EnGenius Cloud Lite ECW516L Test and Review – MBReviews Leave a comment

The EnGenius ECW516L arrives a 12 months after the flagship ECW536 hit the market and it does have a distinct function than to solely showcase technological improvement. It’s attempting to make WiFi 7 inexpensive for anybody keen to undertake this nonetheless pretty younger customary. A purpose that’s additionally the main target of Zyxel with its NWA110BE. However the EnGenius Cloud Lite ECW516L does issues a bit otherwise.

We do get a 2.5GbE port, assist for 320MHz channel width on the 6GHz radio and, in fact, we do get a tri-band configuration. However what’s completely different from the NWA110BE is that you should utilize each the 5GHz and the 6GHz radios on the similar time, no want to decide on between them. Oh, and there may be assist for MLO which was and nonetheless is to a sure prolong a wanted function that’s specific to the WiFi 7 entry factors. Now let’s speak concerning the value.

The EnGenius Cloud Lite ECW516L has an MSRP of $199 which is pretty low contemplating the specs, nevertheless it does have the TP-Hyperlink EAP773 respiration down its neck, so I’m curious to see the efficiency of this new WiFi entry level. Let’s put it to the check.

The Design and Construct High quality

Design-wise, whereas retaining the core components of the ECW536, the ECW516L is nearer to the ECW230 and ECW230S. The case is smaller, with a plastic high and a metallic backside. It’s additionally a lot slimmer than the ECW536, so it is going to be a bit extra unobtrusive on the ceiling.

And sure, this can be a ceiling-mount-only WiFi 7 entry level, it gained’t sit correctly on the desk. You do get the bracket within the bundle, however not a lot else. A separate PoE adapter or PoE change is important, though the latter will not be obligatory contemplating that the gadget does have a 12V DC port obtainable. It’s positioned subsequent to the only 2.5GbE Ethernet port that does assist PoE, clearly. And there may be additionally a Reset button as nicely.

All these might be discovered inside the bottom-placed devoted space. Flip the gadget again to the highest and we are able to see a return to the a number of LED ports which is a welcomed change from the single-LED system of the ECW536.

The Thermal Administration

The metallic backside half paired with the plastic high have been a reasonably dependable system utilized by EnGenius over the previous years and I used to be curious whether or not it labored nicely for the Cloud Lite ECW516L as nicely. I didn’t have the AGM telephone obtainable this time, so I switched to a small Xinfrared module for an Android telephone. And you may see what I used to be in a position to seize right here.

The outcomes are good, because the entry level has an excellent warmth distribution and there doesn’t appear to be any indicators that it might overheat or throttle as a consequence of excessive temperature.

EnGenius Cloud Lite ECW516L Teardown

EnGenius has just about at all times made the teardown course of as straightforward as potential and that’s true for the ECW512L the place I solely wanted to take away 4 screws to ensure that the plastic half to come out. After which we’re greeted by the rear aspect of the PCB and EnGenius determined to place right here the antenna connectors.

Earlier than the rest, I made a decision to detach them after which I checked beneath the three aluminum covers. No main part right here, so let’s test the opposite aspect. I might instantly see the 2 flash storage chipsets, one was a 256MB NAND flash MXIC X241952 MX35LF2GE4AD-Z43 chip and the opposite a 128MB serial NOR flash Winbond 25Q128JVSQ 2251 chip. Now we have to take away the remainder of the aluminum covers to show the principle parts. And you may see within the following desk what I used to be in a position to determine.

{Hardware} Comparability

Single Shopper Checks (6GHz & 5GHz)

I admit I used to be getting accustomed to see values nearer to 2Gbps, so seeing that the EnGenius ECW516L solely bought above 1Gbps very close to the consumer gadget was a little bit of a letdown. I’ve additionally included the values collected when the 6GHz radio was utilizing both the 160MHz and the 320MHz, and we are able to see that going near that 21m or 70 ft mark dropped the connection fully.

And that true each upstream and downstream. Utilizing the 5GHz radio and counting on a WiFi 6 and one WiFi 5 consumer gadget did present that the sign can attain farther.

That is confirmed by the sign attenuation graphics as nicely.

And sure, I’m speaking about it being each upstream and downstream.

The one point out that I must make is that the 5GHz radio doesn’t assist the 160MHz channel bandwidth, nevertheless it’s restricted to solely the 80MHz width. I imply, in a crowded surroundings, you’re not going to have the ability to use the 160MHz channel width, however when you have fewer neighbors and fewer interference, then this can be a function that you just’re going to note that it’s lacking.
OK, now let’s see how the entry level fares when put subsequent to different units.

When utilizing the 5GHz radio, we are able to see that the ECW512L sits above the U7 Professional and instantly beneath the TP-Hyperlink EAP773. Truthful efficiency.

Subsequent, utilizing the 6GHz radio, 320MHz, the ECW516L does take a decrease place, solely above the ECW536. I’ve additionally included a longer-term efficiency graphic only for funsies.

Single Shopper Checks (2.4GHz)

We’re not going to maneuver previous the two.4GHz radio efficiency, however I’ll solely be utilizing a few shoppers and simply the upstream graphic.

If you would like the downstream values as nicely, remark beneath, in any other case I’ll assume it’s sufficient. I’ve additionally included the sign attenuation graphic because it’s extra vital that the distance-based values.

That is how one can really reproduce my efficiency. And lastly, I put the EnGenius ECW516L towards different entry factors as soon as extra and it sits beneath the EAP773 which is truthful, however probably not spectacular.

