Ubiquiti U6-LITE UniFi 6 Lite Access Point

Product Information

The UniFi line is great but can be a bit confusing for beginners to understand. So I have put together this comparison of their latest Wi-Fi6 compatible access points – the U6 Lite vs. U6 Pro vs. U6 LR (LR = Long Range). bridge: filtering via arp/ip/ip6tables is no longer available by default. Update your scripts to load br_netfilter if you need this. The 5 GHz band of the U6-Lite is equipped with 2x2 MU-MIMO and OFDMA technology, boasting a radio rate of 1.2 Gbps. This ensures fast and reliable wireless connections, making it ideal for data-intensive tasks and high-density environments where network performance is crucial. Versatile 2.4 GHz Band The U6 Mesh has a horizontal antenna pattern to maximise coverage on the same level/floor, the others have a forward beam-pattern that is better suited to ceiling-mounting.

So I have used iPerf3 to measure the throughput of the access points and used only a single thread. I connect a notebook directly to the switch and used another notebook with an Intel AX201 WiFi 6 Adapter to measure the speed. It only has a 2×2 antenna, so it won’t fully benefit from the 4×4 mu-MIMO radio of the U6-LR. The U6-LR does offer more performance and range, but it is also almost double the price of the U6-Lite. Deciding between them depends on a lot of factors, especially if you’re comparing two U6-Lites vs. one U6-LR. If maximum range and speed is your top priority, step up to the U6-LR. If you’re unsure or have a smaller area to cover, the U6-Lite is a good default option. ath5k, ath9k, ath10k, b43, b43 legacy, brcmfmac, brcmsmac, mt76, mwlwifi, rt2500pci, rt2800pci, rt2800usb, rtl819x, unknown, other For this review, I have done some speed and signal strength tests with the new and old Unifi Lite and Long Range access points. I wanted to compare the new and old models in a normal use-case scenario.

AC Mesh Professional

The Unifi 6 Lite and the U6 LR are the first WiFi 6 access point from Ubiquiti. And even though they are both WiFi 6 access points, they are completely different when it comes to size, specifications, performance, and usability. While you may see a data rate of 1200 Mbps, you won’t ever get 1200 Mbps of throughput. There is a lot of overhead in Wi-Fi. Actual TCP throughput is usually 60-70% of your data rate. There are many reasons for this: To say Wi-Fi 6 has been a buzzword in the networking space throughout 2021 would be a bit of an understatement. The overall narrative has certainly left its mark on the space, as the 802.11ax standard has a lot to live up to. So while there are lots of areas that have notable benefits right out of the box, home use isn’t necessarily one of them right now.

Without the advantage of 4 spatial streams or Wi-Fi 6 enhancements, the U6-Lite falls behind. I couldn’t get my MacBook Pro to associate to a 40 MHz channel on any of these APs, so I excluded those results from this test. I believe Apple uses the “ fat channel intolerant” setting on their devices. As always, 5 GHz is the best option for speed, and 40 MHz channels on 2.4 GHz should be avoided in most situations. For the best results, directly connect to the “server” to the same switch as the access points are connected on. mtk_soc_eth 1e100000.ethernet: connected mac 1 to PHY at fixed-0:01 [uid=00000000, driver=Generic PHY] The U6-Lite is designed for efficient power delivery, utilising Gigabit Ethernet and powered with 802.3af/48V PoE. This not only simplifies cabling but also ensures reliable and consistent power, enhancing the overall performance and stability of your network. Enhanced Flexibility

High-Performance Wireless Connectivity

In my home network, I was already using the normal Unifi Lite and LR model, so in this article, we will compare the old with the new models. I have done different tests to compare the speed and signal strength of the access points, in different scenarios. Wifi 6 Improvements Ubiquiti Networks รุ่น U6-Lite: UniFi WiFi 6 Lite 2X2 Access Point Dual band 1.5 Gbps รองรับ 300 User+ Multi-device throughput should see a significant throughput increase, due to multi-user MIMO and OFDMA. OFDMA is a technology borrowed from LTE cellular modems. It’s main impact on Wi-Fi is that it breaks up a wireless channel into smaller Resource Units (RU), and each RU can be assigned to a specific client. There are up to 9 clients per 20 MHz channel, and up to 36 users per 80 MHz channel. Clients can also request and use multiple RUs at once if they need more bandwidth. Early implementations of OFDMA were tested by SmallNetBuilder, and he found no discernible benefits.

The 160 Mhz channel width is at the moment only supported on the U6 LR. In the chart below you won’t see the full potential of the 160 MHz channel width, due to the limitation of the 2×2 Wifi 6 adapter in my notebook. The advantage of the Unifi 6 Long Range with its 4×4 MU-MIMO 5 GHz radio really comes into play when connecting with multiple clients.

Growing up in the early 2000s, I remember the Wi-Fi in our home being slow, unreliable but most of all extremely spotty. There were some areas of the house that were just dead zones. But after 2 decades, technology has advanced to the point where you can get speedy Wi-Fi that can stream multiple 4K streams simultaneously along with all the other traffic in a typical digital household The U6 Lite and U6 Mesh have comparable 2.4 GHz performance at various distances, but at 5 GHz the U6 Mesh is faster. Next, I did the same test on 2.4 GHz, trying both 20 MHz and 40 MHz channels. I don’t recommend using 40 MHz channels in the 2.4 GHz band, due to them overlapping with over 80% of the already-crowded spectrum. There’s only one non-overlapping 40 MHz channel in North America, and the rest of the world only has two. Like 160 MHz channels in 5 GHz, there’s just not enough available frequency for them to be reliably used in most situations.