RT-AX86U Pro, wow.

[snovvman]

I have 3 nodes that covers my house. Although there are still bad spots, I am satisfied with the coverage without feeling the need to add a 4th. Some time ago, I bought the most expensive Deco hoping to replace the trio because I wanted 6Ghz and WiFi7. After testing the 2.4 and 5Ghz coverage, I immediately returned them.

Recently, I tried the Asus BT8s, they are okay, but did not provide nearly the coverage. Then, I got 3 Unifi APs. I know they are built for stability, but after doing some site survey, I will probably need to get 5 to replace the 3 AX86s.

Is it the external antennas, and that they are aimable? Is it that they are unsightly in my house and ugly = performance? I know they are well-loved and workhorses. What makes them so special? I have yet to see APs that provide the range that they do. They perform well too. Has anyone found APs that can hold a candle against the AX86s, has 6Ghz, WiFi7, and ideally 4x4 5Ghz?

 

[Tech9]

Has anyone found APs that can hold a candle against the AX86s, has 6Ghz, WiFi7, and ideally 4x4 5Ghz?

My UniFi U6-Mesh APs have similar range to RT-AX86U. I have 4x APs though running on low power (100mW or 20dBm). Power over 400mW or 26dBm is mostly increasing the environment noise since the range becomes more defined by the clients with their 12-14dBm radios. What you perceive as great Wi-Fi will be assessed as Poor in Ubiquiti UniFi due to highly disbalanced Tx/Rx links to clients.

 

[snovvman]

My UniFi U6-Mesh APs have similar range to RT-AX86U. I have 4x APs though running on low power (100mW or 20dBm). Power over 400mW or 26dBm is mostly increasing the environment noise since the range becomes more defined by the clients with their 12-14dBm radios. What you perceive as great Wi-Fi will be assessed as Poor in Ubiquiti UniFi due to highly disbalanced Tx/Rx links to clients.

Thanks for your reply. I'd like to understand more. When checking for range, I used two phones--one on a continuous local upload speed test, the other scanning APs showing signal strength. There are distant spots where the AX would show up on the scan software but U7 Pro would not. Other spots where the AX will sustain 10-30Mbps on 2.4 whereas the U7 Pro can only do 0-5Mbps.

If I understand what you wrote, the AP can transmit farther than the client, but the AP will have to be able to "hear" the transmission, and that's where gain and better antennas on the AP matters? My assumption was that since, in some spots, the Unifi doesn't even show up, that is has "less" range. Am I looking at this wrong? By the way, I was testing one-for-one. In other words, I was comparing one AX and one U7 Pro from the same spot while I walked around the house to do the site survey.

 

[Tech9]

I'd like to understand more.

All AIO home routers blast as much as possible power to cover maximum area even at -80dBm signal level. They are designed to work this way as single AP. Not great Wi-Fi, but saves money, space, energy. SMB APs on the other hand are designed to work in clusters and supplement each other. If you want great Wi-Fi with optimal performance you need APs with similar to the clients power and overlapping coverage with -54/60dBm signal level. It will cost more money, will need wired infrastructure and will use more power. It's not like one is bad and the other good though. They are just different market products with different requirements and expectations.

If I understand what you wrote, the AP can transmit farther than the client, but the AP will have to be able to "hear" the transmission, and that's where gain and better antennas on the AP matters?

Correct, but your RT-AX86U Pro doesn't have better antennas. They are low-gain 2dBi dipole about 5cm long and all the rest is non-functional plastic. U6-Mesh have higher gain 5dBi internal antennas, for example. The client can hear a loud high-power AP, but may not be able to reply back. Wi-Fi is 2-way communication. This is where range limitation comes from.

My assumption was that since, in some spots, the Unifi doesn't even show up, that is has "less" range. Am I looking at this wrong?

This means you need more APs. If you check Ubiquiti Community Forums for Wi-Fi planning tips - almost no one is running APs on high power with maximum range idea. This type of Wi-Fi planning is wrong for SMB. You pay more and the end result is similar to home routers. You've got lucky your AiMesh is kind of okay in a large area. With no per-AP control you'll have severe roaming issues with sticky clients or clients connecting to the further located node. Very common issue, but most people don't understand the cause.