Unifi U6+ terrible range?

[NoServersInTheCloud]

Hey everyone, Im struggling with my new Unifi setup. I spent a bunch of money buying some U6+ APs and Im disappointed so far. Ive turned off band steering and put transmit power on high. But even with only a single AP turned on I'm struggling to find connection through a single wall (1 bar) from a few metres behind the wall.

I had far better success with even my old TP Link Router which could get through 2 walls to the outside of the house (easily double the distance). Is anyone able to offer some input? I've only unboxed one, so if I need to swap them for other Devices now is the time

 

[hilton]

Hey everyone, Im struggling with my new Unifi setup. I spent a bunch of money buying some U6+ APs and Im disappointed so far. Ive turned off band steering and put transmit power on high. But even with only a single AP turned on I'm struggling to find connection through a single wall (1 bar) from a few metres behind the wall.

I had far better success with even my old TP Link Router which could get through 2 walls to the outside of the house (easily double the distance). Is anyone able to offer some input? I've only unboxed one, so if I need to swap them for other Devices now is the time

I setup one config for 2.4GHz and one for 5GHz.

Here is my 5GHz setup.

 

[Mzezman]

Hey everyone, Im struggling with my new Unifi setup. I spent a bunch of money buying some U6+ APs and Im disappointed so far. Ive turned off band steering and put transmit power on high. But even with only a single AP turned on I'm struggling to find connection through a single wall (1 bar) from a few metres behind the wall.

I had far better success with even my old TP Link Router which could get through 2 walls to the outside of the house (easily double the distance). Is anyone able to offer some input? I've only unboxed one, so if I need to swap them for other Devices now is the time

Is the range bad on all bands or just on the 6ghz?

 

[abc98]

Use the wifiman app (made by unifi), and check all the details of the connection. Probably is on 5ghz/6 so not great through walls.

 

[AfricanTech]

Hey everyone, Im struggling with my new Unifi setup. I spent a bunch of money buying some U6+ APs and Im disappointed so far. Ive turned off band steering and put transmit power on high. But even with only a single AP turned on I'm struggling to find connection through a single wall (1 bar) from a few metres behind the wall.

I had far better success with even my old TP Link Router which could get through 2 walls to the outside of the house (easily double the distance). Is anyone able to offer some input? I've only unboxed one, so if I need to swap them for other Devices now is the time

1. Where have you mounted the AP? AP's should be on the wall or ceiling - putting it on a desk isn't ideal
2. What kind of obstructions are there between the AP and wall you're trying to get through?
3. Are you using both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands? 5GHz band is poor through walls
4. It's also possible that the unit you unboxed is a dud
5. What type of LAN cable are you using to connect the AP to the Router? (Cat5 / Cat6) - is it a new cable?
6. Which other settings have you changed "out of the box"

Post screenshots of what's showing in the controller - maybe there's something funky going on

Edit: which device are you testing the signal strengh with? Phone? Laptop? ???

Provide as much detail as you possibly can about the environment.

 

[AfricanTech]

Hey everyone, Im struggling with my new Unifi setup. I spent a bunch of money buying some U6+ APs and Im disappointed so far. Ive turned off band steering and put transmit power on high. But even with only a single AP turned on I'm struggling to find connection through a single wall (1 bar) from a few metres behind the wall.

I had far better success with even my old TP Link Router which could get through 2 walls to the outside of the house (easily double the distance). Is anyone able to offer some input? I've only unboxed one, so if I need to swap them for other Devices now is the time

We need more info - see above

Also, a drawing of the layout of the place will help immensely.

Forget the TP-Link

PS: Did you consider a mesh setup like the TP-Link Deco's btw, it's considerably less trouble to setup and configure and you don't have to mount them anywhere

 

[neoprema]

I've had the TP-Link mesh, the ASUS mesh (and wired backhaul) and the Netgear wireless mesh.,

My current Ubiquity's with wired backhaul to a Controller eats them all for breakfast... Ubiquity is King.

 

[NoServersInTheCloud]

Is the range bad on all bands or just on the 6ghz?

I haven't checked, should it not be intelligently switching? My assumption was that's what happens.

