Ubiquiti UniFi nanoHD (UAP-NanoHD) [WLAN AC, 4x4 MU-MIMO, 1733 Mbit/s + 300 Mbit/s]

Product Information

AC-BeaconHD: If Ethernet isn’t an option, this is the best indoor mesh AP they offer. I have a review of the BeaconHD here. But, even if there is no IP rating, the Ubiquiti nanoHD still doesn’t have any openings and, just like with the U6-LR, the case seems to be completely sealed. How does that fare for the temperature? Ubiquiti-nanoHD – Heat Management Another benefit of Wave 2 is that up to four spatial streams are available, and more channels can be bonded together. Both of those features help achieve higher speeds. Deciding if the added costs and abilities are worth it is up to you. Antenna Differences

And, while you’d be justified to believe that the U6-LR should have at least a 2.5GbE port, well, that’s not the case at all. No, Ubiquiti ignored its competitors ( ECW230S and the WAX650S) and used Gigabit ports on the U6-LR, the same as on the nanoHD. Internal Hardware (Ubiquiti U6-LR vs nanoHD Teardown) Indeed, the Ubiquiti NanoHD is not only smaller than the UAP-AC-PRO, it also features 4×4 spatial streams (5GHz) and there is now support for MU-MIMO, as well as the full integration with the UniFi Network controller. GHz signals extend this circle out a bit, but with a few walls in the way, getting low SNR links and slow performance is likely. If there is clear line of sight AP range can extend much further, but every wall imposes a dBm penalty. Wall material and quantity are usually more important than distance in a home or small business network.To test only the speed of the Wi-Fi connection between the client and the AP, my iPerf server was connected over gigabit Ethernet to my Switch Lite 8. I primarily used my dedicated pfSense box for this, but I also used my PC and laptop depending on what I was testing. The Ubiquiti UAP-AC-PRO is one of the best designed wireless access points on the market, featuring a saucer-shaped case that would almost seamlessly integrate with the wall or ceiling and then there’s the circular LED that shone from underneath a circular canal surrounding the middle top section of the device. It’s a hard-to-beat design and the Ubiquiti NanoHD looks pretty much the same, only a tad smaller. Verdict: The Ubiquiti UAP-AC-PRO did quite well at the long-range test on the 5GHz band, but on everything else, the UAP-nanoHD performed better; there’s also the MU-MIMO support, so it wins this round. Setup and Software All UniFi Cloud Gateways, as of November 2023. These models are newer, and they all run UniFi OS. They have been called UniFi OS Consoles, Gateway Consoles, and now Cloud Gateways. They act as routers or firewalls, and also run the UniFi software applications like Network and Protect. These can’t be used with Cloud Keys, cloud services, or a self-hosted UniFi Network application.

Another popular Ubiquiti access point, the UAP-AC-Pro had some issues with the heat management, but the nanoHD was far better in this regard. Sure, the Ubiquiti U6-LR performs a little bit better, but considering the size of the nanoHD, I would say that the access point has a good heat management. Both of them do, actually, so don’t worry about having very hot access points on your ceiling.

Another interesting feature is the support for the Fast Roaming (similar to the 802.11r, but with a far wider compatibility) which makes sure that the handshake between wireless access point is done before the clients starts moving (the client doesn’t need to re-authenticate at every AP, so the handoff between them is done a lot faster). AC-LR: LR stands for long range. Features a better antenna that can reach further distances than the AC-Lite. It’s a good option if you are trying to cover the far corners of a house. The LR is only a small step up in price from the lite, and is another good default option.

I ran all of my tests with multiple TCP streams, and occasionally reversed the direction as a point of comparison. These tests ran for 60 seconds, so a typical client command would look like: iperf3 -c 172.25.10.5 -P 8 -R -t 60 All UniFi Gateways, Cloud Gateways, and UniFi OS Consoles, as of November 2023. See my UniFi Router Comparison for more details. For clarity I've separated them into categories based on their role.

You can safely ignore all the Generation 1 devices. Those can still be used, but should not be considered for new installs as they are End of Life (EoL). Specialty Models These results show how the AP performs when it’s 5 GHz signal is hovering around -80 dBm RSSI and around 10 SNR. From the same location 2.4 GHz connections are stronger and more stable. Note for International Readers

The interesting thing is that the U6-Pro has a smaller case, not as small as the nanoHD, but it’s a sign that Ubiquiti finally calmed down after switching to the WiFi 6 standard. If we ignore the size, both the Ubiquiti U6-LR and the nanoHD have the same, dare I say iconic design. Left: Ubiquiti nanoHD. Right: Ubiquiti U6-LR. Verdict: It’s obvious that the Ubiquiti NanoHD is better equipped than its predecessor, but is the performance and most important, the stability of the access point actually better? It’s true that the NanoHD had some initial bugs, but Ubiquiti has fixed them over the past two years and it seems that most users are quite satisfied with the UAP-nanoHD, so yes, it is indeed better than the UAP-AC-PRO from the internal hardware point of view (it’s worth mentioning that the UAP-AC-PRO may have a slight advantage with the 2.4GHz clients). Features and Wireless Performance As expected, this is the case with the NanoHD and, yes, the zinc alloy bottom does a good job at dissipating the heat, but the case still gets hot to the touch at the bottom, near the port. Ubiquiti nanoHD – Heat Management Internal Hardware The Ubiquiti nano-HD uses 2.8dBi single-polarity antennas for the 2.4GHz radio and 3dBi dual-polarity antennas for the 5GHz radio. The U6-LR is far better equipped, sporting 4dBi antennas for the 2.4GHz band and 5.5dBi antennas for 5GHz. And it makes sense considering the Long Range written in the name of the AP. Would these translate to a better coverage than on the nanoHD? Most likely, yes. Wireless Test (5GHz)Please Note: Optional skins are now available for the nanoHD. See our selection of customisable skins, here. Ubiquiti UniFi nanoHD Access Point - 4x4 MU-MIMO 802.11ac Wave 2 (UAP-NanoHD) Downstream, I saw an average of 301Mbps 207Mbps at 5 feet and an average of 144Mbps 103Mbps at 30 feet; at 70 feet (-87dB), the throughoput was pretty much zero. Lastly, I ran the same tests while connected to the 2.4GHz network and, from the client to the server, I saw an average of 185 Mbps at 5 feet and an average of 74.5 Mbps at 30 feet. From the server to the client, at 5 feet I measured an average of 177 Mbps and at 30 feet, I saw an average of 53.3 Mbps.