Ubiquiti Announces New Budget Saving UniFi APs

[Julio Urquidi]

The new UniFi AC-HD is a Ubiquiti’s first 802.11ac access point that’s compatible with the company’s own UniFi SDN platform. This dual-band AP is a 4x4 MU-MIMO device, providing simultaneous connections to compatible endpoints, increasing both wireless efficiency and performance.

Additional features for the UniFi AC-HD include 802.3 PoE+ compatibility, radio and CPU hardware acceleration, and optimized antenna arrays for better beamforming range and throughput.

As part of the UniFi family, the AC-HD can be managed via the UniFi SDN controller’s graphical interface, along with other UniFi products.

Available now through Ubiquiti and authorized distributors, the UniFi AC-HD is priced at $349 MSRP, more than a third less expensive than competitive products from Merkaki, Aruba and Ruckus.

 

[pege63]

UniFi® UAP-AC-HD

The UniFi® AC HD AP is the first UniFi 802.11ac Wave 2 AP for use in high‑density deployments. It features simultaneous, dual-band, 4x4 MU‑MIMO technology and convenient 802.3at PoE+ compatibility.

 

[pete y testing]

4x4

just for info its 1733M on 5 gig and 450M on 2.4 gig , and some of their claims like

A 4x4 Wave 2 AP delivers up to 33% greater performance*
than a Wave 1 AP that is 3x3 in both radio bands.

are a little bs

esp when in the next sentence they say

the UniFi AC HD AP delivers up to 125%
greater performance* than a typical Wave 1 AP.

and at $300 usd each they certainly aint cheap

 

[dunkin]

just for info its 1733M on 5 gig and 450M on 2.4 gig , and some of their claims like

A 4x4 Wave 2 AP delivers up to 33% greater performance*
than a Wave 1 AP that is 3x3 in both radio bands.

are a little bs

esp when in the next sentence they say

the UniFi AC HD AP delivers up to 125%
greater performance* than a typical Wave 1 AP.

and at $300 usd each they certainly aint cheap

I think it has 800M on 2.4g, therefore it is "AC2600".

Its box however has "4Gbps"

 

[Wutikorn]

MU-MIMO

I read about MU-MIMO and it says that devices need to support it in order to have the feature working. But what happen when one device does not support MU-MIMO while the other 5 devices does? Will the router just work like SU-MIMO?

 

[thiggins]

I read about MU-MIMO and it says that devices need to support it in order to have the feature working. But what happen when one device does not support MU-MIMO while the other 5 devices does? Will the router just work like SU-MIMO?

You need at least two MU-MIMO devices to see any advantage. Also need both to have strong to medium level signals.

The router should not drop back to SU for all clients. MU devices will operate in MU, SU, in SU.

 

[dunkin]

You need at least two MU-MIMO devices to see any advantage. Also need both to have strong to medium level signals.

The router should not drop back to SU for all clients. MU devices will operate in MU, SU, in SU.

I'm confused with this. How do MU and SU devices share a same WIFI band?

Since all MU devices operate in MU, SU in SU, if I have 2 devices, one MU, one SU, they will operate in two different modes. The MU should get MU benefit. The SU, on the other hand, has no other SUs compete/share the SU resource, is logically in "MU" mode too.

Back to the original question, 5 MUs one SU. Sounds like all 6 devices run in MU mode.

 

[dunkin]

I'm confused with this. How do MU and SU devices share a same WIFI band?

Since all MU devices operate in MU, SU in SU, if I have 2 devices, one MU, one SU, they will operate in two different modes. The MU should get MU benefit. The SU, on the other hand, has no other SUs compete/share the SU resource, is logically in "MU" mode too.

Back to the original question, 5 MUs one SU. Sounds like all 6 devices run in MU mode.

Maybe they will run in a different mode: when a SU has right to communicate with AP, it occupies the bandwidth exclusively. When the SU finishes its communication, the right will be moved to next. If the next is a MU, all MUs will then communicate with AP concurrently. But this logic has a flaw too: if one of the MUs never stops communication, no SUs would have rights to connect to the AP anymore.

 

[thiggins]

This is a sponsored article, but provides a good explanation of how MU and SU work together.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-features/32725-why-youll-want-mu-mimo

 

[DanH]

Was looking at getting some of these for when we move into our new home, but not sure if they really offer much compared to the AC-PRO. Other than a phone or two, we don't have any MU-MIMO devices, and it is a home...so I am not sure what the HD part brings to the table for a home environment. We won't move until very late in the year, so hopefully a review will be done that compares these to the ACPro's. there is a $200 difference between the two, but I wonder for a home environment if they would be a waste.

 

[pege63]

Or you could look at the TP-Link EAP330 same price as a AC-PRO (here in Sweden).

 

[DanH]

Or you could look at the TP-Link EAP330 same price as a AC-PRO (here in Sweden).

But then it wouldn't be controlled/have stats with the cloudkey

 

[pege63]

Aha Oki and thats only works with Ubiquiti hardware?
I was interested in the 2x1Gb port features, if i have a Router with Link aggregation ports and connected this APto it, do i get a 2Gb backhaul then?

 

[DanH]

Aha Oki and thats only works with Ubiquiti hardware?
I was interested in the 2x1Gb port features, if i have a Router with Link aggregation ports and connected this APto it, do i get a 2Gb backhaul then?

You can run other hardware with the Unifi line, but you cant manage it all from the controller. Like I run the Orbi as APs right now, but I can't really manage them (have to go to the orbi admin ui for that) or get stats from the wireless users (they all show as wired clients).

 

[d-m-z]

Its box however has "4Gbps"

That was from the beta run. Retail box is supposed to say 2.5 Gbps.

Also rumoured that they will support 160 MHz channels once the DFS implementation gets certified.

 

[Bomamama]

Aha Oki and thats only works with Ubiquiti hardware?
I was interested in the 2x1Gb port features, if i have a Router with Link aggregation ports and connected this APto it, do i get a 2Gb backhaul then?

No no no, it has one port for traffic, and the other one is for passthrough. You do not get link aggregation with Unifi (and you'll never get any wireless speed that would be able to use it anyways, these are just numbers in reality their gear is mediocre at best)

 

[d-m-z]

You do not get link aggregation with Unifi

Actually, you can setup link aggregation on the UAP-AC-HD.

 

[Bomamama]

Or you could look at the TP-Link EAP330 same price as a AC-PRO (here in Sweden).

Du har missat hela poangen med vad Unifi ar, och hur det funkar. Det ar inte 'stand-alone', du maste kontrolera AP'rna fran deras management software. TP-Link ar ju ganska billigt skit, sa testa en AP-AC-Pro och kom over till de stora pojkarnas lag

 

[DanH]

Du har missat hela poangen med vad Unifi ar, och hur det funkar. Det ar inte 'stand-alone', du maste kontrolera AP'rna fran deras management software. TP-Link ar ju ganska billigt skit, sa testa en AP-AC-Pro och kom over till de stora pojkarnas lag

Could you translate that? Like reading everyone's thoughts, but I am only fluent in English. Thanks.

 

[Bomamama]

Could you translate that? Like reading everyone's thoughts, but I am only fluent in English. Thanks.

"You have missed the point of Unifi (management model), TP-Link is a class below, try one and see the difference"