Unifi U6 LR VS Unifi U6 Pro

[@KevinReinartz]

I have been happy with my U6LR, it is the only access point currently operating in my roughly 3000sqft single story house with 96% wifi experience with 50 devices.

[@trinco99]

I thought the same way since , wifi is mix bunch of speeds depend on barriers and if some one wants better coverage with so many barriers, I would say LR is the device you need. On Paper Pro got better specs but testing more need to be done on distance level as well and appreciate all the data on this video.

[@JacksonCampbell]

@@trinco99 Have either of you found the LR to give better range (with and without obstacles) compared to the Pro?

[@trinco99]

@@JacksonCampbell , YES, LR got huge distance advantage over the Pro.. Pro can handle so many subs with slightly better 5Ghz coverage, but for long distance coverage use the LR. Pls use 20Mhz channel on 2 Ghz and 40 mhz on 5 Ghz. also leave auto settings on Unifi so that Unifi can adjust channels if any interference. I have seen unifi doing great work on co channel interference.

[@JacksonCampbell]

@@trinco99 Good to know. I may consider the LR for deployments primarily concerned with range. The chipset can have issues with multiple clients, so I usually go with the U6 Pro, but that range won't cover a wide area. I'm a network technician, so I manually separate the channels for optimal roaming when I've got lots of APs at one site that aren't going to have changing channels and interference around them. For small deployments I just do auto. Of course 20MHz channel width on 2.4GHz. I do 40 or 80MHz on 5GHz depending on the environment.

[@JacksonCampbell]

@@trinco99 I should mention, 2.4GHz of U6 Pro was weaker than 5GHz AC LR, and 5GHz of Pro was even worse.

[@danydepp8487]

The choose is simple: -If you need 2.4Ghz only/morelike devices then go for LR 4x4 mimo on 2.4ghz=180usd. -If you need 5Ghz only/morelike devices then go for PRO 4x4 mimo on 5ghz=150usd. Also U6 LR is MediocreTek and U6 PRO is Qualcom. My current setup is AC LR with Qualcom and it's wonderful.

[@Margucci]

One thing I noticed and why i chose to go with the LR over the pro is because of the 4.4 on 2.4GHz. i had a couple of old APs and one was 2x2 and the other was 4x4 on 2.4 and I noticed a much higher retry rate and sometimes disconnections in my home of IoT stuff which I have exclusively on 2.4. going with 4x4 on 2.4 just just for that was well worth it for me over what would likely be (and seems to be) a slight speed increase on 5ghz going with the pro. of course ymmv, but for my use case it works well. i have anything I care about performance on a SSID which is only operating on 5ghz. and then all my IoT stuff and things I don't care about performance on is on another SSID locked to 2.4GHz.

[@Geepstar]

I had a lot of issue's with using google home as multi room music system. Lot's of disconnections and after placing 2 U6-LR's on top of my other ap's I now have 7 aps, which seems as an overkill, but no more dead wifi places in the house. (still have lots of issues with google home, but thats google home). Actually the U6-LR's have such strong radio's that I have an internet signal like 200- 300 meters of my home. Anyway, I have lot's aprox 90 IoT's in the house, smart plugs, lights, doorbell etc. and since I have the U6-lrs lots of issues have dissapeared.

[@RobertoOrtis]

@@Geepstar did you have the pro previously?

[@Geepstar]

@@RobertoOrtisNo, I only have 2 LR's (and 3 nano's and 2 UP-AC-pro's) I experienced issue's with my google home things. 24 speakers, approx 120 iot's. So wanted heavy stuff.. became better only I found out that most of the google home issue's are located in the google home app. Google doesn't do a good job with that.

[@RobertoOrtis]

@@Geepstar i am going with HomeKit for my house and planning to place 3 U6-LR. Two of them will in the first floor and the third one on the second floor. I hope that will be enough. So, would you say the LR are the best option? I don’t think I will have so many devices as you. Probably half.

