Price : Too low to display
300 Mbps Wireless N Access Point/Repeater With Embedded Antenna
This review is from : Engenius EAP9550 Wireless N 300Mbps Access Point/Repeater
A few rough edges check your firmware! . I got this access point because I wanted a more or less permanent, whole house solution for wifi access, with RADIUS authentication for my own devices and an open network for guests.
The Engenius brand is made by Senao which (I believe) makes some equipment for netgear and others.
I like the smoke detector form factor. It installs pretty easily onto the ceiling. The holes are not lined up exactly with a ceiling box which I think it should have been. But no big deal, just use the supplied anchors and screws and attach it to your ceiling. You can turn off the LEDs if they get too annoying. Since they are blue they are bright at night.
The internal antenna performs well for its intended application which is access inside a building. At least in my case the signal did not propagate well outside which necessitates a separate AP for outdoor use. Not a deal breaker by any means. Power over ethernet is a must for this device, and it works well in that regard.
The LAN side is 10/100 which isn't really a big concern but it would have been nice to have gigabit. But it is rare to exceed 100Mbps throughput anyway on 2.4GHz 802.11n.
Lots of features including all of the encryption methods (WPA, WPA2, WEP), RADIUS connectivity, NTP, even a graph which tracks traffic. It has VLAN tagging which works fairly well, and a management VLAN which handles the web interface, ntp and RADIUS traffic. I currently have mine setup with three VLANs connected to a pfsense firewall. One VLAN is bridged to my LAN and associated to my primary SSID which uses WPA2-RADIUS. This authenticates against FreeRADIUS on the pfsense box. The second VLAN is associated to a different SSID, is open and is a separate subnet and firewalled off from my LAN. This is for guests. The third is a management VLAN which handles the web interface, RADIUS traffic, ntp etc and is not associated to any SSID.
Everything works really well. Throughput is excellent on b, g and n.
However, it wasn't always this way. The firmware it shipped with (v1.1.2) had a bug where the unit would not connect to RADIUS at all. v1.1.3 had the same problem. Downgrading to an earlier version (v1.1.0) fixed the RADIUS bug but made the unit so unstable it was unusable. Version 1.2.1 fixed everything and now the unit performs flawlessly. So as soon as you get this unit, UPGRADE YOUR FIRMWARE! (and use the WIRED connection when doing so otherwise you'll brick your unit).
Another minor quirk is the DST settings. You have to set exact dates for DST. This means that you'll be setting the dates every year, since the dates for DST changes every year. Just leave it at GMT and avoid the hassle. The web interface will also force you to close and reopen your browser and relogin if you time out. If you use tabbed browsing you have to close all your tabs and restart your entire browser. You can also access the web interface from only one IP at a time. I suppose it's a security feature but it gets annoying if you change IPs or are on a laptop and move from wireless to wired (which you might end up doing when configuring this unit.)
Tech support is a hit or miss. I sent an email and it bounced back with an error. Two days later I get a reply from some guy saying he will run some tests and get back to me. No communication from them for weeks and then they release the new firmware, problems fixed. I write them back to tell them that it works, and a new tech support person starts over with me as if the previous conversation never happened. Since it was working now I told them just close the ticket.
Overall this is a nice access point and really nice for a whole house, conference room, hotel/motel or office setting where you want something discreet with a decent set of enterprise features. But as I said there are a few quirks, while not a deal breaker are a bit annoying.
A few rough edges check your firmware! . I got this access point because I wanted a more or less permanent, whole house solution for wifi access, with RADIUS authentication for my own devices and an open network for guests.
The Engenius brand is made by Senao which (I believe) makes some equipment for netgear and others.
I like the smoke detector form factor. It installs pretty easily onto the ceiling. The holes are not lined up exactly with a ceiling box which I think it should have been. But no big deal, just use the supplied anchors and screws and attach it to your ceiling. You can turn off the LEDs if they get too annoying. Since they are blue they are bright at night.
