Review on 📡 Innovative Ubiquiti UniFi AP AC In-Wall: High-Performance Networks Solution by Sam Anez

This is an impressive little device for less than $100. It's an enterprise-class outdoor access point at the price of a mid-range consumer router and comes in a long, tall handle (or box) form factor. For the price, it's hard to beat the value. I use them to test hotspot service at a marina and some on sailboat halyards and masts to extend coverage. All units are exposed to extreme weather conditions such as rain, humidity and wind. They haven't run very long but haven't had any problems for 48 hours in almost non-stop rain. Before I go any further let me tell you what it is and what it is not. First, it's not a router. It's just an access point, which means you still need a router to handle routing, NAT, DHCP, DNS, filtering and access lists (if needed), etc. Most consumer routers combine the features of an access point with a router that does many other things, this one won't have them (at least without specific additions). Also, based on the reviews and questions I've seen, there seems to be some confusion about the capabilities of the grid and how and where it can be used. Some of the answers I saw were wrong, at least not for the current firmware at the time of this review. I will explain them here: 1) This device works standalone, inside or outside as an access point (no router functionality as I explained above) 2) If you have more than one of these devices, they can form a wireless mesh network. One of the devices must be connected to the wired uplink, others can be connected wirelessly to this wired device. You DO NOT NEED an existing AC Pro AP or other non-mesh Ubiquiti AP to form the mesh (some comments, even some of Ubiquiti's old documentation, imply the opposite, which confused me at first. I'm running a mesh with multiple UAP -AC) . -Ms and they work without problems). 3) If you have more than one of these devices and can provide wired uplinks for all of them, they will work without a grid. The presence of a grid in the name does not mean that they are only designed for mesh networks. The grid concept is interesting, but make sure it's your only viable option before going down this route. Among the possible radio topologies, the mesh network is the least interesting in terms of performance. If you have the opportunity, wired uplinks perform significantly better than mesh uplinks because each mesh hop halves the available bandwidth. The grid is ideal if you have electricity in a certain place but no connection. You also need controller software to control these devices. Ubiquiti provides the software for free and is available for Windows, Mac and Linux (Debian/Ubuntu). They are not configured through the web interface. There's also a mobile app that I think can be used to set it up, but I haven't tested it so I can't confirm that. The software itself is also impressive and is an enterprise-class wireless network management system. I manage all access points in the port from a controller that I installed in the cloud on a Linux/Ubuntu machine. Some controller features require the purchase of additional products (e.g. Unifi Security Gateway), but this is not required. I'm really impressed that this software is free to download and use if you only buy a $100 device. However, to get any real practical use out of the software, you need several of these devices. If you only have one the software probably won't be of much use and can even be a hindrance. The downside of this model for non-technical users or simpler use cases is the added complexity. The mobile version of the software can solve this problem, but you need to check the reviews for it separately because I haven't used it. In terms of performance, as I mentioned, I use them in the marina, mounted on halyards and masts about 30 feet high. And the marina is close to several industrial complexes (for reference, according to the controller software, 641 nearby hotspots were detected in the last 72 hours). There is strong interference, especially at 2.4 GHz and also at 5 GHz. However, the performance is pretty decent. The longest wireless connection is achieved at 117(Tx)/234(Rx) Mbps at 117(Tx)/234(Rx) Mbps at 460 feet line of sight using standard omnidirectional rubber duck antennas, which is more than adequate for this scenario. Standard antennas are ok, but nothing outstanding. If I had one complaint, these would be slightly better antennas, but I'm not deducting a star for that, considering the price. Another relatively negative issue is the lack of antenna options. These are dual band antennas and there aren't many options for dual band antennas to extend the range. Ubiquiti itself does not have a dual-band antenna for these devices at the time of writing, but based on forum discussions I understand they will be announcing one. I haven't played with the pro version of these blocks, since their form factor doesn't lend itself to direct mounting on boats, but if you need a stronger block I'd look into it. They have stronger internal 3x8 dbi antennas, their maximum transmission power is higher and they use 3x3 MIMO instead of 2x2 MIMO. Before that, I tested Open Mesh OM2P for a similar hotspot use case. The total cost of an OM2P with the device itself, the weatherproof case, and the PoE adapter exceeds the cost of this device, and in terms of features and functionality, it is second to none. It could even be a replacement for consumer hotspots if the user needs multiple devices, is a bit tech-savvy, and/or is willing to play and learn with things. That's definitely but if you need a stronger block I would look into it. They have stronger internal 3x8 dbi antennas, their maximum transmission power is higher and they use 3x3 MIMO instead of 2x2 MIMO. Before that, I tested Open Mesh OM2P for a similar hotspot use case. The total cost of an OM2P with the device itself, weatherproof case and PoE adapter exceeds the cost of this device and in terms of features and functionality it is second to none. It could even be a replacement for consumer hotspots if the user needs multiple devices, is a bit tech-savvy, and/or is willing to play and learn with things. That's definitely but if you need a stronger block I would look into it. They have stronger internal 3x8 dbi antennas, their maximum transmission power is higher and they use 3x3 MIMO instead of 2x2 MIMO. Before that, I tested Open Mesh OM2P for a similar hotspot use case. The total cost of an OM2P with the device itself, the weatherproof case, and the PoE adapter exceeds the cost of this device, and in terms of features and functionality, it is second to none. It could even be a replacement for consumer hotspots if the user needs multiple devices, is a bit tech-savvy, and/or is willing to play and learn with things. That's definitely Before that, I tested Open Mesh OM2P for a similar hotspot use case. The total cost of an OM2P with the device itself, the weatherproof case, and the PoE adapter exceeds the cost of this device, and in terms of features and functionality, it is second to none. It could even be a replacement for consumer hotspots if the user needs multiple devices, is a bit tech-savvy, and/or is willing to play and learn with things. That's definitely Before that, I tested Open Mesh OM2P for a similar hotspot use case. The total cost of an OM2P with the device itself, the weatherproof case, and the PoE adapter exceeds the cost of this device, and in terms of features and functionality, it is second to none. It could even be a replacement for consumer hotspots if the user needs multiple devices, is a bit tech-savvy, and/or is willing to play and learn with things. That's definitely if the user needs multiple devices, is a bit tech savvy and/or willing to play and learn with things. That's definitely if the user needs multiple devices, is a bit tech savvy and/or willing to play and learn with things. That's definitely