Zyxel USG Lite 60AX WiFi 6 Security Router Review – MBReviews Leave a comment

If the title didn’t give it away, this can be a lighter model of the USG line which has been the spine of the Nebula-powered networks for years. And by gentle, I don’t imply that it weighs much less, though it does because the router is now made from plastic as an alternative of steel, however about Zyxel’s try at simplifying issues for the SMBs and energy customers.

The USG Lite 60AX continues to make use of the Nebula Cloud platform and, similar to the SCR 50AXE, there isn’t a native administration platform which I discovered a bit curious. Which means this router is smart when used alongside a number of entry factors and switches, in any other case, the Nebula platform is unquestionably overkill.

On the similar time, I seen the similarities between it and the ASUS TUF-AX4200, so there’s a probability you could set up OpenWRT in case Zyxel decides to not help this machine anymore. The USG Lite 60AX does have a few 2.5GbE ports, a transparent enchancment over the WiFi 6E SCR 50AXE, however no, there isn’t a help for the 6GHz radio. Does it matter? I don’t suppose it’s a deal breaker particularly contemplating the present state of 6GHz adoption which isn’t that nice.

MLO is barely supported on some cell units. Might it have been a future-proof function? Perhaps. However then once more, I’m positive a brand new WiFi 7 USG safety router will turn out to be out there when the brand new commonplace matures a bit. Another options embody a Subscription-free ransomware safety, in addition to different security-focused options together with an Advert-blocker. These appear to be getting extra widespread these days. I’m wondering why is that, Google? Anyway, let’s get a more in-depth take a look at the Zyxel USG Lite 60AX.

Design and Construct High quality

The USG Lite 60AX has a distinct kind issue than let’s say the USG FLEX 200HP which was designed to sit down in a rack. It follows the same design to the SCR 50AXE, so it sits vertically and it depends on a rotating piece of plastic for stability.

It does work, however I’m fearful about its longevity. The case is made from plastic and Zyxel says that it used 95% post-consumer-recycled (PCR) plastics within the building of the machine which is a step in the correct route. The body of the router is white, like the remainder of the case, however there’s a crimson portion which is a kind of attribute for the Zyxel USG routers and gateways.

From beneath it, there’s a single standing LED which shined by and also you do have to seek the advice of the handbook to know what every coloration means. The person standing LEDs are simply not cool anymore. Sigh. Flip the router round and we are able to see the ports space. The primary 4 are Gigabit LAN ports, adopted by a few 2.5GbE ports, one for LAN, the opposite for WAN.

Beneath them, there’s the Reset button and the 12V Energy port. When you have a more in-depth look above the ports, we are able to see a detachable cowl which hides a Console port and you may see the schematics right here.

The Warmth Administration

After seeing that the USG Flex 200HP relied on passive cooling, I had no doubts that the Lite 60AX would take the identical street and certainly, there aren’t any followers. Ubiquiti appears to be the one one adamant on normalizing it, however different producers discovered different methods to maintain their {hardware} cool.

As you’ll be able to see from the video I took with a thermal digicam, the USG Lite 60AX doesn’t warmth up and the temperature stays inside cheap limits even whereas I used to be operating a few of the extra heavier exams.

Zyxel USG Lite 60AX Teardown

Mud could accumulate in time and maybe the thermal paste must be modified, so it’s necessary to know if it’s straightforward to get into the USG Lite 60AX. I solely needed to take away the 2 screws on the backside after which utilizing a prying software, I indifferent the 2 vertical elements. Then, I may see the antennas and after taking out the warmth spreaders, I may see the principle elements. I did make a dedicated teardown video if you wish to see it in additional element. And I additionally added a comparability desk.

The Wi-fi Take a look at (5GHz)

Now let’s get on with the exams and we’re going to begin by checking the one shopper throughput utilizing three completely different shopper units. One is WiFi 6 and two are WiFi 5.

The throughput is greater than anticipated, going above 1.7Gbps upstream when utilizing the 160MHz channel bandwidth.

It’s really second to the ASUs TUF-AX4200 which does share the identical platform with the UG Lite AX60, so it’s not a coincidence.

Utilizing the 80MHz channel width, there are higher routers on the market, however the Lite AX60 remains to be performing rather well, going shut to 1 gigabit.

The throughput stays wonderful even downstream, however let’s additionally take a look on the vary of the wi-fi router.

We’re essentially the most within the spot the place the sign attenuation is -85dB and we are able to see that the WiFi 6 shopper had no bother sustaining an honest throughput, whereas one WiFi 5 was a bit much less spectacular and the opposite dropped out utterly.

And that is true each upstream and downstream. So, to get the utmost out of this router, use WiFi 6 units.

I’ve additionally added a longer-term efficiency graph which included a comparability with the ASUS TUF-AX4200.

The Wi-fi Take a look at (2.4GHz)

Let’s now take a look at the throughput when utilizing the two.4GHz radio band because it’s going for use quite a bit contemplating the ever rising variety of shopper units.

I used the 40MHz channel bandwidth to get a greater throughput, but it surely’s probably wiser to make use of 20MHz for a greater sign penetration. That being mentioned, upstream, it’s an honest efficiency, particularly when utilizing the WiFi 6 shopper, whereas the 2 WiFi 5 shoppers outcomes have been much less attention-grabbing.

The vary check reveals that we’ll get goo outcomes fairly far and at 70 toes in my home, the sign attenuation was -74dB. When in comparison with different wi-fi routers, the USG Lite AX60 is barely above common.

The Multi-Consumer Exams (5GHz)

Let’s transfer on and see how the Zyxel USG Lite AX60 handles numerous kinds of site visitors ran on a couple of shopper units on the similar time. And I used the identical computer systems as earlier than which you’ll be able to see right here. And I’ve additionally added the sign attenuation that I measured on the shopper stage.