The Multi-Shopper Checks

Let’s now transfer on to the multi-client check outcomes and, as earlier than I used net-hydra developed by Mr Jim Salter. I used the identical consumer units as with different entry factors to assist the comparability between fashions simpler. It will have been higher to have equivalent consumer units, however prices can be too excessive to make it price it.

I began with the concurrent 1080p streaming site visitors and two shoppers did nicely, the WiFi 7 one and one of many two WiFi 6 laptops. The remaining rose too excessive and didn’t present a usable latency.

Then once more, it did higher than the NWA110BE. Subsequent, I ran 4K streaming site visitors on the 5 consumer units and the latency was greater than 100ms on a regular basis whatever the gadget, so not a good suggestion to run this sort of site visitors on 5 consumer units.

As a comparability, the NWA110BE did a bit higher right here.

Transferring ahead, I stored the 1080p streaming site visitors and ran intense shopping alongside it. And once more, we get to see two consumer units doing higher than the remainder.

I additionally checked the extreme shopping graph and all shoppers stood beneath 500ms for 95% of the time, however three did rise near 1s for about 5% of the time. Nonetheless very a lot usable.

I additionally needed to run intense shopping subsequent to 4K streaming and the previous didn’t have that a lot of an influence on the latter. Then once more, the latency will nonetheless make issues unusable.

The extreme shopping graph exhibits a bent in the direction of 1.3 seconds on two shoppers which was regarding, however the remainder did alright.

After that, I made a decision to depart out the ZimaBoard and run numerous forms of site visitors on the remainder of the shoppers, and that does embrace downloading as nicely. The concept is to obtain a 10MB file constantly on a few shoppers. And the result’s, nicely, as anticipated.

The 2 downloading shoppers shortly rose above 400ms and so did the 4K streaming consumer. The 2 intense shopping shoppers did OK. After checking the NWA110BE efficiency, it does appear to be it did a bit higher, though the latency continues to be too excessive for consolation.

Subsequent, I restricted the downloading site visitors to 1 consumer and the latency did get higher, staying beneath 250ms for about 95% of the time and one 4K streaming consumer additionally stayed close to 100ms which is healthier than earlier than. However nonetheless just about unusable.

So we have to restrict the consumer units to a few and see if that makes a distinction. Unusually, it didn’t.

And I’ve seen one thing comparable after I examined the Zyxel NWA110BE.

So, I made a decision to vary the downloading file to 1MB. This did the trick and we are able to see a latency close to 50ms throughout the board.

And I’ve additionally included VoIP site visitors this time which was dealt with pretty nicely. Lastly, I needed to obtain the 10MB file on all 5 consumer units and you may see the end result for your self.

The MLO Efficiency

It’s very good to see that MLO is part of the entry-level entry factors contemplating how lengthy it took to be made usable from each the consumer and the gadget degree. Some WiFi 7 router producers are nonetheless enjoying round, which is why a devoted entry level is nearly at all times the higher choice. And it’s not that costly both, you simply want a change and a gateway, each might be cheaper. Anyway, let’s take a look at the MLO efficiency of the EnGenius ECW516L.

I suppose it’s not a serious achieve close to the entry level, however, contemplating that we initially bought 0Mbps on the farthest level, we do now get to go farther away with the consumer. And that’s true each upstream and downstream.

I’ve additionally ran some FLENT exams, nothing particular, the default ones and I’ve included right here the outcomes.

Positive, the NWA110BE had fewer configurations obtainable, however I nonetheless suppose the ECW512L carried out erratically in a few of these graphics.

The Standalone Mode

There isn’t a lot o discover with regards to the stand-alone mode of the EnGenius ECW516L. Positive, it’s there, however it is extremely restricted when it comes to each monitoring attain and particularly the obtainable configuration.

I don’t know for the way lengthy EnGenius intends to assist this mannequin, but when it’s out of the Cloud platform, then you definately gained’t be capable to configure it that a lot in depth.

The Cloud Platform

And that takes us to the EnGenius Cloud platform. The method of including the entry level to the community is just about the usual throughout SMB and above networking units. After which we get entry to the Dashboard the place we are able to see numerous standing details about the ECW516L and another EnGenius units that part of the community.

Going to Entry Factors and choosing the AP, we are able to see devoted standing data and we are able to do some configuration modifications that may override the adopted settings. It’s additionally potential to take a look at the Diag Instruments which, by default embrace Community Actions and the All Channel Utilization. The Reside Shoppers turn into obtainable when utilizing the Professional subscription.

It’s additionally price mentioning the SSID Checklist the place we are able to change how the Wi-fi performs, together with enabling MLO. There’s additionally a Captive Portal, Entry Management, SPlash Web page, Hotspot 2.0 and Firewall. We will additionally make modifications to the Radios, the place the settings are common for all entry factors adopted inside the community.

The Conclusion

It’s good to see that EnGenius provides an inexpensive WiFi 7 entry level that gives the 6GHz radio alongside 5GHz and a pair of.4GHz (in contrast to the NWA110BE), in addition to MLO. The worth tag does imply that the {hardware} is much less potent, so a couple of software program options will probably be lacking from the Cloud platform. Plus the wi-fi efficiency was truthful for a smaller community, however once more, it’s probably not a champion at both velocity or protection. It’s a good gadget providing fairly a couple of superior options at an inexpensive value.