biggen
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Yeah, I bought mine last week when they were in stock. Put in your email address and they will shoot you an email when back in stock.
Recommend a wifi6 access point
- Thread starter reflection
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The AP 6 Lite came back in stock and just ordered a couple. Thanks all.
biggen
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Kitsap
Getting the hang of it
biggen
Known around here
- May 6, 2018
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Kitsap
Getting the hang of it
Thank you!
It would be nice to have some feedback after you have had it in use for a few months.
Some quick feedback regarding the Unifi AP 6 Lite. I bought a pair of these thinking to upgrade my two Cisco 3702i.
Works decent for WiFi 6 (802.11ax). Speed is faster than WiFi 5 (802.11ac) for most devices like smartphones and laptops. However the WiFi 5 support (which most clients use) on AP 6 Lite is not as good as my Cisco AP. This is because the AP 6 Lite only supports 2x2 MIMO and the Cisco supports 4x4 MIMO. So when I connect clients that support 3x3 or 4x4 on 802.11ac, I get faster speeds on the Cisco than the AP 6 Lite.
So what did I do? I upgraded my Cisco APs to 2802i (which support MU-MIMO and 160MHz channels) and also kept the AP 6 Lite for WiFi 6. Created a separate SSID for WiFi 6.
Some data:
On my 2018 Macbook Pro 15 (supports 3 streams, 802.11ac onlyl), I get 1170Mbps when connecting to the Cisco 2802i but only 866Mbps when using the AP 6 Lite (802.11ac).
On my 2020 Macbook Pro 13 (supports 2 streams, 802.11ac only), I get 866Mbps using Cisco 2802i and 866Mbps using AP 6 Lite (802.11ac).
On my 2021 Lenovo Yoga 6 (supports 802.11ax), I get 1733Mbps using Cisco 2802i (802.11ac) and 961Mbps using AP 6 Lite (802.11ax)
Bottom line, Unifi AP 6 Lite works fine for both 802.11ax and 802.11ac, but if you already have a decent 802.11ac AP, it will probably perform better than the AP 6 Lite for 802.11ac clients that support more than 2 streams.
Works decent for WiFi 6 (802.11ax). Speed is faster than WiFi 5 (802.11ac) for most devices like smartphones and laptops. However the WiFi 5 support (which most clients use) on AP 6 Lite is not as good as my Cisco AP. This is because the AP 6 Lite only supports 2x2 MIMO and the Cisco supports 4x4 MIMO. So when I connect clients that support 3x3 or 4x4 on 802.11ac, I get faster speeds on the Cisco than the AP 6 Lite.
So what did I do? I upgraded my Cisco APs to 2802i (which support MU-MIMO and 160MHz channels) and also kept the AP 6 Lite for WiFi 6. Created a separate SSID for WiFi 6.
Some data:
On my 2018 Macbook Pro 15 (supports 3 streams, 802.11ac onlyl), I get 1170Mbps when connecting to the Cisco 2802i but only 866Mbps when using the AP 6 Lite (802.11ac).
On my 2020 Macbook Pro 13 (supports 2 streams, 802.11ac only), I get 866Mbps using Cisco 2802i and 866Mbps using AP 6 Lite (802.11ac).
On my 2021 Lenovo Yoga 6 (supports 802.11ax), I get 1733Mbps using Cisco 2802i (802.11ac) and 961Mbps using AP 6 Lite (802.11ax)
Bottom line, Unifi AP 6 Lite works fine for both 802.11ax and 802.11ac, but if you already have a decent 802.11ac AP, it will probably perform better than the AP 6 Lite for 802.11ac clients that support more than 2 streams.
biggen
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More spatial streams = more bandwidth and going to 160hz channel width is massive. That Cisco access point is probably $400+ isn’t it? Not really in the same class as the $100 Unifi so I’d expect the Cisco unit (even the older AC model) to be much much better.
