| Microwave transmission is a line-of-sight transmission as signal travels in a straight line. | Radio Wave transmission is not line-of-sight transmission as signal travels in all directions. |
| In microwave communication, two directional parabolic antennas are mounted on towers, buildings or hills to send and receive signals through air. | A radio set-up uses transmitter and receiver. A transmitter sends radio waves and encodes them in sine waves which, when received by a receiver, are decoded and the message is received. Both the transmitter and receiver use antennas to radiate and fetch radio signals. |
| These waves have frequencies ranging from about 1 gigahertz (GHz) to several hundred gigahertz (GHz). | These waves have frequencies ranging from a few kilohertz (kHz) to several gigahertz (GHz). |
| They are used for point-to-point communication links, satellite communication, radar systems etc. | They are used for broadcasting, AM/FM radio transmission, television signals etc. |