via which to communicate based on the determined mode and the strength of the RF signals.