Ubiquiti UniFi 6 Long-Range Access Point U6-LR

Product Information

Wi-Fi packets have to be acknowledged, and Wi-Fi is half-duplex, meaning transmissions can only happen in one direction at a time. The AC-HD and other AC Wave 2 APs are still better for high-density situations and in some scenarios, but when their Wi-Fi 6 replacements arrive those too will become redundant. Our current Wi-Fi network consists of five UniFi (Wi-Fi 5) nanoHD Access Points, which we have been delighted with.

Most likely, the small networks won’t really notice a difference (when compared to the WiFi 5 access points), but the larger, denser ones will need OFDMA on both radio bands. I have gotten so used to the plastic bracket that gets attached to the wall (ceiling) and then the AP gets rotated inside it, that the accessories that Ubiquiti has added inside the package have taken me by surprise. When the signal dropped to -88dB (at about 70 feet), the throughput was barely usable (14Mbps up and 1. With superior efficiency, higher transmit power and higher maximum radio link speed, opting for the UniFi 6 Lite over the UniFi Lite seems a no-brainer. Founder of Binary Testing Ltd – the UK’s premier independent network testing laboratory - Dave has over 45 years of experience in the IT industry.As the UniFi ecosystem allows you to mix Access Points, upgrading Access Points in high-traffic areas to Wi-Fi 6 may provide a cost-effective evolution path for many. For testing, I’m comparing the U6-Lite and U6-LR with the AC-HD, UniFi Dream Machine, BeaconHD, as well as the Eero 6 and other Wi-Fi 6 mesh kits. Currently have a AC-Pro in my living room and it had issues with coverage in my garage so I added a AC-M near the garage. What I really like about both new access points is that you can still use the old wall/ceiling mount on the new access points.

This can be easily accessed via a browser or a mobile phone app – either when connected to your own local network or remotely (so you have full access and control when away from your home or office). I’ve seen this approach with lots of EnGenius access points, including the ECW230 and the latest WiFi 6E ECW336, and it works wonders for the heat management of compact access points. Since I was using a 2 stream client, the extra spatial streams in the U6-LR, UDM, and AC-HD didn’t come into play besides possibly improving beamforming. At the other extreme, if you currently have multiple Wi-Fi 5 Access Points, a modest broadband connection and are really happy with your current performance, you may wish to wait for Wi-Fi 6E products.Yes, I know the former should reach farther (LR stands for long range), while the latter is built to perform better on the 5GHz, but is that really the case? The difference between your received signal and the noise floor is your signal-to-noise ratio, or SNR. I used local iPerf tests and public speed test servers at multiple locations, and with multiple devices. At closer range (5 feet), the QCN9024 is absolutely phenomenal, delivering an average of 934Mbps upstream and 625Mbps downstream.

While the Ubiquiti nanoHD marked the transition towards smaller and more compact access points, it seems that the U6-LR made a step back, being both larger than the UAP-AC-Pro and far heavier. Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. With the U6-Lite, I would stick to one per floor, but maybe consider adding a 2nd on the main floor. Not really a fan of the single LED system, as I said many times, but I admit it looks very cool on the Ubiquiti access points, so it gets a pass in this case.Moving a bit farther from the AP while also keeping the WiFi 6 client device connected to the 5GHz (160MHz) network, I could see that the attenuation gets a bit more aggressive, going from -27dB at 5 feet to -58dB at 15 feet and -70dB at 30 feet. I already have 2 old LR APs, recently bought a new U6-LR to install on the second floor of my house and was pleasantly surprised than my S20+ could still pick-up decent WiFi 6 signal even outside with a multi-layered wall (which includes brick) between me and the AP. Like 160 MHz channels in 5 GHz, there’s just not enough available frequency for them to be reliably used in most situations.

It is IP54-rated, so it’s protected against dust ingress and it will also survive some water jets, so it is possible to put it outside, in a place still protected from heavy rains or snow. I suppose if we ignore the nanoHD, the Ubiquiti U6-Pro can be considered the WiFi 6 upgrade over the UAP-AC-Pro and that’s even more obvious if we put the two devices side by side. For my next test, I switched back to my 2x2 Wi-Fi 6 client, and tested from 3 different places in my house. Before every transmission there is a short period of silence ( Interframe space) while the device checks if it’s OK to transmit.The Wi-Fi 5 models maxed out at a 867 Mbps data rate, while the U6-Lite and U6-LR top out at 1200 Mbps. We were generally unimpressed with the early devices, which displayed inconsistent performance and lacked key functionality (such as OFDMA support for the uplink).