UBIQUITI

UniFi UAP-AC-SHD Excels in Wi-Fi AP Benchmark Test

Periodically, we hire Alethea Communications to perform third-party testing for our Access Point (AP) products. Alethea specializes in network stress testing services and products. They use various test methods with simulated and real client devices. This test used real client devices in a realistic environment with up to 100 devices. This method gives very reliable data for real-world performance.

Tested APs This test focused on high-end 4×4 APs with one 2.4 GHz radio and one 5 GHz radio. The tested APs and their costs are summarized below.

Real Client Devices In the previous tests, the client base consisted mostly of devices using the Intel Wi-Fi chipset. In this round, Alethea expanded the client base. They performed tests with a realistic client mix using the latest available drivers. The following are examples of test clients used:

• Dell Latitude E7470 with Intel 8260 chipset and Ubuntu 16.04 • Dell Latitude E7470 with Intel 8260 chipset and Win 10 • iPhone XS, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6, iPhone SE, Apple Mac Mini • Samsung Galaxy S9, S8, S7, S5, Tab A

The number of simultaneous clients performing tests were 1, 32, and 100, depending on the test case.

Realistic Test Environment Alethea used a classroom environment for the test. They positioned the test AP in the center of the area. All testing was done on the 5 GHz band and the 2.4 GHz radio was disabled. Alethea used the 80 MHz channel for single-client tests and 40 MHz channel for 32- and 100-client tests.

The nominal AP power level was +20 dBm. The test team calibrated average received AP signal level at the client to the same level, approximately -43 dBm, for all of the tested APs. AP power level settings were adjusted to equalize the differences.

Reasons for the calibration procedure:

• APs have different antenna patterns. Some are focused more downward and others more toward the sides. In a single AP test like this, the AP with the greatest gain to the sides would have an advantage when there are many clients further away from the AP. In a high-density environment, a more down wards-focused pattern causes less interference to nearby APs. The more downwards-focused pattern provides better network level capacity and is more suitable for high-density environments. • The principles for power level measurements and settings may vary between vendors. • Ruckus does not provide certain absolute dBm scale output power settings, only power level reduction values (dB) from maximum.

The measured signal level data shows that APs set to the same power level had significant differences in power levels as measured by clients. This calibration step was important to achieve realistic and comparable results in the targeted application.

CONCLUSIONS

Performance Scoring Alethea used a five-grade scale for the overall scoring. The highest and lowest values of each test determined the full range, which they further divided into five equal sub-ranges. Depending on the test results, each AP got a score from 1 to 5 for each test.