[@Geepstar]

@@RobertoOrtisIt should work, but I think I would go for the U6 pro's. But, I am always doing overkill with things like that. Having too much db's shouting can be a problem too (somenone told me)

[@5280Woodworking]

Well the 6 LRs I have in my house are awesome, but glad to see UI continuing to develop great hardware.

[@jrobbio]

Thank you for the comprehensive review. The db information really helped allow me to give a comparison to my own setup. I have a single UnifiHD Nano and it's struggling on the fringes of the house because I couldn't get it wired up centrally, so hoping to mesh and backhaul with the U6 pro addition.

[@jamiebushey4984]

Great info, however i am interested in the strength over distance. By name i would assume the LR has better distance. I am upgrading a small business that has several small buildings and trying to get coverage to the most area with less. They don't want AP's all over and I don't like having them in guess rooms for them to play around with.

[@ComputerProMedia]

Great video Cody! I'm really hoping the HD Wifi6 unit comes out soon :p

[@jarjarbaggins7945]

On my home I went from an AC Lite to a U6-LR-US. I didn’t know the Pro 6 was coming out. I’m happy with my U6-LR-US

[@MactelecomNetworks]

The U6 LR is a great AP I have it in my home as well

[@THETACHIchris]

I did the same. I knew the pro was available but wanted the 4x4 2.4 GHz for IoT devices as I was having issues with excessive retries on the AC-Lites.

[@kuztomized]

This was great, thank you!

[@holmiumh]

Really appreciate your effort. BTW I don't want to be that guy but please be aware that dBm and dB are not interchangeable.

[@antonterekhov9389]

Hi Cody, great video, thank you a lot for comparison. Did you place the LR and Pro APs in the same locations during your tests? I ask because of the strange iPerf pattern. It's ok that Pro wins, but it's a weird that LR has better result for the basement than main floor. Maybe you have some interference? Thanks

[@MactelecomNetworks]

Hey, Yup they were mounted in the exact same position. I found it strange as well and did the test 3 times with pretty much the same results . Possible interference but unsure I may try the testing again and mount the APs in a differnt place

[@cesarbarroso7225]

@@MactelecomNetworks Well, isn’t it call Long Range for a reason?!

[@TheDanielShepherd]

It's not at all weird that the "long range" AP would before better further away...

[@nodaks]

Any chance to test these in mesh mode one from the basement to upstairs and the db loss?

[@abo_fhad]

شكرا لك كنت احتاج هذه المقارنة

[@freshgino]

Great video - thanks

[@MactelecomNetworks]

Thanks for watching :)

[@carlnakamura4861]

Hey Cody, it would be really useful to have a comparison of the newer 6 LR/Pro with the older NanoHD to understant what to expect if upgrading.

[@THETACHIchris]

The only real benefit is the addition of WiFi 6. These APs are also physically larger, which is definitely something to consider.

[@TheWshmstr]

Thank you for the great video. Now I'm planing to buy PRO or LR, but since antenna design is important. Where should I put this to cover all 3 storeys of the building? Second storey or the top storey?

[@jamiebushey4984]

Usually you want it on ceiling of 2nd floor to reach top floor and you still should be able to cover main floor.

[@JamesMCrutchley]

Great video. Can't buy any wifi 6 AP's from unifi. They have them listed but have had none for sale on unifi store in Canada this year. I have checked every couple of days since April 2021. Never seen it for sale. Sold out. It's vapour ware and does not exist! I don't think the company is doing that well either. They don't have hardware for sale and most of the product listings are sold out and have been for the entire year!

[@TheRealDanielsan]

Pro was available today, I got the last one, showed sold out after my 1 purchase. the LR is available right now as well.

