Ubiquiti AC Pro and AC Lite Access Points Reviewed

[pete y testing]

yup agree and thats why i suggested that comparing them against this "consumer oriented multiple point wireless" is prob not a fair comparison , they should be compared to other specific wireless access points to give the fairest result for all

 

[Elisha]

yup agree and thats why i suggested that comparing them against this "consumer oriented multiple point wireless" is prob not a fair comparison , they should be compared to other specific wireless access points to give the fairest result for all

Why not? People keep pushing these types of systems for those asking for suggestions to improve WiFi in their homes?
Seems like fair play to compare them especially when they keep getting recommended!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[thiggins]

yup agree and thats why i suggested that comparing them against this "consumer oriented multiple point wireless" is prob not a fair comparison

I think the comparison I did was fair.

The nodes in DWS products are cost-focused 2x2 AC APs. The DWS guys try to get their nodes to the $100 or below price point, as does the AC-Lite.

Given the more powerful processors in the DWS nodes, if anything, the performance comparison may have been unfair to the Ubiquitis, at least on 2.4 GHz.

 

[sfx2000]

I'm not saying it's fair or unfair - BHR's and DWS's have their place - and they do pretty well in those use-cases...

(I probably wouldn't put a BHR/DWS into a small business, not because of performance outright, but based on stability and security, along with access to Customer Care if needed)

The AP-Pro/AP-Lites - these are business class, and good solutions for a small business operator, as they're relatively low cost, they're reliable, and most importantly, stable - Combine them with an EdgeRouter (various flavors, depending on needs/requirements) and you have a platform that can stand up to most small business usage.

It's different market sectors... and given that, view the results in that light.

 

[pete y testing]

I think the comparison I did was fair.

i wasnt referring to specifically how you compared them , more the fact they are a different type of device and prob should be compared to those of the same type , eg other prosumer / soho wireless ac access points specifically as its a different user that will want specific AP's and they would prefer to compare apples to apples and Ap's to AP's so they can make a decision on which one to buy , after all a guy that wants Ap's isnt going to settle for mesh / dws or BHR , well at least if he does enough homework to know better

 

[DanH]

I'm confident enough going from Orbi to unifi AC-HDs is going to offer a better experience. In my apartment probably not, but in a house with cat drops yes. Clearly no one is using a single Orbi and it's the wireless backhaul that makes them great. Wired APSs make that unecessary if you have cat drops. I think what gets lost in this review is the real world scenario. Most are either in one of those two situations. Both choices are great for what they do.

 

[sfx2000]

Given the more powerful processors in the DWS nodes, if anything, the performance comparison may have been unfair to the Ubiquitis, at least on 2.4 GHz.

Yes and no - with AP's - most of the performance is going to be in the WiFi chipsets themselves - the SoC's in them are just pushing packets, with little processing on their part.

Even for QoS - as an AP, they just need to look at what they're programmed to look for there on the 802.11 interface - and manage traffic there, putting everything for treatment back to the IP layer at the Router - and AP's generally don't route.

Keep in mind that there are systems engineers that define and review data on the Wireless side, and this is upstream of what the Router/AP vendors do - and the Vendors don't have much input there except in their downstream implementation - and most don't stray too far with what Broadcom, QC-Atheros, Marvell, Realtek, and others recommend as part of the reference designs - there's a fair amount of collaboration there with top-tier vendors and their chipset suppliers...

And the FCC tests (and others) are proof of the pudding so to speak.

 

[thiggins]

Update: The review has been updated to describe the error. Incorrect 2.4 GHz data has been removed from the Charts database. I've also corrected the plots to remove the incorrect data. The How We Test article has also been updated to describe the problem and solution.

My thanks to Brandon for bringing the error to my attention and helping to resolve the problem cooperatively and professionally.

 

[pete y testing]

hi tim

so as i read this , your conclusion hasnt changed and for the most part the performance charts havnt changed ( apart from some long distance testing inaccuracy ) , yes its important to get the last 10% correct but over all this hasnt changed the review much at all in real terms

i still believe that ap's should be compared to other ap's and its only helpful to compare ap's to router / dws / mesh for a very small margin of people as most would want one or the other and how similar devices eg ap's compare

pete

 

[lagittaja]

Yeah, I gotta agree with that. I would have much rather seen comparisons to say Edimax CAP1200, TP-Link Auranet's, Linksys LAPAC and what have you.
If I'm interested in a ceiling (or wall) mounted WAP, why do I care about how a Orbi or whatever DWS unit compares to this?

I probably sound ungrateful, sorry about that but that was my thoughts reading the review.
But all things considered, I really do appreciate you reviewing these. Thank you.

Question though, as these units are geared more towards enterprise/school/and so on use cases with lots of users, would it be possible with your gear and test equipment to see multiple client performance?
Correct me if I'm wrong but the SU-MIMO tests would be those? I'd say that would be the most interesting aspect to see, how well for example the AC Lite or AC Pro handles multiple clients compared to other AP's with other BHR's or DWS's thrown for comparison (I do realise what I just said above about comparing these to DWS and not to AP's..)

