Unifi U6+ terrible range?

NoServersInTheCloud said:
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
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Whichever is more affordable - hopefully they're being sold with their PoE's - the AC-LR you're likely to be able to power off a PoE Switch but I think the U6 Pro's need 48v which most switches don't pump out so you'll need a 48v (802.3at) PoE injector.
 
Don't bother with the Long Range. U6 Pro will work fine with a decent PoE switch. I have a bunch connected to Netgear GS724TP switches.

As someone else mentioned, the trick with WiFi is not to have one mega powerful AP trying to cover the entire suburb. I have eight (8) Mikrotik APs in my house and my mobile devices switch seamlessly between the various units. Using CAPsMAN though which is infinity more configurable than a UniFi controller but not nearly as sexy. The UniFi controller can be managed through the net so you can have multiple sites which is very good.
 
Willing to bet you put it on max speed widest channel width 160 and immediately maxed it out which will always compromise towards speed instead of range.

Bring it down to 80, set the power to Medium.

Do a channel optimisation and then test again.

Also if you want to use WiFi6 you need to turn off 2.4Ghz for that SSID and enable WPA3.

But yes if you are trying to use one single AP you are going to have a bad time, these things were never designed to operate like this. You need one in every other room ideally.

And for all that is holy turn off wireless bridging/meshing and use the wired backhaul you should when anyway due to PoE.
 
I have an external heat pump installed, between the AP and heat pump is 3 walls.
Not experiencing any connectivity issues with heat pump.

WiFi (as @SauRoNZA mentioned) increasing channel bandwidth will deteriorate the signal strength.

Screenshot 2024-11-18 061219.png

Heat pump

Screenshot 2024-11-18 062323.png

WPA3 is only required when using WiFi 7.

Will help if OP sends a couple of screen grabs.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Willing to bet you put it on max speed widest channel width 160 and immediately maxed it out which will always compromise towards speed instead of range.

Bring it down to 80, set the power to Medium.

Do a channel optimisation and then test again.

Also if you want to use WiFi6 you need to turn off 2.4Ghz for that SSID and enable WPA3.

But yes if you are trying to use one single AP you are going to have a bad time, these things were never designed to operate like this. You need one in every other room ideally.

And for all that is holy turn off wireless bridging/meshing and use the wired backhaul you should when anyway due to PoE.
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No I didn’t. Channel width is HT20 and HE40 (2.4 and 5), channels are auto, transmit power is high, Meshing is off and band steering is off.

At the moment I’m just looking for the best range 🙂
 
NoServersInTheCloud said:
No I didn’t. Channel width is HT20 and HE40 (2.4 and 5), channels are auto, transmit power is high, Meshing is off and band steering is off.

At the moment I’m just looking for the best range 🙂
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Band steering being off will only make sense if you have an SSID for 2.4 and 5ghz separately.

If you want one SSID then you need to turn it on otherwise you will indeed have a signal issue.

Try bring it down to Medium for both and set 5ghz to 80.
 
I have the nanoHD, works well but I think the PoE injector is going bad, speed has dropped to FE. Cable tests fine.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Band steering being off will only make sense if you have an SSID for 2.4 and 5ghz separately.

If you want one SSID then you need to turn it on otherwise you will indeed have a signal issue.

Try bring it down to Medium for both and set 5ghz to 80.
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I have one ssid and no band steering. As I understand it you use band steering to direct clients towards 5ghz? If I'm right why would you want that in marginal 5ghz range?
 
I setup a U6+ today. Configured 5Ghz to channel 44 (for AWDL) and set transmit to high. 2.4Ghz radio disabled.

3 walls, 20ish meters away on an iPhone 15 PM, I'm getting about 450-480Mbps down (AP tx)

Seems fine to me
 
@OP what channel are you using? Set channel width to 80 and channel to 44 because DFS sucks
 
Sinbad said:
I have one ssid and no band steering. As I understand it you use band steering to direct clients towards 5ghz? If I'm right why would you want that in marginal 5ghz range?
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Sorry I said that in reference.

Band Steering applies only if you have a single SSID.

If you split them already it won't be doing anything.
 
NoServersInTheCloud said:
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 😢
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Any update?
 
AfricanTech said:
Any update?
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I turned both 5ghz and 2.4ghz to high, setup the channels as per a guide above.

Still somewhat disappointed, but I think years of having a high gain 9 DBi AP have spoiled me. I now have a U6+, U6 Pro and 2x AC LRs which I got second hand to test their strength/range vs the U6s. Honestly little difference, I’m finding the U6 Pro is actually ever so slightly better at range than the AC LRs.

Just disappointing that even a single layer internal wall takes me from 3 bars to 1/2 bars no matter the AP I use. Will post screenshots of WiFiman and Unifi dashboard later
 
NoServersInTheCloud said:
I turned both 5ghz and 2.4ghz to high, setup the channels as per a guide above.

Still somewhat disappointed, but I think years of having a high gain 9 DBi AP have spoiled me. I now have a U6+, U6 Pro and 2x AC LRs which I got second hand to test their strength/range vs the U6s. Honestly little difference, I’m finding the U6 Pro is actually ever so slightly better at range than the AC LRs.

Just disappointing that even a single layer internal wall takes me from 3 bars to 1/2 bars no matter the AP I use. Will post screenshots of WiFiman and Unifi dashboard later
Click to expand...

Yeah please do share screenshots, there might be something there we can help with. Also just checking that your walls are standard SA build brick and mortar or concrete?
 
NoServersInTheCloud said:
I turned both 5ghz and 2.4ghz to high, setup the channels as per a guide above.

Still somewhat disappointed, but I think years of having a high gain 9 DBi AP have spoiled me. I now have a U6+, U6 Pro and 2x AC LRs which I got second hand to test their strength/range vs the U6s. Honestly little difference, I’m finding the U6 Pro is actually ever so slightly better at range than the AC LRs.

Just disappointing that even a single layer internal wall takes me from 3 bars to 1/2 bars no matter the AP I use. Will post screenshots of WiFiman and Unifi dashboard later
Click to expand...
Brick walls are murder on the signal quality
 
This thread is very strange to me.

My U6+ is on the end of a 35m Cat6 cable attached directly to a TP-Link AX5400 router, There is a 200mps fibre line

The actual AP is mounted in the roof space, about 3.5m off the ground

As well as seeing 200mbps on WiFi, I can still see -52db when upstairs about 10m away and through 2 walls.

So, no complaints about the devices performance

The Unif program is a bit of a pain, having to wait about 10 mins for an OTP


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