The IT Nerd

During the review of the the EnGenius SkyKey, I got the chance to try the EnGenius EAP1250 wireless access point. This is an access point that supports 802.11ac and supports beam forming and Multi-Users Multiple input Multiple output (MU-MIMO) to improve wireless network performance. I have admit that I was impressed by several things. The first being the size:

It’s roughly the size of a smoke alarm.

One the back, you can see the Gigabit Ethernet port that supports Power Over Ethernet. You also get a external power supply connection and the power supply is in the box which makes life much easier. Also in the box is all the mounting hardware that you need to mount it to your ceiling or wall.

The target user for this access point is a home user who needs better WiFi. Or a small to medium sized business that needs to cover a fair amount of real estate. Either way, this works insanely well. Setup was laughably easy as having the SkyKey allowed me to set it up in minutes including updating the firmware. But there is also the option to set it up via a web page. Though that’s a bit more involved for those who aren’t used to doing this sort of thing. That’s because unlike this access point that I reviewed recently from EnGenius. This isn’t a cloud managed access point out of the box unless you have a EnGenius SkyKey handy. But for the target audience, that’s likely not a factor.

A interesting feature in the access point has is mesh technology which, as seen on the WiFi systems, it’s a proprietary implementation, allowing multiple compatible devices to inter-connect and send data from one to the other and forming an optimized network of nodes where the focus is the creation of fast and reliable paths for the data, while keeping the interference to the minimum. I didn’t test this as I only have the one access point, but it gives you room for expansion and to ensure solid WiFi coverage.

In terms of speed, I was able to get the following numbers on the 5GHz band:

• 511 Mbps at 5 feet
• 480 Mbps at 15 feet
• 185 Mbps at 30 feet

And on the 2.4GHz band:

• 270 Mbps at 5 feet
• 197 Mbps at 15 feet
• 121 Mbps at 30 feet

These are very good results. Also of note, My Apple Watch at ground level was able to connect to this access point located 12 stories up. That was pretty impressive.

The EnGenius EAP1250 goes for $90.51 CDN on Amazon. If you want a WiFi access point that is scalable, easy to set up, and speedy, this is the one to get.

This entry was posted on May 21, 2021 at 9:59 am and is filed under Products with tags EnGenius. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.