[@hdtvkeith1604]

Hmm, great comparison, but interesting results. I wonder if the iPhone 11 WiFi 6 chipset is the best test. I have 2 laptops that have the Intel AX201 WiFi 6 chipset and I can nearly saturate the gb NIC in the U6-LR from 15 feet away and 2 walls. I upgraded from NanoHD and I find I get better coverage in all the extremes of my home. I also do not see when Ubiquiti says the LR is only 2x2 on 160MHz channel in their docs. Regardless, using 160MHz is probably better since most devices don't support more than 2x2 anyway. I run 160MHz and can routinely almost max my internet (750-850mbs out of 1gb). I have 20-30 devices at any time (13+ are 5GHz and 5 are WiFi6) I think 160Mhz is better than leverage 4.x4 MIMO unless they are all very busy clients.

[@pedropombeiro]

Interesting, I just upgraded from a nanoHD to a U6 Pro and found that I'm getting weaker signal from the U6 Pro as measured by WiFiMan on an Android device. The U6 Pro consistently shows as 5dBm less than the nanoHD, whether up close or two rooms away. It also tends to lose signal quicker. It's starting to feel it was not an upgrade at all. Both APs are running 6.0.13 and are on Auto signal strength (different bands - 40 and 48 5Ghz).

[@hdtvkeith1604]

@@pedropombeiro I have been extremely happy with how the U6-LRs have been performing for me. Better signal and throughput than my old Nanos.

[@pedropombeiro]

@@hdtvkeith1604 I'm not surprised that the LR performs better than the nano, but the Pro is a bit disappointing so far (it's now using the 6.0.13 firmware).

[@hdtvkeith1604]

@@pedropombeiro The pro is still a new device, maybe it will improve through future updates.

[@JacksonCampbell]

@@pedropombeiro I tested replacing an AC LR with the U6 Pro expecting it to be an upgrade, and signal was totally gone in areas where the LR reached easily. I wasn't able to check manual configuration of either, but I am assuming that boosting gain wouldn't have fixed it too much. I am trying to find anyone who can say whether the U6 Pro vs. the U6 LR is a substantial range difference.

[@Onii-chans-neko]

So what makes the pro $30 cheaper? considering it won in most test?

[@THETACHIchris]

2x2 2.4GHz and lower gain transmitters

[@Onii-chans-neko]

You said the only thing they changed was on the 5ghz, but the 2.4Ghz has a change in that pro is wifi 6, and 2x2, but LR is 4x4 and wifi 4

[@MactelecomNetworks]

The only thing i changed from the default configure was I put the 5ghz channel to channel width 80

[@badkarma3059]

since release and until recently I had my 6LR in my office closet(mirrored closet doors) on a shilf at the far end of the house and it still covered my house. Very please with it

[@zomgoose]

How is coverage in a 2-storey house if the AP is installed on the main floor? Does the signal radiate to the upper floor and basement equally, or is it stronger downward to the basement? Currently running an ASUS RT-AC68U with Tomato firmware that covers the entire house. Would the Ubiquiti 6 Pro be a lot stronger in all directions?

[@JacksonCampbell]

They are directional. I would install it on the upstairs since the signal radiates out the side away from the ceiling.

[@xVertigo101]

Does Ubiquity make unifi white patch panels? If not where can I buy some white patch panels or maybe a snap on skin?

[@matthewshaffer8439]

How are you able to purchase these in bulk? I’m maxed out at 4 on the store.

[@mrijohn251]

Do you know if this access point will mount to the same mount as the AC-Pro?

[@THETACHIchris]

They do

[@Mlo99]

Can confirm they use the same mount

[@allent555]

Great video! wish you could add in the Nano for comparison too

[@KamalSingh]

Hi, I would like to add UniFi6 Long-Range to my existing UniFi network at home. Is it compatible with UniFi Switch 8 PoE (60W) for power?

[@KevinFelker]

Yes, that's how my LR is powered.