Edit: P.S. I look forward to possible future AC HD review, specs and whatnot taken into account seems like a beast of a AP.
And as a segway, also looking forward to future Gen3 units from Ubnt but the Unifi team probably has their hands full with the HD and SHD for a while, maybe next year.
For now I'll be looking at getting an AC Lite, maybe a Gen3 equivalent in the future to get some roaming action / op 5G blanket going if for nothing more than "because why not" and the "shirts 'n' giggles".

 

[tvyankee]

Hello.

Tim thanks for your review. I just wanted people to know if they don't already that there are a new version of lite that's out or just coming out that works on both 24 or 48 because of those low cost unifi switches only do 48.

Just thought I would let people know .

Might be helpful info.

 

[lagittaja]

Well, it's both the Lite and the LR. The newer versions are slowly trickling out to the market. I've seen mostly LR's. Some in US, some in UK (LinITX), Sweden (Webhallen) and even here in Finland. Streakwave also has them according to multiple reports from users.
No official announcement from Ubiquiti yet, probably waiting for their old stock to clear out.

Changes are

• 802.3af as well as passive 24V
• new surface finish / revised housing just like the AC-HD OotB and the AC-Pro which also got this change earlier
  • Soft touch matte instead of shiny smooth plastic
  • U logo silky smooth looking (paint, idk) light grey instead of the shiny, silver raised logo
  • and most importantly, light leaking through the plastic is now fixed

How to identify new units

• FCC ID, model number etc. is the same so nope..
• Packaging
  • Spoiler

    

    
• The new surface finish.. The new U logo..
• Rear of the unit is otherwise identical except for some silly power symbol sticker
  • Spoiler

    

    

References
https://community.ubnt.com/t5/UniFi-Wireless/Legitimate-UAP-AC-Pro/m-p/1806313#M205140
https://community.ubnt.com/t5/UniFi...over-a-UAP-AC-LR-now-that-the-LR/td-p/1824346
https://community.ubnt.com/t5/UniFi-Wireless/UAP-AC-Lite-802-3af-support-48v-PoE/td-p/1792308
https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubiquiti/comments/5unz3z/uapaclrs_now_supporting_8023af_seems_like/

 

[DanH]

Also people should be aware that some switches even though they are new models like the 8-60w do not work with some of the new APs like the HDs. So make sure you look before you buy or you will be wasting some money on restocking fees.

The 60w switch is 15w per port and the HDs are max power 17w.... for example.


Something an experienced installer would check, but maybe not someone who is setting up their first home network with Unifi. I cannot confirm or deny if I fell into the latter category.

 

[lagittaja]

Yeah, that's a good point. People need to pay attention to the different PoE implementations and make sure they get compatible stuff.
Like the regular US-8 without PoE but with PoE passthrough. There's a catch. You can power it with either 802.3af, 802.3at, passive 48V PoE or DC48V in. It does not support 24V passive.
https://help.ubnt.com/hc/en-us/articles/236215747-UniFi-Powering-a-US-8-Switch-and-Connected-Devices

But anyway, thankfully Ubiquiti is steering away from the passive nonsense, at least with the AP's.

And since you mentioned the 60W switch, what a shame that it's 802.3af only.. It would've been nice if they'd given it .3at capability as well, you could've had two or thee HD's running off of it.

 

[JSatch]

not an engineer, so i may be way off center here. for relatively urban areas (townhome, condo, apartment, postage stamp yards, small businesses in strip malls, etc) it seems that 2.4g range may be overstressed and may be even less desirable than the 5g range. steamrolling neighbors with 2.4g is less likely with 5g due to its reduced ability to permeate structural factors. now if you live in the country with a big house with old walls containing metal or concrete, then 2.4g is the more important choice for coverage.

the point is, orbi seems like a steamroller, and i mean that in a good way, especially if you need or want one. the unifi-aps, however, have a very comparable 5g down and slightly better 5g up, relative to the orbi. so if a space that requires 2 orbis ($350-400) may require 3 unifi-aps (~$300 + router) for equivalent if not better 5g coverage, it could be a better choice in an urban environment. and to further that point, in such an environment the 2.4g channels are flooded. living in a townhouse we often have over 15 other devices fighting for bandwidth, not counting the microwave, computer mice, etc. 5g just has more open space.

in addition, i am one that is looking at either an orbi or unifi, so i think the comparison for me was on target.

 

[JSatch]

as an aside, again not an engineer, but did work in medical research and i can tell you labs following the same protocols often found differing results. drilling down to find out what and why this happens often leads to more interesting discoveries than the original proposal.

but i'd like to thank tim of SNB for doing this seemingly thankless, and sometimes critiqued but vital work to educate the masses like myself. the conversation that ensued here with brandon was educational and i think is missing from many of the the plain vanilla reviews i've read.

good luck to you, and thanks!

 

[JSatch]

Well, it's both the Lite and the LR. The newer versions are slowly trickling out to the market. I've seen mostly LR's. Some in US, some in UK (LinITX), Sweden (Webhallen) and even here in Finland. Streakwave also has them according to multiple reports from users.
No official announcement from Ubiquiti yet, probably waiting for their old stock to clear out.

