New EnGenius ECW220v2 WiFi 6 Access Point Review
Final Thoughts
The EnGenius ECW220v2 is worthy of attention as far as the Access Points go. This particular Access Point is able to be part of a mesh network or be used stand-alone via EnGenius cloud. To have good coverage of the WiFi signal you would definitely want to have multiple access points that can work with the ECW220v2. A perfect application for this Access Point would be in small to medium business places such as coffee shops and small warehouses. What I found working with the ECW220v2 is that its best used in the flat/obstruct less environment. Having a multi-leveled structure with walls and beams in between will heavily cripple your signal and throughput speeds.
From a performance perspective, the ECW220v2 performed well on the WiFi 6 connectivity. Considering 2×2 MIMO the throughput of the ECW220v2 was exactly as expected. If you are interested in higher throughput Access Points EnGenius has other options such as the ECW230 which offers 4×4 MIMO ability.
Some of the things to keep in consideration while looking at the ECW220v2. The maximum bandwidth allowable by this AP is 80MHz. No power supply is included with the actual device. POE injector is sold separately. Cloud configuration is free but analytical data requires a subscription.
The pricing of the EnGenius ECW220v2 should be looked at from a Business perspective. Right now ECW220v2 is being sold for $365 USD. The pricing of ECW220v2 definitely feels competitive if you are looking to implement a multi-access point environment. However, there are other manufacturers that offer two APs for the price of the ECW220v2 that would work as advertised. For instance Netgear Orbi (RBK752) or Amazon eero 6 the only downside here is that these devices are not Enterprise ready. Price starts to make sense when the ECW22v2 is compared to the products like Meraki MR36. However, I still think this Access Point is a little overpriced for what it can offer as far as performance.
My experience with the ECW220v2 has been without any issues and I have not encountered any manufacturer defects in the built or operations of this device. I do recommend looking into the EnGenius Cloud documentation before considering going forward with this Access Point as management is strictly done through the cloud.