[@thrugz]

Not supported by UniFi since it’s POE+ but hav read reports that it works IRL, I upgraded to the 8 port POE+ switch though

[@fleetwashington8591]

thanks for the comparison how many SF can cover U6 PRO

[@prof.v7477]

Great video! Thank you for your time and effort. Been waiting for this comparision video between the U6 Pro and the U6-LR. Do you have any idea why they removed the 2nd WLAN port as I loved it in the AC-Pro!

[@MactelecomNetworks]

Not sure why it was removed but I would assume to keep cost down

[@skorpion1298]

@@MactelecomNetworks why are my comments being deleted?

[@skorpion1298]

It is one of the best things they did yeah. Would like to have them back in the future.

[@prof.v7477]

@@MactelecomNetworksCheers mate. I do hope they will bring back the 2nd port in near future. Thanks for your great work and reply!

[@MactelecomNetworks]

@@skorpion1298 not sure why they are being deleted KZbin does some strange things

[@perfect.stealth]

I have the AP Pro with a 1gbit connection but I only get around 300mbit on 5ghz with full signal. Anyone got an idea on why that is?

[@MrMischefman]

Would need more details, where it mounted, your location relative to the mount, obstacles in between you and the AP. I.E. Just stepping through a door way can see a large drop in performance, the materials your house is made out of can impact quality of wireless signal. (Looking at you metal lath houses)

[@aljonpabillo8213]

i have same issue. even if i connect direct to internet provider router its getting 300mbps only. i have u6 lr

[@Alex.AL_26]

They are both currently out of stock so I am just screwed I guess.

[@JEEPM0N]

Is it true that only the LR is OFDMA and the Pro is NOT

[@psycl0ptic]

so really no real world differences especially if you account for testing variances , other than the chipset: Medatek vs Qualcomm and size of the AP. Potentially a little longer range from the LR, but not by much. Maybe really long range testing would show more interesting info. But such odd product offering from UI this time around. And still nothing exciting yet...still no APs with MultiGbit network uplinks and still no WiFi6E.

[@kabloosh699]

Yeah. I see no reason to upgrade from the last gen wifi 5 only APs to these until they get at least 2.5 gb ports and wifi 6e.

[@JacksonCampbell]

I really want to see long range testing. I tested replacing an AC LR with a U6 Pro and it was very disappointing. It was the perfect testing environment as it was a 2 story building with 3 wings out from the center and the AP in the center. Going through multiple walls, doors, and down to the first story from the second, the AC LR did fairly well; the U6 Pro had horrible signal all kinds of places the AC LR was strong. I really want to know if the U6 LR is further than the U6 Pro despite the specs.

[@UrsusArctos8]

How do the two APs compare distance wise?

[@MactelecomNetworks]

Well just the testing in my home they seem about the same. But I would have to assume in a big open area the LR would do best

[@kuromilos]

Do you have a layout to show your test points?

[@FastRedPonyCar]

I've had the U6LR for a while and had it paired with my UDM and it was underwhelming in all regards. Range wasn't that great and it wasn't very fast either. Side by side with other wifi 6 AP's like the Alien, Velop and a couple ASUS wifi 6 routers, the U6LR was the slowest by far and also had pretty terrible range. Fastest was the ASUS AXE11000 and it's range is insane in my house. Easily 3x dbm vs the others. U6 Pro is on the way to pair with my UDM Pro so hopefully it's a little better.

[@kolklik]

Do you have any good suggestions for APs with 2.5 gigabit ports?

[@FastRedPonyCar]

Unifi Wifi 6 Enterprise AP that is in early access

[@um8778]

This is the most canadian video I've ever seen

[@MactelecomNetworks]

Not sure if that’s meant to be a good thing or a bad thing 😂

[@yehyahamdan9535]

Hi, Could you please let me know which Unifi switch supports U6 Pro and takes Gbps of AP into consideration?

[@JacksonCampbell]

That is irrelevant. These all run on 1gbps Ethernet. Make sure you are using a gigabit switch and not a 100-megabit switch. You should've already been doing that though.

