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Ubiquiti has been on a roll! After unveiling a trio of enterprise-class access points and another trio of cloud gateways, the networking vendor today introduced two additional access points—the UniFi 7-Lite (U7-Lite) and UniFi 7 In-Wall (U7-IW)—to complete its Wi-Fi 7 portfolio.
Update: The in-depth review of the U7-Lite is available here.
With retail prices of $99 and $149, respectively, these two new Wi-Fi 7 broadcasters are not intended to wow anyone other than with their low costs. But that doesn’t mean they are not impressive.
UniFi 7-Lite vs. UniFi 7 In-Wall: Affordable yet not cheap
Both the U7-Lite and U7-IW are modest Wi-Fi 7 access points, and they have a lot in common. Yet, they are also distinctive in their own ways.
U7-Lite: A light version of Ubiquiti’s flagship category
As the name suggests, the U7-Lite is, well, the light version of the U7 Pro Max (or Pro).
It features dual-band Wi-Fi 7—there’s no 6GHz band—with entry-level 2×2 specs and a modest total wireless bandwidth of roughly 5000Mbps. So, in terms of Wi-Fi specs, it’s similar to the Deco BE25 or Asus ZenWiFi BD5.
Tip
Ubiquiti has a few categories of Wi-Fi access points, including:
- Flagship: These are high-performance, ceiling-mounted access points.
- Outdoor: Weatherproof APs that can be mounted to poles outside or conveniently placed on a surface indoors.
- Enterprise: Top-capacity APs with 1,000+ client support, long-range 6 GHz performance, and 10 GbE PoE connectivity with native high-availability architecture for critical enterprise environments.
- Wall: These are sleek APs that plug directly into a wall outlet for meshed connectivity or transform an Ethernet drop into an AP.
- Mega Capacity: APs that are designed for stadiums or amphitheaters with a very high density of connected devices.
- Bridging: Devices that serve as a high-performance network bridge without the wire.
A UniFi access point can belong to multiple categories. The E7 Audience, for example, is an enterprise outdoor access point with mega capacity.
The new access points have a single 2.5GBASE-T Multi-Gig uplink port that features the least demanding 802.3af PoE standard—it’ll work with virtually all active PoE switches or injectors.
Design-wise, the U7-Lite is very much the mini version of the U7 Pro Max. It’s a palm-size round AP with a ring of status lights on top that can handle fewer concurrent clients with lesser estimated coverage. However, the 2.5Gbps PoE-in port means it can likely deliver Gig+ real-world wireless performance, which is generally more than enough in most cases.
Tip
Gig+, or Gig Plus, denotes a speed grade that is faster than 1Gbps but slower than 2Gbps. So, it’s 1.5Gbps, give or take a couple hundred megabits per second, and it’s not speedy enough to qualify as Multi-Gig Ethernet or multi-Gigabit. Intel coined the term to describe its Wi-Fi 6E client chips, the AX210 and AX211, in terms of their real-world speeds.
Gig+ primarily applies to the sustained speeds of Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 7, via a 2×2 at 160MHz connection, or broadband internet speeds.
U7-IW: A light Wi-Fi 7 access point that’s quite impressive on the wired front
The UniFi 7 In-Wall shares the same Wi-Fi specs as the U7-Lite. However, it’s much more impressive on the wired front despite coming in smaller in physical size.
Specifically, it has a 2.5GBASE-T uplink port on the back that can be used either as a PoE port when the access point is working by itself or as a PoE+ port when you want it to work as a PoE forwarding device.
In other words, the U7-IW can function simultaneously as both a PoE+ device and a PoE power source. In the latter case, it has another 2.5GBASE-T PoE-out port on its south side, which you can use to power another PoE device, such as the U7-Lite above, in a daisy-chain setup.
Come to think about it: If you use the Flex 2.5G PoE switch as the root device of your PoE setup, you can use this U7-IW, the U7-Lite, and even more PoE devices together out of a single power outlet. And that’s pretty neat!
But there’s more! The U7-IW features a third standard 2.5GBASE-T LAN port, located adjacent to the PoE-out port, for connecting another wired client to the network.
So, this little thing is like a Swiss Army knife of an access point. The table below compares the hardware specifications of the U7-Lite and U7-IW.
