ZyXEL NWA50AX Pro Performance

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

Since I can't reply to other threads since they are all closed, I created this one...

I replaced my old Archer C7 with the ZyXEL NWA50AX Pro (Wifi6/2.5G AP)

Installation Instructions: https://openwrt.org/toh/zyxel/nwa50ax_pro

It is simply flashed over the Zyxel Web GUI

Switch reports POE Idle usage with 7 watts (30 devices connected)

Speedtest with Iperf3 from rather old Phone (wifi5 only), probably limited by the phone itself:

         Upload: 449mbit/s           Download: 545mbit/s          Upload: 65mbit/s            Download: 72mbit/s
      Phone (5Ghz / 877mbit)      Phone (5Ghz / 877mbit)      Phone (2.4Ghz / 144mbit)     Phone (2.4Ghz / 144mbit)
                |                            ^                            |                           ^
                |                            |                            |                           |
                v                            |                            v                           |
        AP (Ethernet 2.5G)           AP (Ethernet 2.5G)           AP (Ethernet 2.5G)           AP (Ethernet 2.5G)
                |                            ^                            |                           ^
                |                            |                            |                           |
                v                            |                            v                           |
              Switch                       Switch                       Switch                      Switch
                |                            ^                            |                           ^
                |                            |                            |                           |
                v                            |                            v                           |
        Server (Fiber 10G)          Server (Fiber 10G)           Server (Fiber 10G)          Server (Fiber 10G)

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So far really happy with it.

2

Hi

Can you please measure the power consumption under load again?

I'm looking for a PoE powered AP at the moment and there are two which I'm interested in.

Zyxel NWA50AX PRO and the Unifi U6+.

The Zyxel has the better 5GHz radio config (3x3 vs 2x2 on the U6+) but in the data sheet the power consumption is almost 2,5 times higher than that from the U6+.

20,5 Watt Zyxel vs 9 Watt U6+.

The Zyxel AP has a 2,5Gbit port. But 11,5W more?

3

Can you add your measured power consumption to this post?
https://forum.openwrt.org/t/power-consumption-of-routers-and-associated-networking-equipment-collection/

4

On load I get 13 watts, I compared netgear / zyxel and unifi but the zyxel was the best overall, still very happy with it and it's now officially supported by openwrt.

Since I don't know how accurate the power consumption reporting of the switch is I'm not going to do that, I think that should be done with a proper multimeter inline to get accurate results.

5

Well the table over there has a cokumn for measurement device and a subtable listingvthese devices, so you could simply mention the reliability question. Even slightly unreliable piwer usage data is better then no data.

6

Netgear WAX220 vs Ubiquiti U6+ vs Zyxel NWA50AX Pro?

Do you have results which you can share with us?

7

Hello. Is someone able to get 30 dB on the wifi with the Zyxel on 5 GHz? I tried with the latest official but I get 26 dB, while with the Snapshot I get 28 dB.

Via the Zyxel interface, it's possible to get to 30 dB. I tried multiple countries, but I can't get enough power.

I wanted to use 1 to be the main wifi6 router and 2 as wireless bridge to connect the rest of the devices, but the wifi coverage is not good... not sure if I can replace the antennas in the Zyxel, did someone try?