The internal antenna performs well for its intended application which is access inside a building. At least in my case the signal did not propagate well outside which necessitates a separate AP for outdoor use. Not a deal breaker by any means. Power over ethernet is a must for this device, and it works well in that regard.
The LAN side is 10/100 which isn't really a big concern but it would have been nice to have gigabit. But it is rare to exceed 100Mbps throughput anyway on 2.4GHz 802.11n.
Lots of features including all of the encryption methods (WPA, WPA2, WEP), RADIUS connectivity, NTP, even a graph which tracks traffic. It has VLAN tagging which works fairly well, and a management VLAN which handles the web interface, ntp and RADIUS traffic. I currently have mine setup with three VLANs connected to a pfsense firewall. One VLAN is bridged to my LAN and associated to my primary SSID which uses WPA2-RADIUS. This authenticates against FreeRADIUS on the pfsense box. The second VLAN is associated to a different SSID, is open and is a separate subnet and firewalled off from my LAN. This is for guests. The third is a management VLAN which handles the web interface, RADIUS traffic, ntp etc and is not associated to any SSID.
Everything works really well. Throughput is excellent on b, g and n.
However, it wasn't always this way. The firmware it shipped with (v1.1.2) had a bug where the unit would not connect to RADIUS at all. v1.1.3 had the same problem. Downgrading to an earlier version (v1.1.0) fixed the RADIUS bug but made the unit so unstable it was unusable. Version 1.2.1 fixed everything and now the unit performs flawlessly. So as soon as you get this unit, UPGRADE YOUR FIRMWARE! (and use the WIRED connection when doing so otherwise you'll brick your unit).
Another minor quirk is the DST settings. You have to set exact dates for DST. This means that you'll be setting the dates every year, since the dates for DST changes every year. Just leave it at GMT and avoid the hassle. The web interface will also force you to close and reopen your browser and relogin if you time out. If you use tabbed browsing you have to close all your tabs and restart your entire browser. You can also access the web interface from only one IP at a time. I suppose it's a security feature but it gets annoying if you change IPs or are on a laptop and move from wireless to wired (which you might end up doing when configuring this unit.)
Tech support is a hit or miss. I sent an email and it bounced back with an error. Two days later I get a reply from some guy saying he will run some tests and get back to me. No communication from them for weeks and then they release the new firmware, problems fixed. I write them back to tell them that it works, and a new tech support person starts over with me as if the previous conversation never happened. Since it was working now I told them just close the ticket.
Overall this is a nice access point and really nice for a whole house, conference room, hotel/motel or office setting where you want something discreet with a decent set of enterprise features. But as I said there are a few quirks, while not a deal breaker are a bit annoying.
Engenius EAP9550 Wireless N 300Mbps Access Point/Repeater Reviews
Works well very discrete true PoE AP at a reasonable price. . I was skeptical about the product as I was not familiar with the brand and the documentation was ambiguous in a few areas. However, once I received the product and began setting it up, it operated as expected. Moreover, it supports Power over Ethernet (PoE / 802.3af) which makes it ideal as a remote access point (AP) at a location where you may not have convenient access to AC power.
The range is comparable to my other 2.4GHz WiFi APs. (It is 2.4GHz only and does not have a 5GHz radio.) The 802.11n speeds are also comparable to my other 2.4GHz APs. The UI on its browser-based software was acceptable and its traffic logging features are pretty cool. It supports several modes including standard access point and WiFi repeater in addition to WDS and all the usual encryption protocols plus it supports multiple SSIDs which I intend to set up at some point to allow different connection profiles for guest and NintendoDS access which may not support WPA / WPA2.
The manufacturer's website and tech support were not as good as more established companies, but fortunately neither was critically necessary for me to get a good working set up first as a repeater and ultimately as an AP (which I am using right now as I write this review.)
The main reason I purchased the product was for its discrete appearance. It is compact and looks like a smoke detector. It scores big there and was very easy to install on the ceiling of my upstairs hallway where I had pre-wired an Ethernet cable connected to a Netgear switch with PoE ports in my basement. The whole thing is operating from just a single network cable connection. It has 3 bright LEDs (LAN, WAN, and WiFi) which can be individually enabled disabled to be even more discrete.
