Back in November last year, Ubiquiti introduced its first 802.11ax or WiFi 6 UniFi APs to the market with the new 6 Lite and 6 LR APs, with the 6 Lite sitting toe to toe price wise with the entry level AC Lite access point. We’re going to see how they compare and what features you can expect to see and if it is worth upgrading.
With the 6 Lite Ubiquti has moved the same dimensions and form factor has the nanoHD AP with a metal back for better wireless isolation as well as support for the mounting options and skins that were introduced with the nanoHD a few years back. The 6 Lite supports 2×2 MIMO on 5GHz and 2.4GHz with a max rate of 1.2Gbps on the 5GHz band and 300mbps on the 2.4GHz band. The 6 Lite has the same power needs as the outgoing AC Lite, at 802.3af with Gigabit Ethernet. However, some older AC Lite models did support 24v only and then supporting both later on. The 6 Lite is only rated for 802.3af.
Both the AC Lite and 6 Lite are 2×2 MIMO radios, dual band supporting 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. The AC Lite has 3dbi of gain on both antennas with a max output power of 20dBm on both frequencies, whereas the 6 Lite has 2.8dBi of gain on 2.4GHz and 3dBi on 5GHz with a max output power of 23dBm on both frequencies.
The AC Lite comes in at £73.18 / $89 / €82.80 and the 6 Lite comes in at £83.79 / $99 / €94.80.
AC Lite | 6 Lite | |
802.11 Types | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax |
PoE Type | 24v passive PoE and 802.3af | 802.3af |
Special Features | N/A | Supports nanoHD skins and mounts |
Operating temperatures | -10 to 70° C (14 to 158° F) | -30 to 60° C (-22 to 140° F) |
Interface speed | 1 x 10/100/1000 | 1 x 10/100/1000 |
Max Clients | 200 | 300 |
Build material | Plastic | Plastic and SGCC Steel |
Price | £73.18 UK / $89 US / €82.80 EU | £83.79 UK / $99 US / €94.80 EU |
Recommendation
It depends how many clients you have in your network, I wouldn’t rush out to buy a whole new set of APs if you already have a functioning UniFi network already with AC APs, the benefit of 802.11ax (WiFi 6) is for dense environments. But due to the small price increase of the 6 Lite over the AC Lite, if you are building out a new network then it is probably worth while going for the 802.11ax APs from Ubiquiti.
Amazon Links
This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links, which helps us keep the website running and free of charge.
