I am currently in the process of replacing most of the network equipment in my house for home/office use.
I have already replaced my old UDM Pro gateway with an mikrotik ethernet router (CCR2004 to be specific) and it is really fun to work with tbh.
Now I want to replace my 8 year old Unifi AP AC Pro as well, but I have run into a bit of a range/coverage issue.
I got myself a cAP AX, but I was really disappointed with its range/coverage performance compared to my 8 year old Unifi AP, considering the cAP AX is a more recent product.
The throughput was fine (~400Mbit/s), it was a little better than the unifi (~360 Mbit/s) so I would have been ok with it, even if I would have liked to get closer to my uplink speed (1000/1000 ISP atm).
But the range/coverage was a real bummer.
The cAP coverage dropped to almost non existent in parts of the house where the unifi still had good coverage, (i didn’t check the db when moving around just the wifi symbol on my iphone.).
I could not even preform a upload/download test with the cAP AX using my iPhone without disabling the mobile network first since it would just refuse to stay on the wifi.
Since mounting the cAP in the ceiling is rather cumbersum operation due to it being 6 meeters up in the room it would have to be mounted in, I have to put it on a wall, which seems to be a suboptimal position for this model…
(Maybe that is the reason for the coverage issue I am facing?)
Anyway, I will most likely return the cAP AX, since the range/coverage was such a big disapointment.
So now I am trying to find another model to replace my 8 year old unifi AP, and if possible I would like to stay within the Mikrotik echo system.
So my question is, are there any Mikrotick models that might have a similar range/coverage to my old Unifi AP?
What about the chateau pro ax ?
Anyone tested it out and have some experince/insight in regards to performance and coverage?
I will try to make some more research intot he chateau pro ax first, but it seems like I have to look outside of the Mikrotik echo system, which is a bumme since I really liked the setup of the cAP AX with CAPsMAN. Vlans, SSIDs etc was pretty smooth to setup once you got your head around the cli and gui and I prefere to have everything in the same view.
Anyway, if the Chateau pro does not make for a good fit, ill most likely take a look at Grandstream APs next since they have a local contoller on the APs and also have models that supprot LAG for the eth ports.
Then I’ll just have to keep an eye on the Mikrotik AP releases I guess.
Grandstream as well as Unify won’t perform any better than a cAP AX/wAP AX. Been there, done that. Wall mounted, the wAP AX is best choice (w is for wall, where c is for ceiling).
The thing is that I have an Unifi AC AP Pro (WiFi 5), which I bought in 2017 or 16, dont remember exactly I just know it is at least 8 years.
And I know that when it is in the exact same spot as where I tested the cAP AX, it leaves it in the dust coverage wise, and it’s not that far after the cAP AX when it comes to throughput.
The UniFi AP can be placed in anyway, pointing in any direction and it still provides more coverage than the cAP AX.
I tried to to play around with different bands, frequensies etc, but it did not solve the coverage for me, in most cases the throughput just tanked on the cAP AX if I played around to much with settings.
If the cAP AX would have had close to the same coverage I would have been happy, but it does not, and that is my problem.
I don’t know how the Grandstream performs yet though, since I have not tested it, maybe my old UniFi AP will leave it in the dust as well, coverage wise.
Thanks for the input on W and C, I didnt know about that and will keep it in mind when evaluating Mikrotik APs!
I would try the wap ax and if coverage does not meet expectations - then just skip Mikrotik wireless. wap ax is currently the best/latest Mikrotik has to offer as wall mounted AP.
For the cap ax, I would not dare to mount such a huge device on a wall. It is kind of OK for ceiling, but for wall: this is big as a frisbee. Other vendors offer AX APs smaller in diameter - and even less looking like a smoke detector. But looks is as always: YMMV
Best out of all these was the ax3 then ax2 and then cap ax last was Chateau Pro ax (this was biggest disappointment, speed is great if near router but range on ax3 waaaaay better)
From experience, Grandstream APs are omnidirectional. They can be either wall or ceiling mounted and, though I can’t speak for the AX models, the AC versions have pretty good range. I would say better than MT in some cases and definitely better than the UAP AC Lite (I moved away form Unifi stuff dissatisfied, a couple of years back and didn’t try any of their other options).
I decided to go with a Grandstream for now since almost everywhere I read or looked into the MT WiFi performance it got shot down.
I will keep my eyes on the MT AP releases and this board for any improvements and might replace the Grandstream AP as soon as there is an MT product that is up to the challenge.
So I just got the Grandstream 7665 and with the standard setup I have excellent signal strength in the entire house, even in places where the old unifi AP didnt.
So coverage wise the GS AP is awesome.
But I really don’t like the Admin Interface on it, I think the Mikrotik admin interface is a lot better.
Anyway this will have to do untill there is a Mikrotik AP that can provide coverage in my entire house, so a year or 2 maybe.
Whilst rather off to be discussing alternatives in a Mikrotik forum, thanks for the heads up on Grandstream 7665. I’ve never heard of it but will certainly be checking it out. I’m afraid I’ve given Mikrotik more than enough time to get Wi-Fi right
Later… just watching review, 2.5G network port as well.
Controversial as well but link to the discussion about Mikrotik controller. I like the idea that you can use one of the access points as the site controller. Or run it elsewhere. It looks at first glance like Unifi.
Sadly it does. I say sad because I’d prefer to stick with Mikrotik but the Wi-Fi issues are just too much. Yes, it would be useful for somebody to do a benchmark between the two. I’m tempted to buy one and replace the Wi-Fi side of my home hAP ax2 for some unscientific but real world testing looking most at signal strength and stability. I’m one of those with a Lenovo laptop which really struggles to maintain a 5GHz connection even though it’s in the same room with a reasonable line of sight.
People have different experiences. I am sitting in the next room from to my recently purchased ax3 (i.e. a few metres through an internal wall), pulling 1020 Mb/s on a portable, a slight peak as it normally sits at 960 Mb/s when I check. If I switched it off I would still see a few hundred Mb/s from the ax2 at the other end of the house. My home is large but relatively open, not a warren of walls. Mileage May Vary, as they say. I had considered putting a wAP AX at each end of the house pointing along the length but there is currently no cabling at the ideal corners.
Please share your wifi config obviously without passwords just to see… I have tried alot of different config options… although speed is not always my concern but coverage is.
Yep, and - as I see it - that is actually the base problem, in a perfect world everyone should have exactly the same experience (whether good or bad doesn’t matter).
We are talking of a mass-produced device, with (set apart some crazy configuration) a fairly basic set of requirements (your mission, should you accept it, is to allow wireless devices to the internet ) , it could be acceptable four levels of experience (good, average, bad, terrible) relative to range and speed depending on environment (traditional japanese home with wood and paper separators, western home with card board or hollow brick walls and wooden doors, historical homes with thick brick or stone walls and thick wooden doors, WWII or cold war concrete bunkers with thick steel doors), but that’s it..
Again, set apart a few crazy configurations or excessive expectations, the reports vary way too much, there is something missing, maybe it is a bad feng-shui architecture, maybe it is the influence of Hartmann lines or nodes, voodoo, who knows?
) , it could be acceptable four levels of experience (good, average, bad, terrible) relative to range and speed depending on environment (traditional japanese home with wood and paper separators, western home with card board or hollow brick walls and wooden doors, historical homes with thick brick or stone walls and thick wooden doors, WWII or cold war concrete bunkers with thick steel doors), but that’s it..