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WiFi 6E has been off to a bit of a slow start, but it looks like this is the year where manufacturers ramp things up and bring prices down.

Last week, the Ubiquiti UniFi U6-Enterprise was announced, and this is the first relatively affordable WiFi 6E device that has launched I am aware of. Priced at $249, it is barely more expensive than the excellent Unifi U6-LR. Currently, most consumer routers will set you back around £500, and a Netgear WiFi 6E mesh system is £1500!

WiFi 6E Access Point Prices

Netgear is now throwing their hat into the ring with the WAX630E for £299.99/$369.99. It is not priced quite as attractively as the U6-Enterprise, but it is an absolute bargain compared to the Aruba AP-635, priced at over £1k. EnGenius have the ECW336, there does seem to be official pricing for that, but one website lists it as £1k, too.

Netgear WAX630E vs WAX630 vs WAX620 vs WAX610

The prices of competing brands are irrelevant if you have already committed to the Netgear Insight platform. However, similar to Ubiquiti, Netgear has priced this new AP very attractively compared to the existing products. The older WAX630 is £290, and the WAX620 is £230, then you have the WAX619, which is the most affordable at £175.

Looking at the four indoor Netgear Insight APs, the WAX630E is a bit of a mishmash of specs which has helped keep the price down.

The radio arrangement has changed a bit, it is a tri-band system just like the WAX630, but one band is now 6Ghz, not 5Ghz.

It is no longer a 4x4x4 design but 2x4x2, so you only have two 2.4Ghz bands giving it speeds of just 600Mbps, the same as the budget WAX610.

However, both the 5Ghz and 6Ghz bands can now do 160Mhz, which is a first for the Netgear range of APs. This means the 5Ghz band can provide a theoretical 4800Mbps, though 2×2 clients will only be able to achieve 2400Mbps. The 6Ghz band and its dual-radio design can then also provide 2400Mbps.

I assume the logic for this design is that the Netgear access points can also work as mesh nodes, and it will be the 5Ghz band that is used as the backhaul, so the extra bands available will be able to provide increased throughput.

All the Netgear access points have 2.5GbE, but both of the WAX630 models have a GbE port too.

The overall maximum number of devices that can connect is reduced compared to the WAX630 with 456 vs 600.

The big caveat with WiFi 6E and its faster than gigabit speeds is that POE switches that can run the access points are not particularly cheap (for SOHO/SMB users at least). The Netgear MS510TXUP is the switch you’d likely want to drive the WAX630E, and this is priced at around £570. Netgear does have a relatively affordable MS510TXPP which has a variety of multi-gig ports and POE but lacks Netgear Insight cloud management, this is just £303.

Netgear WAX630E Key Features

  • New 6GHz Band –– WAX630E offers many features and capabilities of WiFi 6 access points, including higher performance, lower latency, and faster data rates and supports WiFi 6E on the new wider 6GHz WiFi band
  • Ultra-Low Latency — Extends into the new 6 GHz band bringing 14 additional 80 MHZ channels for expanded spectrum capacity and less congestion thereby lower latency
  • Fastest WiFi with Combined Wireless Speeds of up to 7.8Gbps ––Tri-Band WiFi with combined wireless speeds of up to 7.8Gbps (0.6+4.8+2.4 Gbps)
  • 8-Streams Tri-Band WiFi — 8 WiFi streams (two streams of 6GHz, four streams of 5GHz, and two streams of 2.4GHz) means more available bandwidth and less congestion for all devices on WiFi
  • Multi-Gigabit Speed with PoE — Includes a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port with PoE++ for high speed and easy wiring.  An additional 1 Gbps Ethernet port is included for wired extension to a WiFi access point or a switch. Ideal switches to power WAX630E are GSM4210P, MS510TXPP, MS510TXUP.
  • Easy Installation — Easily configured and deployed with NETGEAR Insight or through the device GUI
  • Remote Management — Remote Cloud monitoring and management with NETGEAR Insight for single pane of glass management of all your Insight Managed devices. 1-Year Insight subscription included
  • 8 Secure Wireless Networks (SSIDs) — Separate VLANs and WPA3 makes WAX630E the ideal network configuration for SMBs for security and manageability
  • Separate VLANs — Separate networks to keep admin, employee, visitor, HR, Finance department networks securely separated from each other
  • Future Proof — Compatible with all the new and upcoming WiFi 6E devices and backward compatible with WiFi 6, WiFi 5 and earlier generation devices

Netgear WAX630E vs WAX630 vs Ubiquiti UniFi U6-Enterprise Access Points Specification

Ubiquiti
Access Points
Netgear WAX630ENetgear WAX630UniFi U6-Enterprise
Processor
Ram
MIMO6 GHz band (2x2)
5 GHz band (4x4)
2.4 GHz band (2x2)
6 GHz band (4x4)
5 GHz band (4x4)
2.4 GHz band (4x4)
6 GHz band (4x4)
5 GHz band (4x4)
2.4 GHz band (2x2)
Channel Width20/40/80/16020/40/8020/40/80/160
Wi-Fi 4 Supported Data Rate600Mbps1.2 Gbps570 Mbps
Wi-Fi 5 Supported Data Rate1.7 Gbps1.7 Gbps1.7 Gbps
Wi-Fi 6/6E Supported Data Rate4.8 Gbps on 5Ghz
2.4 Gbps on 6Ghs
4.8 Gbps10.2 Gbps aggregate
4.8 Gbps radio rate for 6Ghz and 5Ghz
Ethernet2.5GbE POE + 1 GbE2.5GbE POE + 1 GbE2.5GbE RJ45
Power MethodPoE++ 802.3bt
802.3at reduces throughput by 50% on 5Ghz
PoE++ 802.3bt
802.3at reduces throughput by 50%
802.3at PoE+
No 2.5GbE POE injector included
Max. Power Consumption27.64W30.1W
Max. TX PowerMax EIRP = 30 dBm
Max PSD = 5 dBm/MHz
Antenna Gain4.4 dBi 2.4Ghz
6.3 dBi 5Ghz
3.1 dBi 6Ghz
2.86 dBi 2.4Ghz
4.41 dBi 5Ghz
4.98 dBi 6Ghz
Concurrent Clients457600600+
Dimensions266.6 x 268.3 x 55.5 mm266.6 x 268.3 x 55.5 mm220 x x 220 x 48 mm
ControllerNetgear Insight CloudNetgear Insight CloudLocal cloud key / self-hosted
Price£299
$349
£289$249 US MSRP

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