How many 3x3 or 4x4 clients do you have? I don’t think I even have one in my house. I’ll have to check. Those speeds you mentioned are those reported connection rates or actual iperf/download tests? The look like connection rates. I’d be curious how actual downloads perform. Would be an interesting test using iperf on the wireless clients and test both APs.
Wifi 6 is more about client density increases per AP. Yes there is some speed increases but that isn’t really what drove its ratification. I only have 300mbps down internet anyway so going to Wifi 6 really doesn’t help me since AC speeds were already faster than what my provider can give me.
How many 3x3 or 4x4 clients do you have? I don’t think I even have one in my house. I’ll have to check. Those speeds you mentioned are those reported connection rates or actual iperf/download tests? The look like connection rates. I’d be curious how actual downloads perform. Would be an interesting test using iperf on the wireless clients and test both APs.
Wifi 6 is more about client density increases per AP. Yes there is some speed increases but that isn’t really what drove its ratification. I only have 300mbps down internet anyway so going to Wifi 6 really doesn’t help me since AC speeds were already faster than what my provider can give me.
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Those are reported rates by the client. I did not run any iperf tests.
I do testing of certain solutions at home so local WiFi speeds are important to me. Even if I connect at >1G, my max is 1G because I'm connected to the switch via 1000BaseT. In hindsight, I should have opted for the AP 6 LR (especially since work pays for it, but they were out of stock at the time) which supports 3 streams. Of course I don't have any 3x3 Wifi 6 clients but it would help with my 3x3 Wifi 5 clients. I don't have any 4x4 clients. The main reason I got the AP 6 Lite was to do some testing on a device that supported WiFi 6 (product manager specifically wanted me to use WiFi 6 to connect to the device). I knew the device only supported 2 streams.
The Cisco 2802i was from work (same wifi performance specs as the 3802i but cheaper). They were used - so I don't know how much they cost. I know new they were >$1K but they were launched in 2016. As I've recommended in other posts, you can get a used Cisco 3702i for cheap on eBay (under $30) and they are rock solid. It's a 4x4 and I was using them for 7+ years until now. I only upgraded because I had the 2802i (and for MU-MIMO for better client density like what Wifi 6 provides). The 2802i supports LACP so I might bond two ports to get 2G if I need more speed. One thing I like about the 2802i (and later models) is that they have a built in controller. Caution: turn down the power on those APs. When I leave the Cisco's at the default power setting (which is Automatic), it gives me a headache. I turn it down to power level 3 because I don't want to fry my brains. It also has a flexible radio that can switch from 2.4GHz or 5GHz (nice if you want to run dual 5GHz radios and do ac only).
I do testing of certain solutions at home so local WiFi speeds are important to me. Even if I connect at >1G, my max is 1G because I'm connected to the switch via 1000BaseT. In hindsight, I should have opted for the AP 6 LR (especially since work pays for it, but they were out of stock at the time) which supports 3 streams. Of course I don't have any 3x3 Wifi 6 clients but it would help with my 3x3 Wifi 5 clients. I don't have any 4x4 clients. The main reason I got the AP 6 Lite was to do some testing on a device that supported WiFi 6 (product manager specifically wanted me to use WiFi 6 to connect to the device). I knew the device only supported 2 streams.
The Cisco 2802i was from work (same wifi performance specs as the 3802i but cheaper). They were used - so I don't know how much they cost. I know new they were >$1K but they were launched in 2016. As I've recommended in other posts, you can get a used Cisco 3702i for cheap on eBay (under $30) and they are rock solid. It's a 4x4 and I was using them for 7+ years until now. I only upgraded because I had the 2802i (and for MU-MIMO for better client density like what Wifi 6 provides). The 2802i supports LACP so I might bond two ports to get 2G if I need more speed. One thing I like about the 2802i (and later models) is that they have a built in controller. Caution: turn down the power on those APs. When I leave the Cisco's at the default power setting (which is Automatic), it gives me a headache. I turn it down to power level 3 because I don't want to fry my brains. It also has a flexible radio that can switch from 2.4GHz or 5GHz (nice if you want to run dual 5GHz radios and do ac only).