The software that I used is net-hydra which was developed by Mr Jim Salter and you should use it for your self since it’s available on GitHub. That being mentioned, let’s see the latency when 5 shopper units ran simultaneous 1080p site visitors.

Unsurprisingly, we see the WiFi 6E and the 6 shoppers performing the perfect, with two of them remaining close to 50ms for all the length of the check. The remainder raised close to and above 100ms which is a bit removed from very best efficiency. Transferring on, it’s time to run simulated 4K site visitors on the 5 shopper units and, whereas there’s positively a latency enhance, it’s not as radical as I anticipated.

It’s really a really related efficiency to what I noticed once I examined the ASUS TUF-AX4200. It’s nonetheless not a perfect latency, so it is best to restrict the variety of shoppers or depend on cable for those who completely want 5 units to run 4K streaming on the similar time.
After that, I included intense searching site visitors to run alongside 1080p streaming and the primary graph reveals if there was an influence on the previous sort of latency.

There clearly was, with the WiFi 6E shopper freaking out and going above 100ms for 10% of the time. The remainder stayed close to 100ms, with one shopper, the ZimaBoard going a bit previous 100ms for all the check.

The extreme searching graphic confirmed an honest efficiency, with one shopper going above 1s for 1% of the time, so it’s negligible. General, it’s a greater efficiency than the TUF-AX4200.

Afterwards, I ran the extraordinary searching site visitors alongside 4K streaming and, whereas it was a decent efficiency between the 5 shopper units, the TUF-AX4200 did a bit higher right here.

The extreme searching graph does put the Lite 60AX within the benefit. Now it’s time to alter issues a bit and embody a few downloading shoppers, leaving one for the 4K streaming and two for the extraordinary searching.

The efficiency of the downloading shoppers appears a bit completely different than what I noticed on the TUF-X4200, regardless that one did keep close to 100ms just about on a regular basis. Additionally, the general throughput for the downloading shoppers is 627.2Mbps.

Subsequent, I eliminated one downloading shopper and changed it with 4K streaming. One 4K streaming shopper gave up instantly, however the remaining carried out significantly better than anticipated, higher than what I noticed on the TUF-AX4200.

Let’s go even lighter on the USG Lite 60AX by operating there kinds of simulated site visitors on three shopper units. The downloading shopper did a bit higher than on the TUF-AX4200 and I suppose the opposite two shoppers reveals a considerably related efficiency.

Let’s restrict the stress much more by downloading a 1MB file this time alongside intense searching and VoiP. I’m going to check the latency with the TUF-AX4200 as soon as once more and each the VoiP and the extraordinary searching and nearly equivalent, however the downloading shopper appears a bit higher on the Zyxel router. The downloading shopper throughput was 192.8Mbps.

Lastly, I ran the downloading site visitors on the 5 shopper units and the result’s as anticipated. One shopper managed to go over 3s, so it’s greatest to not push the router this a lot. Additionally, the entire throughput was 659.1Mbps.

The Standalone Platform

Similar to the SCR 50AXE, the Zyxel USG Lite 60AX was developed with the Nebula Cloud platform at its core, so there was little or no thought put in for the standalone software program. There may be one, but it surely’s severely bare-bones.

There are three foremost areas, one is the Dashboard which reveals some standing information, adopted by the Community the place you’ll be able to modify the WAN settings and lastly, there’s the Upkeep the place you get some instruments for testing some community behaviors and a Log part. That’s all, however as I discussed within the intro, I’ll try to put in OpenWRT on it, so keep tuned for the subsequent video.

The Nebula Cloud Controller

After including the USG Lite 60AX to the Nebula Cloud Controller, I may see some standing information on the Dashboard, however I initially couldn’t get a few of the areas kind the Safety part to get populated. I came upon later that it’s because I had no accessed the controller for greater than 30 days, so the Cloud Saving Mode was routinely enabled.

Disabling it did be certain that the beforehand unpopulated areas would now present the required information. That being mentioned, the Monitor and the Configure sections work as meant and I may verify the logs, the VPN connections and get a Menace report, whereas the Content material Filter report was beneath a paid subscription. Underneath Configure, we get fairly a number of choices. First, we have an interest to arrange the WiFi facet which may be completed beneath Radio and SSID settings.

And there are some Superior settings as properly for Charge-limiting, organising an authentication methodology for visitor shoppers and adjusting the way in which the shoppers will work together with the networks. We’re not completed as a result of this can be a safety router and it does have some highly effective options to supply. You may see beneath Menace Administration you could allow the blocking of varied kinds of intrusions, together with advertisements, however it’s potential to set an Exception listing for IP deal with or shoppers, in addition to block or enable sure domains.

Underneath Site visitors administration, we get some site visitors shaping choices, content material filtering and extra. We additionally get a Firewall with implicit guidelines and it’s potential so as to add a NAT digital server. Lastly, we get some VPN settings and we are able to arrange Web site-to-Web site VPNs, together with for Non-Nebula friends and I’ve seen that there’s a Distant entry VPN which appears to be in Beta proper now. I noticed that there have been two 2.5GbE ports out there and assumed that maybe we’d get some dual-WAN choices, however sadly I couldn’t discover it. Perhaps sooner or later.

The Conclusion

This hands-off strategy could be very widespread for lots of shoppers as a result of in any other case they would wish a devoted IT division, so the prospect {that a} distant workforce can deal with all of their wants is essentially the most interesting to them. Which is why the Cloud-only strategy makes a number of sense for many companies, but it surely doesn’t for energy customers. So who’s the Zyxel USG Lite 60AX for? Judging by the Cloud-focused software program, I’d say that regardless of being known as lite, it’s nonetheless designed with companies in thoughts, probably the smaller ones.