Ubiquiti UniFi 6 Long-Range Access Point U6-LR

Product Information

It seems that Ubiquiti has added this feature on the U6-Pro, so, without further ado, let’s put the WiFi 6 access point to the test and see what it has to offer. With the Unifi 6 Lite and the Unifi 6 LR now generally available, is it a good time to take a closer look. The UniFi Controller allows you to configure a Wi-Fi network with ease and to fine tune the performance to deliver outstanding performance. Monitoring the CPU and memory usage of the UniFi 6 LR has shown no sign of the device being underpowered, with plenty of performance in reserve.

It has twice the amount of RAM, faster CPU, Bluetooth (for management), 4×4 spatial streams, addressable RGB led ring, and antennas with a higher gain and transmit power. Firstly, many Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 client devices only support a maximum channel bandwidth of 80 MHz. Wi-Fi packets have to be acknowledged, and Wi-Fi is half-duplex, meaning transmissions can only happen in one direction at a time. Compared with Ubiquiti’s nanoHD Wi-Fi 5 Access Point, for little more money, the UniFi 6 Long Range Access Point provides future proofing, noticeably higher speeds with Wi-Fi 6 devices and improved range.

The water and dust-resistant U6 LR can be mounted either indoors or outside, blending seamlessly into virtually any environment so you'll never have to disrupt your space's aesthetic to enjoy excellent wireless coverage. It is really important to emphasise that bolstering signal levels by deploying multiple Access Points will provide huge benefit to those currently running a single Wi-Fi router, irrespective of whether these are Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6. As shown in the photo below, comparing the UniFi 6 Long Range device ‘in the flesh’ (left) with the nanoHD unit (right) shows the UniFi 6 Long Range model to have a much larger form factor.

I know that this is an excuse to keep the case waterproof, but then again, using a silicone seal and some screws would have worked just as well.

Before getting to the actual results, I need to mention that a PoE adapter or switch is mandatory, and I used the Zyxel XS1930 which was way overkill for a Gigabit connection, but I had it already installed from when I tested the EnGenius ECW336 (not that Ubiquiti actually sends me anything, let alone an Ethernet switch).

The beauty of the UniFi Controller software is that it allows you to configure and manage different types and generations of UniFi Access Points, which gives immense flexibility on deployment. They have the best value for money in my opinion, so I was really waiting for their new WiFi 6 Access Points. That said, I don’t think there’s a big rush to upgrade from any of the Wi-Fi 5 models I just mentioned. They’re pretty much identical not only from the design point of view, but they’re also the same size.It’s quite big (and heavy), but as you can see in the tests, it has an amazing throughput, even through brick walls. 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. WiFi 4) routers, so the adoption at the home-user level is really not that great; neither is at the SMB or enterprise level because the equipment costs money, the monitoring and the management for new hardware costs money and it’s not worth it upgrading every couple of years.