Shootout at the OK Corral

Ubiquiti vs Brand-M

We have had queries regarding Brand-M, a potential competitor to Ubiquiti airMAX range.

So who is better? Well, if you brush away the marketing hype from Brand-M and look at the facts, it seems they are not even close.

A Bit of Background

We had a heated email exchange with Brand-M about 1 year ago, asking them to justify their claim that they had "4X4" long distance radio technology. I asked how they got 4 streams out of a dual-polarity antenna. Eventually they admitted they did it by having 2 channels on horizontal polarity, and 2 channels on vertical polarity. But, wait a minute, Ubiquiti has been doing that for years - but Ubiquiti don't add marketing spin and call it "4x4".

For example: a device running dual-polarity with 2x20 MHz channels, (40 MHz) on each polarity is marketed as:

• Brand-M: 4 x 4  (4 x 20 MHz channels)
• Ubiquiti:  2 x 2  (2 x 40 MHz channels)

OK, so Brand-M has not reinvented some physics after all.

But, are they faster, or better value?

Speed Comparison

There is an excellent post on the Ubiquiti Forum where a user has done some apples & apples comparison. Please read it in full. Below here I have summarised the key findings.

Data Throughput vs Channel Width  

 What does that table tell us?

• If price is not an issue, and you have lots of 5 GHz bandwidth available with no inerference (very unlikely in the 160/160 and 80/80 cases), then Brand-M is for you.
• Otherwise, the Ubiquiti products are far and away the winner on raw-speed and price.

Full article... 

And More Shootouts...

Click image to enlarge

And here is another serious comparision. It shows how various brands compare in the real-world where there is interference.

The three Ubiquiti products win First, Second, and Third places! The other 3 competitors don't even get a medal.

Full article...

And More (alarming) Facts ...

The plot above is quite alarming.

The red curve is Brand-M, which displays a high noise floor, plus two spurious peaks that are outside the Australian class-license (WiFi) band of 5150 to 5850 MHz. The spurs are at about 4750 and 6250 MHz  In other words: could cause interference in licenced bands.

The ACMA would very probably demand such a radio be shut down.

Full article ...

Online Training

New! We have added airMAX V7 for the newer 5AC product range.

In a world's first, Online training (developed in Australia) is now available for the Ubiquiti products shown.

You benefit  in a number of ways:

• Cheaper - than attending a formal 2-day course in a classroom environment.
• Faster - no need to wait until the next classroom course is scheduled nearby.
• More convenient - the self-paced courses can be scheduled around other demanding work.
• More practical - the Ubiquiti classroom courses are great for students needing to delve deep into theory such as Radio Waves, Antenna design, TDMA protocols, Link-Budgets, UniFi-WiFi site surveys, etc. But in many cases, students just want to know how to setup some very common scenarios. These Installer courses are targeted with less theory and more practice.

The way each course works is ... each student:

• signs up and receives by email a set of detailed course notes. These can be kept as a reference document for use later on-the-job.
• is allocated real test hardware for 7 days. This is hardware the student gets to configure (over the Internet).
• passes an online quiz for each module. When all module quizes have been passed, the student gets emailed a Certifcate of Completion.

More ...

Classroom Training

airMAX and UniFi

We have both airMAX (airOS), and UniFi training courses available. The courses are each 2-days, and are booked separately. But in most cases, we will schedule them back-to-back so students can attend both in a 4-day stretch.

Upcoming courses:

 See the Full Calendar.

New Products - In Stock Now

 Upcoming Products

The products below have been announced. We will keep you updated via this newsletter as we learn more.

ISO-BEAM-620 Ubiquiti's first shield kit! Designed for the newer 620mm dishes. More ...

Hint: A great WiFi survey app

If you need a quick and easy WiFi signal strength mapper, try this: 

More ... 

Hint: Don't forget the ACMA permits 200W (53 dBm) EIRP in the 5.8 GHz band in certain cases.

In certain cases, you can apply to the ACMA for permission to run up to 200W/53 dBm in the 5.8 GHz band. This is much higher than the normal 4W/36 dBm restriction in the cities.

More ... 

Tell us of Your Success

Dual Band - Marina Super WiFi

PROJECT:      Yacht Marina - In Cyprus SIZE:                2000sqm , 160 Yachts & boats, Outdoor   TARGET:          To provide High Speed, Reliable Internet Access to the Deck of Each and every boat  NO. OF ANTENNAS:      43  NO. OF POLES:             8  ( 5 Meters Tall )

More ...