I had been looking for an economical solution like this for a couple of years and and am very pleased with this one. It was hard not to give it 5 stars, especially at its sub $100 price point. However, I would have liked it to include a simultaneous 5GHz mode, even better range, and better documentation and tech support.
Works well very discrete true PoE AP at a reasonable price. . I was skeptical about the product as I was not familiar with the brand and the documentation was ambiguous in a few areas. However, once I received the product and began setting it up, it operated as expected. Moreover, it supports Power over Ethernet (PoE / 802.3af) which makes it ideal as a remote access point (AP) at a location where you may not have convenient access to AC power.
The range is comparable to my other 2.4GHz WiFi APs. (It is 2.4GHz only and does not have a 5GHz radio.) The 802.11n speeds are also comparable to my other 2.4GHz APs. The UI on its browser-based software was acceptable and its traffic logging features are pretty cool. It supports several modes including standard access point and WiFi repeater in addition to WDS and all the usual encryption protocols plus it supports multiple SSIDs which I intend to set up at some point to allow different connection profiles for guest and NintendoDS access which may not support WPA / WPA2.
The manufacturer's website and tech support were not as good as more established companies, but fortunately neither was critically necessary for me to get a good working set up first as a repeater and ultimately as an AP (which I am using right now as I write this review.)
The main reason I purchased the product was for its discrete appearance. It is compact and looks like a smoke detector. It scores big there and was very easy to install on the ceiling of my upstairs hallway where I had pre-wired an Ethernet cable connected to a Netgear switch with PoE ports in my basement. The whole thing is operating from just a single network cable connection. It has 3 bright LEDs (LAN, WAN, and WiFi) which can be individually enabled disabled to be even more discrete.
I had been looking for an economical solution like this for a couple of years and and am very pleased with this one. It was hard not to give it 5 stars, especially at its sub $100 price point. However, I would have liked it to include a simultaneous 5GHz mode, even better range, and better documentation and tech support.
Good wap . Works fine. Looks nice when mounted on a wall or ceiling. Recommend adding a poe injector when mounting to eliminate the need for an ac adaptor.
Engenius EAP9550 Wireless N 300Mbps Access Point/Repeater Opinions
haxfam . So far so good. Installed two of these at our Church's School and seem to work well.
The range is quite good (even with tx power turned down) and very easy to config.
I would recommend this product , first time using Engenius but won't be the last.
haxfam . So far so good. Installed two of these at our Church's School and seem to work well.
The range is quite good (even with tx power turned down) and very easy to config.
I would recommend this product , first time using Engenius but won't be the last.
Engenius Wireless Repeater . I have tried 5 different wireless repeaters and none worked till this product. Once I got it configured, it works great and now I have full signal thru my house where before I had none. Having said that, the instructions that came with the product did not include Windows 7, nor did the Engenius website offer any help. I tried to call tech support for 2 days and left messages and they never returned my calls. Finally someone responded to my email with the updated instructions for Windows 7 and they worked like a charm. Very frustrating to get it working but now very happy with the product.
Works as advertised . This device works for me exactly as advertised. I needed to have a wireless access point in a room far distant from the router, and this did the trick. Very powerful signal and all the usual WiFi configuration frills. One hint: check the firmware version before connecting it up. I downloaded and installed an upgrade with a wired connection to a laptop before conecting to the router.
Apart from the fact that I never did figure out how to set up multiple SSIDs (detailed instructions are sketchy and online assistance is almost nil) if you're looking for a cost effective Wirelss-N solution, this may well be it.
Apart from the fact that I never did figure out how to set up multiple SSIDs (detailed instructions are sketchy and online assistance is almost nil) if you're looking for a cost effective Wirelss-N solution, this may well be it.
Works very well. Have full signal in all areas of my house now. . Installed two of these as repeaters in my house to improve range and strength of signal. Now have full signals in the areas I used to get weak signals in before.
