Ubiquiti airRouter WiFi: Pros and Cons

Ubiquiti airRouter (AR) pictures

The specifications below are based on the official data published by the manufacturer, but we also take user reviews into consideration. If you found an error or something lacking in the specifications above for the Ubiquiti airRouter, then don’t hesite and signal the problem to us.

Ubiquiti airRouter (AR) specifications

Body

If you have limited space available for your router, such as in a small apartment or office, the dimensions can determine whether it can fit in the designated area or not. It's important to consider the physical size of the router, including its height, width, and depth, to ensure it can be accommodated in your space. If you purchase a router online or have it shipped, the weight may affect the overall cost. Heavier routers can result in higher shipping charges, especially for international deliveries.

System

The Atheros AR7241 @ 400 MHz CPU, combined with other factors such as RAM capacity and firmware optimization, determines the overall performance and responsiveness of the router. The airRouter has 32 MB of RAM. Some advanced router features and software functionalities require a certain amount of RAM to operate properly. For example, routers with more RAM can support advanced security features, VPN services, or QoS (Quality of Service) prioritization more effectively.

The airRouter has 8 MB of flash memory. A larger flash memory allows for more storage space to accommodate future firmware upgrades. The process of upgrading the firmware on routers has become relatively simple and user-friendly over the years. The Ubiquiti provides easy-to-use interfaces and instructions to guide users through the firmware upgrade process. The Ubiquiti provides the appropriate power supply (5 V / 2 A) that matches the voltage requirements of the router. The power supply unit is designed to deliver the correct voltage to the router, ensuring its proper operation.

Network

The airRouter router offers built-in security features to protect your network and connected devices. The majority of networking equipment, including routers, switches, and other network devices, is designed to support IPv4. The airRouter has 4 x 10/100 Mbps LAN and 1 x 10/100 Mbps WAN ports. The LAN ports of airRouter router are numbered and are used to establish wired connections between the router and devices such as computers, gaming consoles, smart TVs, network-attached storage (NAS) devices, and other network-enabled devices.

WAN ports often require specific configuration settings based on the type of internet connection provided by your ISP. If you have a high-speed internet plan with speeds exceeding 100 Mbps, you may experience a bottleneck in wired connections due to the limitation of the Fast Ethernet ports on the airRouter router.

Wireless

This router has 2 x 0 dBi, internal antennas. Many modern routers feature multiple antennas and use Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology. This technology enables simultaneous transmission and reception of multiple data streams, increasing overall throughput and improving the Wi-Fi performance. The airRouter supports the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi. It is one of the most common frequency bands used for Wi-Fi networks.

The airRouter is a Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) router. N routers may have a more limited range compared to newer Wi-Fi standards, making them less suitable for larger homes or offices where Wi-Fi coverage is a concern. The N150 refers to the maximum combined data transfer rate supported by the router across all Wi-Fi bands. The airRouter is capable of a maximum throughput speed of 150 Mbps. The real-world speed of a airRouter router is typically lower than its theoretical maximum speed.

The maximum TX power of airRouter router is 19 dBm. Adjusting the TX power of a router can be useful in situations where you want to optimize the Wi-Fi signal strength and coverage. The airRouter router offers several security protocols: WEP, WPA, WPA2. The WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) was the first security protocol for Wi-Fi networks but is now considered weak and easily compromised. It uses a static encryption key and has known vulnerabilities, so it is no longer recommended for securing Wi-Fi networks. The WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2) was introduced as an improvement over WEP and provides stronger security. If WPA3 is not available, WPA2-Personal with AES encryption is still considered secure.

Connectivity

USB ports can offer additional functionality depending on the router's capabilities. The USB 2 port has a maximum theoretical data transfer rate of 480 megabits per second (Mbps), which is equivalent to 60 megabytes per second (MB/s). The airRouter router has print server functionality. With a USB print server, you can manage printer settings, monitor print queues, and control access to the printer from a centralized interface. This can simplify printer management and administration tasks. The airRouter router allows you to schedule automated backups of your important data to the connected USB storage device.

Administration

The Ubiquiti router setup panel is accessed through a web browser. Connect your computer to the airRouter router via Wi-Fi or Ethernet cable. In the address bar of the web browser, type in the 192.168.1.1 IP address. If you are unable to log in to the setup panel of your Ubiquiti router, performing a reset can be a helpful troubleshooting step. It is highly recommended to change the default password of your airRouter router after the initial setup. If you forget the new password in the future, you may need to perform a factory reset on the router to revert to the default settings.

Ubiquiti airRouter (AR) comparisons

According to our statistics, the Ubiquiti airRouter router was most often compared on our site with the following routers.

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