Changes are

• 802.3af as well as passive 24V
• new surface finish / revised housing just like the AC-HD OotB and the AC-Pro which also got this change earlier
  • Soft touch matte instead of shiny smooth plastic
  • U logo silky smooth looking (paint, idk) light grey instead of the shiny, silver raised logo
  • and most importantly, light leaking through the plastic is now fixed

How to identify new units

• FCC ID, model number etc. is the same so nope..
• Packaging
• The new surface finish.. The new U logo..
• Rear of the unit is otherwise identical except for some silly power symbol sticke

References
https://community.ubnt.com/t5/UniFi-Wireless/Legitimate-UAP-AC-Pro/m-p/1806313#M205140
https://community.ubnt.com/t5/UniFi...over-a-UAP-AC-LR-now-that-the-LR/td-p/1824346
https://community.ubnt.com/t5/UniFi-Wireless/UAP-AC-Lite-802-3af-support-48v-PoE/td-p/1792308
https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubiquiti/comments/5unz3z/uapaclrs_now_supporting_8023af_seems_like/

awesome! great find sir!

i much prefer the new finish without the garish, industrial silver U for home use, but mostly the PoE support.

ideally for my place i would like 1 'pro' due to the pass-through 2nd ethernet port to wire the tv and entertainment stuff downstairs, the 'LR' in my sons room as the kitchen is underneath and is currently a dead zone, and a 'lite' for my wife and my bedroom (small space and 'pro' will cover downstairs under us). unless i can get the newer PoE models and mate them with an 8-port 60w switch, and there seems to be some question from the excellent articles if they will be reality anytime soon, i'm holding off on unifi gear. but i need to cut my cord soon, so may just pop for the orbi 3-pack from costco ($425 until the end of the month) and see how well the backhaul works. as per others in these articles, if these new PoE models are coming to market and ubiquiti is waiting for their old models to sell off first rather than getting the new stuff out and discounting the older models, i think they may be brilliant engineers but may be less finessed from a marketing perspective.

 

[mokodi]

I bought a Unifi AP AC Lite and the signal strength is significantly weaker on the 5ghz band compared to my Asus AC68U. I've tried different placements but it doesn't make a big difference.

Tests are done using VHT 80 and Channel 149 with 20 dBm power on both the Unifi and Asus. RSSI is consistently worse on the Unifi regardless of placement when there are a few walls in the way, around -65 vs -45 and in some places even worse than that. I had to lower the Unifi's 2.4 ghz transmit power otherwise my devices would not switch to 5ghz because the signal was too weak. The Asus doesn't have this problem, and a -20 dBm difference is enough to either cause devices to switch off 5ghz or drop the link rates.

My client devices are various iPhones and iPads and laptops with 2x2 radios so although I'm comparing a 3x3 router to a 2x2 AP I would expect performance to be pretty similar since I don't have 3x3 clients.

Can't really recommend these based on my experience so far. You'll have better luck turning a consumer router into an AP unless you really need something ceiling mounted.

EDIT: fixed values

 

[Almighty1]

I don't know with anyone else. If cabling is not a problem, Ubiquiti's Unifi AP's is the most cost effective way to fill a location with Wi-Fi. Someone can make it even slightly cheaper by going with Wi-Fi routers with disabled DHCP function or AP mode but cumbersome for management, like changing the Wi-Fi password

I was thinking of the same thing as one can just replace the WiFi portion of a Netgear R7000 or ASUS RT-AC68U/R with the UniFi AP. I thought one didn't have to disable the DHCP on the router at all and just had to disable the wireless part but why is it cumbersome for management?

 

[Audio-catalyst]

I bought a Unifi AP AC Lite and the signal strength is significantly weaker on the 5ghz band compared to my Asus AC68U. I've tried different placements but it doesn't make a big difference.

Tests are done using VHT 80 and Channel 149 with 20 dBm power on both the Unifi and Asus. RSSI is consistently worse on the Unifi regardless of placement when there are a few walls in the way, around -65 vs -45 and in some places even worse than that. I had to lower the Unifi's 2.4 ghz transmit power otherwise my devices would not switch to 5ghz because the signal was too weak. The Asus doesn't have this problem, and a -20 dBm difference is enough to either cause devices to switch off 5ghz or drop the link rates.

My client devices are various iPhones and iPads and laptops with 2x2 radios so although I'm comparing a 3x3 router to a 2x2 AP I would expect performance to be pretty similar since I don't have 3x3 clients.

Can't really recommend these based on my experience so far. You'll have better luck turning a consumer router into an AP unless you really need something ceiling mounted.

EDIT: fixed values

Had the oposite experience with my ac-pro's, in my case with much much more expensive motorola ap6532.
Thing with unifi is though that things vary depending on firmware you run, the latest is not always the greatest.

Then again , uplinking ap's does give one much better coverage than 1 base station ever could

Their current beta controller, also seems to solve a lot of roaming stuff....