Engenius Access Point . Engenius Access Points are usually long range. This is their N type access point. In Windows 7, It correctly is placed on the network map. It also becomes a device in device manager. It has multiple SSID's. You can set a static route to it. It has remote access, DHCP, password protected web access, and all the usual securities, VLAN, SNMP, uPnP, MAC filter.
Great range form factor MIMO and POE . I absolutely love this AP! It is unobtrusive mounted on the ceiling and has a state-of-the-art 2 X 2 MIMO antenna with correct radiation pattern to cover a 1500 sf house, including the yard. My previous G router was not ceiling mounted and left dead spots around the house causing spotty reception for VoIP over wifi telephones (I use Bria on iPhone and Android).
Support for VLAN is a cool feature I have not used yet, but intend to implement for guest use of my network without exposing the connected PCs.
I installed it using 802.3at (high power POE+) and CAT6A for future proofing. One day when fast-roaming access points reach consumer pricing I'll upgrade to two AP and roam seamlessly between them with my smartphone.
Support for VLAN is a cool feature I have not used yet, but intend to implement for guest use of my network without exposing the connected PCs.
I installed it using 802.3at (high power POE+) and CAT6A for future proofing. One day when fast-roaming access points reach consumer pricing I'll upgrade to two AP and roam seamlessly between them with my smartphone.
The signal covers all the house very fast . My computer room is at one end of the house, and with my previous wireless router, located there, the speed I was getting when connected from the other end of the house was barely acceptable. I purchased this access point because I wanted an access point that I could install centrally, up in the attic, fed by power over ethernet as I did not have a conveniently located outlet in the attic. An attic installation, for my house, minimized the amount of furniture / bookshelves / ... the signal had to travel through in order to reach my various use points in the house. The access point works perfectly in this installation: I have been getting speeds above 4 Mbytes/sec from any point in the house, with absolutely no glitches or problems. I am using the access point for a single SSID, but I hear it is possible to serve multiple networks / SSIDs from it; something I have not needed yet. I very much appreciate the fact that I can turn "isolation mode" off, so that the PCs connected to the wireless share the same local network as those connected to the upstream home wired network.
The one slightly annoying thing is that to configure this access point initially, you have to set your PC/laptop IP address to a specific one. This is fairly silly: I fail to understand how this can be a security feature, since after the first installation is done, you can reconfigure it from any IP. Another slight annoyance is that once you logout of a session in the admin system, it tells you that you need to close and reopen your browser (what?) in order to log in again into the admin system (in practice, I just use various Chrome sessions in incognito mode).
But these are incredibly small annoyances: I set this up a couple of months ago, and since then, for the first time in many years, I have never even had to think at problems of wireless in my house: it just works, always, without glitches, and with great speed.
The one slightly annoying thing is that to configure this access point initially, you have to set your PC/laptop IP address to a specific one. This is fairly silly: I fail to understand how this can be a security feature, since after the first installation is done, you can reconfigure it from any IP. Another slight annoyance is that once you logout of a session in the admin system, it tells you that you need to close and reopen your browser (what?) in order to log in again into the admin system (in practice, I just use various Chrome sessions in incognito mode).
But these are incredibly small annoyances: I set this up a couple of months ago, and since then, for the first time in many years, I have never even had to think at problems of wireless in my house: it just works, always, without glitches, and with great speed.
Product Image
Feature Engenius EAP9550 Wireless N 300Mbps Access Point/Repeater
- Wireless N 300Mbps Access Point / Universal Repeater with Smoke Detector Design & 802.3af PoE
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Product Details
EAN : 0655216004283UPC : 655216004283
MPN : EAP9550
Brand : EnGenius
Weight : 2 pounds
Height : 3 inches
Length : 12 inches
Width : 9 inches
Binding : Personal Computers
Manufacturer : EnGenius
Model : EAP9550
Publisher : EnGenius
SKU : 4518232
Studio : EnGenius
Where To Buy
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