UniFi 7-Lite vs UniFi 7 In-Wall: Hardware specifications
 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | U7-Lite | U7-IW |
| Name | Ubiquiti UniFi 7-Lite Access Point | Ubiquiti UniFi 7 In-Wall Access Point |
| Wi-Fi Standards | Dual-band BE5000 | |
| 1st Band 2.4GHz (channel width) | 2×2 BE: Up to 688Mbps (20/40MHz) | |
| 2nd Band 5GHz (channel width) | 2×2 BE: Up to 4.3Gbps (20/40/80/160/240MHz) | |
| 3rd Band 6GHz (channel width) | None | |
| Backward Compatibility | 802.11ax/ac/n/g/a/b | |
| Max Concurrent Clients | 200+ | |
| Multi-Link Operation (MLO) | Unavailable at launch (to be added via firmware) | |
| Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) | N/A | |
| Max. TX power | 2.4GHz: 23dBm 5GHz: 24dBm | |
| Antenna Gain | 2.4GHz: 4dBi 5GHz: 5dBi | 2.4GHz: 4dBi 5GHz: 8dBi |
| Estimate Wi-Fi Coverage (indoor) | 1250 ft² (115 m²) | |
| Power over Ethernet (PoE) | 802.3af (PoE) | 802.3af (PoE) or 802.3at (PoE+, required for PoE output) |
| Max Power Consumption | 13W | 13W (excluding PoE output) |
| Internal Cooling Fan | No | |
| Network Port | 1x 2.5GBASE-T PoE (uplink) | 1x 2.5GBASE-T PoE+ (uplink), 1x 2.5GBASE-T LAN, 1x 2.5GBASE-T PoE-out LAN |
| Security | WPA, WPA2, WPA3 | WPA, WPA2, WPA3 |
| Local Web-based Management (as a standalone AP) | No | |
| Cloud-Management | Yes (free) | |
| Mobile App | UniFi | |
| Mode | Access Point | Access Point and PoE power forwarding switch |
| Dimensions (W x D x H) | Ø6.8 x 1.3 in (Ø171.5 x 33 mm) | 5.4 x 3.9 x 1.2 in (137 x 98.7 x 30.2 mm) |
| Weight (with mounting accessories) | 11 oz (313 g) | 14.1 oz (400 g) |
| LED | Color-changing (white/blue) LED | |
| US Launch Cost (check street prices) | $99 | $149 |
Familiar members of the UniFi family
The hardware specs and network ports aside, the U7-Lite and U7-IW are both UniFi access points. As such, they share the same experience you can expect from the UniFi family. Specifically:
- Each can work as a standalone Wi-Fi 7 broadcaster to be added to any existing network. In this case, you’ll need to use the UniFi mobile app to set up and manage them.
- They’re designed to be part of a system hosted by a UniFi Cloud Gateway (or console). In this case, they’ll pick up applicable Wi-Fi settings of the existing SSIDs managed by the gateway unit itself. Additionally, they’ll adhere to the gateway’s existing firewall and security settings.
That said, you can use either of them (or both) depending on your needs. But, generally, if you want to use two or more units, it’s best to get a UniFi cloud gateway first. In this case, I’d recommend the UCG-Max or the newly released UCG-Fiber. The UDR7 is also a good choice if you want to expand your Wi-Fi coverage.
Ubiquiti and your privacy
Generally, Ubiquiti insists on a vendor-connected login account during the initial hardware setup process. However, that’s not a requirement, and logging in with a vendor translates to privacy risks.
UI account and UniFi gateways
Here’s the link to the US networking company’s privacy policy.
Online privacy and security are a matter of degree. Different companies handle their users’ data differently.
Availability
According to Ubiquiti, the UniFi 7-Lite and UniFi 7 In-Wall are now available for purchase. You can do that or come back later to see how they perform in real-world testing. Again, with price tags of $99 and $149, it’s safe to say these are among the most affordable Wi-Fi 7 access points on the market. But that doesn’t mean they are cheap.
Update: The in-depth review of the U7-Lite is available here.
Any estimate when we can expect benchmarks? Especially compared to the Pro versions.
I’m wait for some new switches to arrive before I test these, likely one only one of them since they are practically the same in terms of hardware specs.