December 9, 2013 at 12:53AirGateway - Ubiquiti access point in a matchbox
At one of the forums where Ubiquiti equipment is being discussed, a glimpse of betting installers flashed - why did the bumpers appear on the new power injectors around the PoE and LAN connectors? Well, we will try to answer this, of course, topical question in the review of the new device from Ubiquiti - the miniature Wi-Fi router AirGateway.
The manufacturer took this little black box to the AirMAX line, which already carries a certain hint of the field of application - user equipment WISP. Let's not beat around the bush - AirGateway is positioned as a convenient home Wi-Fi router, designed for "their" equipment. It is a logical decision: if the user's home Internet is provided by Ubiquiti devices - why not offer your own solutions for a home Wi-Fi network? Moreover, in such a convenient form factor: AirGateway is designed to be installed directly on the power injector of devices of the AirMAX series, which means that it does not require anything for installation: LAN and PoE ports are duplicated on the device - put on the injector and insert two ( and even one!) wires. But the main thing is not even that. AirGateway enables using the Aircontrol monitoring system from Ubiquiti to monitor the condition of the channel not only to the client’s home, but also to its terminal device, and to set the optimal radio channel for the client. The operator’s dream came true - he can really manage not only the CPE, but also the access point behind it. In addition, the operator can control the frequency channels on the AirGateway access point, minimizing its effect on the CPE (for example, NanostationM2) operating in the same 2.4 GHz band.
Two modifications of AirGateway are presented: the usual 18 dBm with an internal antenna and LR (longrange) - 18 dBm with an external antenna (5 dBi). AirGateway’s Wi-Fi module without any frills - 2.4 GHz, 802.11 b / g / n, up to 150 Mbps bandwidth (SISO 1x1).
AirGateway runs on familiar AirOS and is available by default at 192.168.1.1. After entering the web interface, we are greeted by the setup wizard - a logical solution for equipment designed for different levels of training working with it. We enter the new administrator password (for access to the device), the SSID and password for the deployed home Wi-Fi network, confirm the settings - and we see the standard AirOS interface.
By default, the device starts in SOHORouter mode (WLAN and LAN1 - local area network, LAN0, that is, output from PoE - external network). A set of functions is quite common for a “home” router - PPPoE, firewall, VLAN, portforwarding, in general, nothing remarkable (except, perhaps, the ability to authenticate users of a home network via a RADIUS server is not the most popular function in home networks). You can also notice that the device does not support AirMAX technology, which is also not surprising - it is unlikely that a user will find Ubiquiti devices on a home wireless network.
From the list of utilities bundled with AirOS, AirView and SpeedTest also disappeared. The SiteSurvey functional for determining elementary problems in the orderly populated 2.4 GHz band is, in principle, enough - in any case, the channel of a neighboring access point can be seen and avoided if necessary.
To test AirGateway, we put together a stand simulating the “combat” use of this router: one of the computers was connected to RocketM5 Titanium (in AP mode), then the radio link to NanostationM5 (client equipment), and AirGateway was already connected to it in router mode with various client devices - a computer connected by cable, a computer via Wi-Fi. The radio link bandwidth was taken at 40 MHz to achieve the highest possible speed. All speed measurements were performed using jPerf version 2.0.2. Speed indicators were averaged over three measurements, TCP traffic.
Thus, the performance of the router is enough to ensure comfortable operation of the home wireless network. For such a compact device with an internal antenna, the coverage provided is quite worthy - we quickly compared AirGateway with the AirRouter reviews we already knew from you and did not see a significant difference in both coverage area and performance.
In general, Ubiquiti made an excellent home-level device that extends the capabilities of WISP-CPE equipment, allowing you to quickly and easily deploy a home Wi-Fi network that does not require a separate power supply and is managed centrally by the operator.
The manufacturer took this little black box to the AirMAX line, which already carries a certain hint of the field of application - user equipment WISP. Let's not beat around the bush - AirGateway is positioned as a convenient home Wi-Fi router, designed for "their" equipment. It is a logical decision: if the user's home Internet is provided by Ubiquiti devices - why not offer your own solutions for a home Wi-Fi network? Moreover, in such a convenient form factor: AirGateway is designed to be installed directly on the power injector of devices of the AirMAX series, which means that it does not require anything for installation: LAN and PoE ports are duplicated on the device - put on the injector and insert two ( and even one!) wires. But the main thing is not even that. AirGateway enables using the Aircontrol monitoring system from Ubiquiti to monitor the condition of the channel not only to the client’s home, but also to its terminal device, and to set the optimal radio channel for the client. The operator’s dream came true - he can really manage not only the CPE, but also the access point behind it. In addition, the operator can control the frequency channels on the AirGateway access point, minimizing its effect on the CPE (for example, NanostationM2) operating in the same 2.4 GHz band.
Two modifications of AirGateway are presented: the usual 18 dBm with an internal antenna and LR (longrange) - 18 dBm with an external antenna (5 dBi). AirGateway’s Wi-Fi module without any frills - 2.4 GHz, 802.11 b / g / n, up to 150 Mbps bandwidth (SISO 1x1).
AirGateway runs on familiar AirOS and is available by default at 192.168.1.1. After entering the web interface, we are greeted by the setup wizard - a logical solution for equipment designed for different levels of training working with it. We enter the new administrator password (for access to the device), the SSID and password for the deployed home Wi-Fi network, confirm the settings - and we see the standard AirOS interface.
By default, the device starts in SOHORouter mode (WLAN and LAN1 - local area network, LAN0, that is, output from PoE - external network). A set of functions is quite common for a “home” router - PPPoE, firewall, VLAN, portforwarding, in general, nothing remarkable (except, perhaps, the ability to authenticate users of a home network via a RADIUS server is not the most popular function in home networks). You can also notice that the device does not support AirMAX technology, which is also not surprising - it is unlikely that a user will find Ubiquiti devices on a home wireless network.
From the list of utilities bundled with AirOS, AirView and SpeedTest also disappeared. The SiteSurvey functional for determining elementary problems in the orderly populated 2.4 GHz band is, in principle, enough - in any case, the channel of a neighboring access point can be seen and avoided if necessary.
To test AirGateway, we put together a stand simulating the “combat” use of this router: one of the computers was connected to RocketM5 Titanium (in AP mode), then the radio link to NanostationM5 (client equipment), and AirGateway was already connected to it in router mode with various client devices - a computer connected by cable, a computer via Wi-Fi. The radio link bandwidth was taken at 40 MHz to achieve the highest possible speed. All speed measurements were performed using jPerf version 2.0.2. Speed indicators were averaged over three measurements, TCP traffic.
| Bandwidth, Mbps (upstream / downstream) | |
|---|---|
| AirGateway, cable port connection | 87/87 |
| AirGateway, Wi-Fi connection, computer | 77/74 |
| AirGateway, Wi-Fi, 20 MHz band | 38/39 |
| Radiolink without AirGateway | 90/91 |
| Direct connection of computers | 95/95 |
Thus, the performance of the router is enough to ensure comfortable operation of the home wireless network. For such a compact device with an internal antenna, the coverage provided is quite worthy - we quickly compared AirGateway with the AirRouter reviews we already knew from you and did not see a significant difference in both coverage area and performance.
In general, Ubiquiti made an excellent home-level device that extends the capabilities of WISP-CPE equipment, allowing you to quickly and easily deploy a home Wi-Fi network that does not require a separate power supply and is managed centrally by the operator.