The installation becomes simple through Zyxels mobile app, which can also manage other Zyxel online grid appliances.
The lack of a power adapter decreases the out-of-box experience when used without a PoE switch.
Zyxel NWA220AX-6E: Availability
The Zyxel NWA220AX-6E access point is available for $150 onAmazon.
The white plastic case measures 180 x 180 x 42 mm for 650g.
CPU:Dual-core Qualcomm IPQ5018 CPU
RAM:1GB
Storage:512MB NAND
Radios:Dual 4x4 for 5GHz and 6GHz.
One 2x2 for 2.4GHz
Wireless throughput:Theoretical 4800Mbps, 2400Mbps practical
Ports:2.5Gb Ethernet with PoE.
The back holds three sockets, with two to connect to the LAN infrastructure.
The primary uplink socket supports PoE at 2.5Gbps bandwidth.
A second LAN port supports 1Gbps, and a third port provides power from a 12V DC source.
The same radio is responsible for the 5GHz band but cannot cover both simultaneously.
The NWA220AX-6E access point boots quickly and emits SSIDs within one minute.
The front LED tells the current status of the access point.
The unit gets slightly warm on the bottom.
The NWA220AX-6E performs best with a 2.5Gb connection.
If using a low-quality Ethernet cable, the AP will throttle the link-up speed to 100Mbps.
Competitive products are more forgivable and will link up to 1Gbps with the same low-quality cable.
Access point configuration is done through the mobile tool or the Nebula webpage.
The app, available on bothAppleand Android stores, requires subscribing to Zyxel cloud first.
In most cases, the user must upgrade the AP to the latest firmware.
The NWA220AX-6E is best configured through Zyxels cloud portal.
Options such as radio bands are only available through the website and not on the mobile software.
Other advantages of the cloud portal are controlling other Zyxel devices and a one-year license for the professional pack.
Pro-pack increases the productivity of small businesses by offering Email alert notifications and automatic visual topology of the internet.
The fastest throughput was obtained at one meter from the AP, at 1.15Gb/s.
At 5m, the throughput drops to 600Mb/s, which finally reaches 200Mb/s at 10m.
Tests were done using WiFi 6E with a 160MHz bandwidth.
Access points are available with similar hardware but priced much higher.
The access point that resembles the most the NWA220AX-6E is the Ubiquity U6 Enterprise.
As a result, the U6 will also consume more when compared to the NWA220AX-6E.
The Zyxel AP compensates for a lower output power by having excellent radio receiver sensitivity.
Zyxel NWA220AX-6E: Final verdict
Zyxels NWA220AX-6E will get the job done on day one.
The NWA220AX-6E works smoothly in Zyxels Nebula cloud ecosystem.
The user can also reach the equipment through the mobile app.
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