 

[NoServersInTheCloud]

1. Where have you mounted the AP? AP's should be on the wall or ceiling - putting it on a desk isn't ideal
2. What kind of obstructions are there between the AP and wall you're trying to get through?
3. Are you using both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands? 5GHz band is poor through walls
4. It's also possible that the unit you unboxed is a dud
5. What type of LAN cable are you using to connect the AP to the Router? (Cat5 / Cat6) - is it a new cable?
6. Which other settings have you changed "out of the box"

Post screenshots of what's showing in the controller - maybe there's something funky going on

Edit: which device are you testing the signal strengh with? Phone? Laptop? ???

Provide as much detail as you possibly can about the environment.

1. On the ceiling ~1m from the corner of the lounge. If I walk 10m away from the external (double layer) wall between the AP and my phone I get 1 bar and it occasionally drops off. Old router had 2-3 bars here.
2. ^^ its just a external wall
3. Not sure, I assumed it was both and auto switches. https://prnt.sc/ZDCIhulKM0NX
4. I'd hope not :/ how would I even know
5. Cat6, but the speed is fine when Im next to it. Its the signal strength thats crap. Cant even pick up the router through 1 wall and 1 external wall.
6. None that Im aware of, just the transmit power, band steering, etc. above


| Post screenshots of what's showing in the controller - maybe there's something funky going on
Where do you mean?

 

[Mzezman]

I haven't checked, should it not be intelligently switching? My assumption was that's what happens.

Wifi6 is notoriously terrible through walls - Wifi5 should be better hence the question and your phone kinda determines which band (to an extent)

 

[NoServersInTheCloud]

We need more info - see above

Also, a drawing of the layout of the place will help immensely.

Forget the TP-Link

PS: Did you consider a mesh setup like the TP-Link Deco's btw, it's considerably less trouble to setup and configure and you don't have to mount them anywhere

I hate TP Link haha, I did think about the different brands like Aruba, Omada, etc. but Unifi is top tier for a reason. Just struggling with the range

 

[NoServersInTheCloud]

Wifi6 is notoriously terrible through walls - Wifi5 should be better hence the question and your phone kinda determines which band (to an extent)

I dont think the U6+ has wifi 6

 

[Sinbad]

I dont think the U6+ has wifi 6

Yes it does. It's in the name.

 

[Mzezman]

I dont think the U6+ has wifi 6

It has Wifi6 (5ghz)but not the 6ghz channel

 

[NoServersInTheCloud]

It has Wifi6 (5ghz)but not the 6ghz channel

My brain seems to have stopped working for a moment, haha, my bad.

 

[Mzezman]

My brain seems to have stopped working for a moment, haha, my bad.

Its not you, Its Unifi and their god awful naming conventions

 

[NoServersInTheCloud]

Its not you, Its Unifi and their god awful naming conventions

I relate to that haha

Since I have the U6+, I’m going out today to pickup a second hand extra AP nearby since someone I know has a couple they’re selling.

Should I go for a U6 Pro or UAP AC LR? I’m not too concerned about the APs not being able to thrust 1gbps wirelessly since I’m on 200mbps and will only ever go up to 500mbps on my line. So WiFi 5 feels okay? As long as I get better range

 

[willsotaku]

Currently rocking an EAP670 + ER7206 + SG2210MP quite happy with speed and coverage and 180Mhz makes a massive difference in speed can pull close to 1GBps over Wifi sadly no 2.5GBps ports on the switch or ER to break that limit yet

 

[AfricanTech]

1. On the ceiling ~1m from the corner of the lounge. If I walk 10m away from the external (double layer) wall between the AP and my phone I get 1 bar and it occasionally drops off. Old router had 2-3 bars here.

Is that 1m from the outside wall? I can't speak for your old router but I too haven't had great results with Unifi AP's going through double (external) walls of (especially) older houses - this is why I have multiple AP's to cover my entire house - 5 AP's are wired and 1 is meshed in.

2. ^^ its just a external wall

External walls are double thickness and usually have wire in them as well.

3. Not sure, I assumed it was both and auto switches. https://prnt.sc/ZDCIhulKM0NX

ok, then it's likely both.

4. I'd hope not :/ how would I even know

You wouldn't except by connecting one of your other AP's to see if you get the same results

5. Cat6, but the speed is fine when Im next to it. Its the signal strength thats crap. Cant even pick up the router through 1 wall and 1 external wall.

