NEXr5GO First Impressions
Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 5:02 pm
Got a pair of these (NEXR5GO) for testing, I wanted to see if the WiFi performance was better than the 3526 and 1608. Out of the box, this is a nice size router, solid metal construction, with plenty of room to work. It’s slotted for 2xMimo unless you forgo the wifi ports which defeats the purpose of this router. It’s also 100M ethernet ports so there is a back plane limitation. However, where I live, if I could get 100mbps I would be extremely happy as the towers simply can’t provide that much bandwidth due to everyone pounding on them.
The SMA ports required adapters, but The Wireless Haven said that was in the works to be remediated, along with the missing modem screws. I’m confident that this is true as all the other router shells I bought from The Wireless Haven have included these standards.
Inside there is plenty of room to work.
And I like that is not as wide as the 1608/3526, and the fact that the ports are part of the chassis and not the top, making cabling and servicing easier as you don’t have to worry about snapping the cables (hot glue pending on this unit).
And I like the form factor, below you can see the size difference between the 826 and 1608:
Top view:
Now for the reason I am posting this, I have base lined the wifi performance from my office (these units are upstairs, on the opposite end of the house in the loft). From my office, I get 2-3 bars from the 826, 1608 and 3526. I run Ubiquiti mesh, but for the past few weeks I used the wifi direct from the units.
All tests were done on 2.4GHz, with 20MHz width for max coverage.
1608 and 3526 baselines where : -78
Now the NEXR5GO’s turn….
-59
Very noticeable difference. Now to add another variable, order some 2.5A power adapter upgrades from The Wireless Haven. All these units come with 2.0A and I read that the 2.5 stabalizes weak LTE signals and boosts wifi. So here are the real results from a Wi-Fi perspective after swapping the power supplies:
1608\3526\826: Baseline -78, Upgraded PS -69
NEXR5GO: Baseline -59, Upgraded PS -56
If your not busting past 100mbps, then these units rock for us out in the country. The upgraded wifi can definitely save a buck or two from hooking up a mesh system to these routers.
Very happy with the units I have.
The SMA ports required adapters, but The Wireless Haven said that was in the works to be remediated, along with the missing modem screws. I’m confident that this is true as all the other router shells I bought from The Wireless Haven have included these standards.
Inside there is plenty of room to work.
And I like that is not as wide as the 1608/3526, and the fact that the ports are part of the chassis and not the top, making cabling and servicing easier as you don’t have to worry about snapping the cables (hot glue pending on this unit).
And I like the form factor, below you can see the size difference between the 826 and 1608:
Top view:
Now for the reason I am posting this, I have base lined the wifi performance from my office (these units are upstairs, on the opposite end of the house in the loft). From my office, I get 2-3 bars from the 826, 1608 and 3526. I run Ubiquiti mesh, but for the past few weeks I used the wifi direct from the units.
All tests were done on 2.4GHz, with 20MHz width for max coverage.
1608 and 3526 baselines where : -78
Now the NEXR5GO’s turn….
-59
Very noticeable difference. Now to add another variable, order some 2.5A power adapter upgrades from The Wireless Haven. All these units come with 2.0A and I read that the 2.5 stabalizes weak LTE signals and boosts wifi. So here are the real results from a Wi-Fi perspective after swapping the power supplies:
1608\3526\826: Baseline -78, Upgraded PS -69
NEXR5GO: Baseline -59, Upgraded PS -56
If your not busting past 100mbps, then these units rock for us out in the country. The upgraded wifi can definitely save a buck or two from hooking up a mesh system to these routers.
Very happy with the units I have.