Review on MikroTik RBmAPL-2nD 2GHz mAP Lite Access Point: High-Performance 802.11bgn 2x2 PoE Connector by Brian Wersching

I bought one of these to test as an access point for use in my PFSense firewall setup. It's a surprisingly simple device with a lot of potential, but it's slow and doesn't live up to its end goal (WiFi). How simple? Inside the plastic case you will find: - Qualcomm QCA9531-BL3A-R router chip (believed to be <500MHz) - Nanya BT5Tu32M16FG-AC 512MB DDR2 RAM chip - Winbond W25Q128FV 16MB flash memory and some competition for accessory components. All in a package the size of 2 matchboxes stacked on top of each other. Pros: - It has a super feature rich Microtik RouterOS that allows you to tweak almost every setting in the device. - Good POE support (I haven't had the problems that other people have had and have tried 2 POE sources as well as the provided wall wart) - Acceptable performance (at VERY short range). I get 60 Mbps, almost symmetrical, over WiFi - has a small rectangular N52 magnet in the case. which is very convenient to attach to the iron base. Cons: WiFi range and performance is terrible/dismal. At a height of 10 feet, under a wooden floor, I couldn't get a stable connection. It behaves almost like a line of sight device. minus the laser. lol - Non-working features in RouterOS (i.e. attempting to adjust the transmit power causes an error and reports that the feature is not supported) - Poor thermal design. There is a small metal heatsink on the bottom of the case that has been welded to the circuit board, but the QCA9531 is attached to the top plastic shell!? This is the first time I've seen plastic as a heatsink for a SoC. A 1 inch piece of copper tape or something that even fits in the ethernet connector housing would be more efficient. This is probably best suited as an ultra-small access point to serve a single room as long as there are no significant signal obstructions in that room.