Free space optic (FSO) communication offers a supplement to optical fibre for satisfying the demand of next-generation wireless networks. This paper signifies photonic generation of a double sideband-suppressed carrier (DSB-SC)-based 60 GHz mm-wave by operating a dual-drive Mach–Zehnder modulator (DD-MZM) in the null point region. The radiofrequency (RF) carrying signal is investigated for dual-hop FSO/RF links of 500 m/50 m by taking optical links in the turbulent atmosphere.At the data rates of 1.25, 2.5, and 5 Gb/s, overall operation is evaluated in terms of bit error rate (BER) as a function of the received optical power. In our analysis, system performance under the Gamma-Gamma (ΓΓ) matches with the Lognormal (LN) model in moderate fluctuation using aperture averaging effect. The results are obtained with a maximum difference in the receiver sensitivity of ∼1 dB at BER = 10⁻⁶ between ΓΓ and LN models.