[@josephmiller9141]

Great video as always. Can you now do a test with Pro vs. Enterprise. You know. For us homeowners who care.

[@LF-ms7rl]

How much U6LR

[@MactelecomNetworks]

Depends where you live. In Canada its $239

[@jacoba8851]

good luck finding them in stock

[@MactelecomNetworks]

If you're in the USA they go in stock pretty well everyday

[@Iron-ODin]

So... does anyone know the distances of his Office, Main Floor and Office? Do we know the materials of any of these? No to all these questions you say? So these tests are useless... got it.

[@MactelecomNetworks]

The test are going to be different everywhere. Standard house three floors, drywall wood

[@tyleristre8919]

@@MactelecomNetworks What level was the AP mounted on? The Very top floor? Is the main floor just below the office floor? Thanks

[@JacksonCampbell]

@@tyleristre8919 First thing I noticed that wasn't specified.

[@manslayerdbzgt]

Sorry the u6 LR gets four by four on the 2.4 the pro only gets 2x2

[@MactelecomNetworks]

Yes did I say it backwards in the video? For the 5ghz on 160mhz the U6 LR only has 2x2 whereas the pro has 4x4

[@manslayerdbzgt]

@@MactelecomNetworks You're all good dude I didn't mean it to be mean but yeah I love your videos I'm the guy that reached out to you that one day but yeah I still have my channel you have your channel and I'm still always going to watch your channel even though I have mine it's good to always watch other people's videos all the time nobody knows everything is good knowledge for everyone it's cool to see other people's ideas to get your own ideas

[@michaelpietzsch]

Ive got both at home... and they suck... to be honest ive expected more bandwith than wth the regular AC ones....

[@jordanc8926]

I have the U6 Pro and the AC long range. The AC had better coverage but the U6 pro definitely has better speeds.

[@JacksonCampbell]

@@jordanc8926 I tested that and found that out myself. Very disappointing. I want to find someone who has tested coverage for the U6 LR vs. Pro. The spec difference doesn't make me very hopeful.

[@1636patriot]

Can you do a range test....like I picked up 2 6 pros for my house inside, but am thinking the 6 LR I will mount on the wall of my house like 12 feet up to shott out into the woods for backyard wifi....Anyone have thoughts about this?

[@JacksonCampbell]

Been looking for this for a long time.

[@psycl0ptic]

What about AX on 2.4ghz, Pro vs LR?

[@MactelecomNetworks]

I could probably do a video on that. But in my testing I was close enough to always be on 5Ghz

[@magicmanchloe]

What clients are use using 2.4Ghz on ax at would not be better on 5Ghz

[@manutech156]

@@magicmanchloe IoT devices

[@magicmanchloe]

@@manutech156 please provide me a list of 2.4 GHz IOT devices that support Wi-Fi 6. Here the US I haven’t been able to find a single one. They all use the older cheaper to .4 GHz 802.11n spec also are there even any chipsets for Wi-Fi six that are 2.4 GHz only?

[@psycl0ptic]

@@magicmanchloe newer 2.4Ghz only clients/devices. ax has multi client advantages, which just testing with a single client will not show any different.

[@jeffm2787]

The Pro has 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi 6 (AX). Kind of pointless for the next few years at least if not longer. The Pro should be faster then the LR as it is well the Pro version. The LR would have a different coverage pattern which can be good and bad. My solution for the U6-LR is to just have two of them in my 2k sq/ft home which gives me 800 ish on 80Mhz on OpenSpeedTest to my TrueNAS server. I ignore any and all Internet speed tests for Wi-Fi and I have symmetrical Gigabit. Finally replaced my UDM Pro with a C2758 PFSense build. Funny how I just keep coming back to PFSense. My SG-3100, well it just doesn't cut it for Gigabit, it close..but no dice.

[@sssennaw]

Still waiting for an inwallhd6 :)

[@janekkwalski9698]

tp link deco X20 wi fi 6 system 3 pack.