Brick walls don't play nicely with wifi - 1 internal and 1 external wall will degrade performance significantly

6. None that Im aware of, just the transmit power, band steering, etc. above

Cool

| Post screenshots of what's showing in the controller - maybe there's something funky going on
Where do you mean?

On the main screen that shows your APs signal strength, etc

I've been running a layered* Unifi setup for more than 10 years now and can honestly say it transformed the wifi experience for everyone.


* layered meaning that when I identified a dead spot or weak signal area, I installed another AP to cover. As mentioned before, I have 6 AP's covering my entire property.

 

[AfricanTech]

I relate to that haha

Since I have the U6+, I’m going out today to pickup a second hand extra AP nearby since someone I know has a couple they’re selling.

Should I go for a U6 Pro or UAP AC LR? I’m not too concerned about the APs not being able to thrust 1gbps wirelessly since I’m on 200mbps and will only ever go up to 500mbps on my line. So WiFi 5 feels okay? As long as I get better range

Coverage is more important than range - rather have 3 AP's with smaller range per AP to cover an area, than trying to do the same job with 1 or 2 AP's transmitting at higher power.

In any event, remember that transmitting at higher power doesn't help you if the end point device lacks the equivalent power - wifi is two-way.

The ChatGPT generated explanation below gives a good overview of this topic.

The common assumption that higher transmit power always leads to better Wi-Fi performance is often overstated and can be misleading for a few key reasons:

1. Two-Way Communication Requirement​

• Wi-Fi operates on two-way communication, meaning both the access point (AP) and the connected device need to send and receive data. Increasing the transmit power on the AP boosts its ability to send signals further, but if the connected device (like a phone or laptop) lacks equivalent transmit power, the connection can become unstable. Essentially, while you may see the Wi-Fi network at a greater distance, you may not be able to communicate effectively with it because the device can't "talk back" with sufficient strength.
• This leads to asymmetric connections where devices receive strong signals but can’t send data back reliably
  Bambu Lab Wiki
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2. Signal Interference​

• Higher transmit power can increase interference with other Wi-Fi networks and devices in the area. Wi-Fi signals can overlap, causing congestion, reduced throughput, and more "noise" in the environment. This is especially problematic in dense environments with many networks and devices.
• Wi-Fi networks operate on shared channels, so a high-power signal can "shout over" other networks, resulting in slower connections, increased packet loss, and potential conflicts
  Bambu Lab Wiki
  Bambu Lab US
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3. Multipath Reflection and Signal Quality​

• When Wi-Fi signals bounce off surfaces (walls, furniture, etc.), they create reflected paths. Higher transmit power often leads to stronger reflections and can worsen multipath interference, which degrades signal quality and throughput. Lower transmit power can sometimes improve signal quality in environments with a lot of reflective surfaces
  Bambu Lab Wiki
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4. Coverage Overlap and Roaming​

• High transmit power on an access point can cause excessive overlap between access points in a multi-AP setup. This overlap can make it harder for devices to seamlessly switch or "roam" between APs, resulting in connection drops, slower performance, or "sticky" clients that stay connected to a distant AP rather than a closer one.
• Optimal Wi-Fi networks use carefully tuned transmit power to balance coverage and seamless roaming between access points
  Bambu Lab Wiki
  Bambu Lab US
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5. Noise and Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR)​

• Wi-Fi performance depends on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), not just raw signal strength. High power may cause the AP’s signal to extend further, but it also raises the overall noise floor, making it harder to achieve a strong SNR for devices within the network range.
• Good SNR (strong desired signals relative to background noise) is often better achieved through careful channel selection, optimal AP placement, and medium power levels, rather than simply maximizing transmit power
  Bambu Lab US
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6. Regulatory Restrictions​

• In many regions, Wi-Fi transmit power is limited by regulations. Exceeding these limits can cause compliance issues and can also negatively impact other wireless services operating in the same frequency range. Keeping power at optimal, allowed levels helps maintain network stability and harmony with other networks
  Bambu Lab US
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Conclusion:​

While transmit power can play a role in improving coverage, it needs to be considered as part of a balanced approach that includes AP placement, channel selection, antenna orientation, and device capabilities. Simply boosting power without regard for other factors can lead to reduced performance, interference, and client issues.