biggen
Known around here
- Joined
- May 6, 2018
- Messages
- 2,563
- Reaction score
- 2,837
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
- Start date
reflection
Getting comfortable
The AP 6 Lite came back in stock and just ordered a couple. Thanks all.
Kitsap
Getting the hang of it
Was this a new from scratch install or did you replace an older g/n/ac unit?
biggen
Known around here
- Joined
- May 6, 2018
- Messages
- 2,563
- Reaction score
- 2,837
Replaced an AC AP from them.
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.
reflection
Getting comfortable
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
Known around here
- Joined
- May 6, 2018
- Messages
- 2,563
- Reaction score
- 2,837
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.
Last edited:
reflection
Getting comfortable
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).