I am using currently 3 UniFi AC Pro APs in my house to cover the whole place with WiFi. Since it’s still WiFi 5, I am thinking about upgrading to WiFi 6 with wAP ax. As I do have a RB5009, I would use CAPsMan for this. My UniFi Controller is currently running self hosted on my home linux server. WiFi 7 from UniFi is not really something for me, as it draws way to much power for me (21W/25W) in contrary to my current old UniFi AP with max 9w.
Would be this a good replacement for me? What I can see, that my old UniFi offeres 3x3, while wAP ax only does 2x2. Is this a problem? I think, that my only capable device with 3x3 is my ThinkPad with an AX201 card?
Should be fine.
WAP AX can use 160MHz wide channel so there should not be that much difference ( provided your environment allows you to use it. Read: relatively interference free).
Unify and wAP AX both use 1gb ether ports, so that’s probably going to be your limiting factor anyhow.
Also consider replacing with the cAP AX, depending on how the current accesspoints are mounted.
What is the main reason of the upgrade? What are you expecting?
Be aware of the meaning of the model name and consequently its radiation pattern:
c=ceiling omnidirectional (360°, at least in theory)
w=wall directional 90° to maybe 120° or so.
The radiation pattern of the Wap seems to be like an off center ball with a flat bottom, see: http://forum.mikrotik.com/t/wap-coverage-picture-included/179859/1
I guess, that 160MHz should work, as no other WiFi are in range. 1gb ether port is fine for me, as the rest is also still 1gb here.
Main reason was, that's a smaller device on the wall and 160 MHz as bonus (cAP ax does not support this). And I could ditch the UniFi controller.
I am not sure, if I did understand that corretly. All of my UniFi APs are currently mounted on a wall, not on the ceiling. So wouldn't wAP that better than cAP?
Then probably the wAP is just fine for your use, and the cAP - set aside the 160 MHz width - would have been less suitable.
But it is really hard to say as indoors there are reflections/absorptions/whatever that may make the real world coverage different from the theoretical or geometrical one.
The wAP Ax Is a very new device, so there are not reports on how It behaves.
The wAP ax should work well for wall-mounted setups with its directional coverage. The 160MHz channel will give you a performance boost, as long as there’s minimal interference.
It is standing on my desk here since a little over 2 weeks, under capsman control via RB5009.
It behaves really stable (ZERO drops that I can tell on my PC, using Azure Remote Desktop which is VERY sensitive to drops) and I am using 160MHz channel on it.
My PC has an intel AX211 card and can make full use of it.
The ideal situation would be a cAP in the center of the ceiling as it supposedly toroidal (doughnut) emission shape should cover everything.
If you put a wAP on (say) the north wall, in the middle, it will probably cover everything as well, but - given its more directional shape I would guess that near the north wall and in the two corners north-east and north-west there is less signal.
BTW the wAP has as included accessories:
desktop stand ← OK
wAP mount <i presume intended for pole or wall mount
wAP ceiling mount bracket ← which is clearly for ceiling or maybe also for wall mount
Now, if the off-center ball with a flat bottom shape is correct, if you mount a wAP in the center of the ceiling, the apartment below your room should enjoy better coverage than you?
Probably not … because apart from “back side” (where signal level is supposed to be like 20dB lower than in main direction) signal levels are not so much lower than main direction. OTOH the ceiling/floor would have to be made of wooden planks and paper not to introduce loss of more than 20dB.
