EnGenius ECW230 Access Point
7. Conclusion
The EnGenius ECW230v3 Access Point is a product that aims for Enterprise use and comes armed with EnGenius Cloud that gives IT departments many options to setup and control networks. The device should be viewed as part of EnGenius product Cloud line, which means if you choose an EnGenius product, would follow EnGenius ecosystem.
The build quality of the device is top, we have no complains here. The device's dimensions are "big" with a metal bottom that acts as a heat cooler. EnGenius choose Qualcomm as a partner and uses a quad-core Qualcomm ARM Cortex A53s CPU clocked at 2.0GHz to power up the ECW230v3 AP, meaning this product has a lot of horsepower to perform various tasks, and since it’s programmable, firmware updates could fix issues and further improve performance.
The device is power via PoE (and optically via DC 12V) which is fine with us. After all most IT departments would have a PoE switch, and with this choice, we can place it anywhere you want, even at your house. To be honest, EnGenius prefers ceiling as installation method, since it includes such adapters in the retail package.
The product main selling point of course is the EnGenius Cloud/app support, which means you can control/setup/monitor/update the device at the convenient of your laptop/mobile phone. The EnGenius Cloud is well structured and it’s free for EnGenius products, with one year of free PRO license. The Pro license adds many other features that most Admins would love to have, and the pricing is not bad at all.
The performance of the ECW230AP cannot be tested with 2-3 connected devices, since it supports up to 127 (!) devices connected at the same time, while with the included MESH technology, admins can further boost the signal with one Wi-Fi ID. At our "simple" tests, we found the device performing accordingly to its specifications, so no worries here. At 12m distance from the device, we measured up to 29MB/sec, while if you stand very close to the AP you can get max up to 1733Mbps (~216Mb/sec).
Concluding this review, if you are looking for an Enterprise Level AP, take a look at the EnGenius ECW230. This product has tons of features and for sure the excellent EnGenius support will solve most of your issues/problems/questions, as they did during our testing journey. The product comes at a retail price of ~$599 and for sure, it works every penny it costs.
For a limited time, EnGenius offers a FREE EnGenius ECW220 Wifi 6 router to test with EnGenius Cloud, hurry up!
Positives
+ Includes quad-core Qualcomm ARM Cortex A53s CPU clocked at 2.0GHz
+ Solid product with many "online" features
+ Supports up to 6GHz Wi-Fi protocol and up to 127 different simultaneously clients
+ Installation procedure is simple due to the "Cloud-To-Go" app
+ The device has an included bottom metal heatsink that helps the device perform best
+ Good temperatures ensure 24/7 operation
+ EnGenius firmware support is excellent with many updates
+ EnGenius Cloud offers easy remote access/monitor/setup for all EnGenius products
+ EnGenius Cloud Pro license is offered for one year as FREE
+ EnGenius Cloud can be tested for FREE before buy any EnGenius product
Neutral
- EnGenius Cloud Pro Licenses do cost extra $50 per device / per year (optional features)
Negatives
- For that price range, we would like to have at least three years of warranty
- DC 12V power adapter could be included at the retail package as well as a Network cable