Of Ubiquiti’s newly released gateway trio, the UniFi Express 7 (UX7) is the most modest. It’s the closest thing to a mere standard Wi-Fi router within Ubiquiti’s UniFi world of multiple hardware applications.
However, that does not necessarily mean it’s “bad”. The UX7 is still much more advanced than most third-party routers and has all that typical users need in real-world usage. So, at the friendly retail price of $199, it’s a better deal than the UDR7, which shares the same Wi-Fi specs. Hint: You can also get both (or multiple UX7 units) to form a robust Wi-Fi 7 mesh system.
Here’s the bottomline: If you’re looking for a standalone entry-level multi-Gigabit Wi-Fi 7 router for your Gig+ or faster broadband, the UX7 is an excellent buy. Additionally, its flexibility can come in handy if you need to extend your UniFi Wi-Fi network via a network cable or wirelessly.
Let’s dig in for some serious details!
Ubiquiti UniFi Express 7: A flexible UniFi router
The first and biggest difference between the UX7 and other UniFi gateways is that it’s restricted to the Network application within the UniFi Application Suite. That’s the app that makes the hardware function as a “router.”
Tip
Generally, all UniFi cloud gateways (a.k.a. hardware consoles) share the same basic features and settings, but their capacities vary depending on the hardware specs.
Main applications in the UniFi Application Suite include:
- Network (default): This application enables the hardware to function as an advanced router by managing all things network-related, including network settings/features, security, firewall, Wi-Fi, and the support for extenders/access points to form a mesh system.
- Protect: The support for IP cameras as an advanced surveillance system, including a built-in NVR.
- Talk: A locally hosted Voice-over-IP system.
- Access: A “platform designed for Access Control Systems”—per Ubiquiti. Examples are door-related security IoT devices, such as doorbells, keyfobs, locks, etc.
- Connect: Application that manages digital signage and EV Stations
Each of these applications is a world in itself, with various in-depth customization and different types of UniFi devices.
In other words, the single-app UX7 cannot host a security camera or an IP phone, and it doesn’t have local storage or the network video recording feature. So, it’s more limited in terms of functionality as a computer system’s primary host.
The second difference is that, unlike “unrestricted” gateways, the UX7 itself can work as an access point or a mesh extender (similar to the case of all Asus AiMesh routers). On this front, it’s much better than the UDR7 (and other UniFi consoles), which can only work as a primary “router” of a mesh network.
So, while the UX7’s functionality is limited within the Network app, it makes up for that limitation by being super flexible in what it supports, namely the network-related roles.
The table below shows how the UX7 differentiates itself from the UDR7 (which represents most other UniFi gateways). I used both of them for this review.
Ubiquiti UX7 vs. UDR7: Hardware specifications
As shown above, the UX7 shares the same Wi-Fi specs as the UDR7. So, as “routers,” the two are practically the same if you don’t look at the network ports, where the larger UDR7 is much more generous.
In terms of UniFi consoles, though, the UX7 is restricted hardware that features only the Network app whereas the UDR7 is unrestricted and can run all the apps of the UniFi suite.
A typical UniFi router
When functioning as the default router role, the UX7 proved to be a typical UniFi machine in my experience. It’s literally the same as the UDR7 or any previous UniFi gateway I’ve tested.
That said, here are a few bullet points:
- You can set it up and subsequently manage it via its local web server, accessible at its default IP address, 192.168.1.1. Alternatively, you can use the UniFi mobile app to complete the tasks. The app is convenient but not as in-depth as the web UI, which I prefer.
- Running Network 9, the UX7 shares the same network-related feature set with the rest of the UniFi family, which is extensive in both the number of features and the in-depth customization for each. The router offers literally all you’d want from a network, from standard settings to security to web filtering, and more.
- The UX7 offers all available standard customization for its built-in Wi-Fi broadcasters, except for AFC, which Ubiquiti, so far, has made available only to its Enterprise-class access points, such as the E7 family.
- No matter which you use, the web UI or the mobile app, you don’t need to create an account with Ubiquiti to make things work. However, there’s an option for a vendor-connected login account that makes life easier via vendor-assisted features, such as remote management, backups, or the use of Ubiquiti’s proprietary VPN feature, called Teleport.
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.
Like all UniFi routers, you won’t need to spend a lot of time to configure the UX7 before you can use it.
During the setup process, all you need to do is create the password for the admin access, an SSID and its password, and you’re good to go. So you can literally get your network up and running within a few minutes. It took me less than 10 minutes to create four SSIDs, one for each band plus another for the MLO feature.
The point is that while being advanced hardware, the UX7, like other UniFi gateways, is not intimidating. Home users will find it simple and straightforward to use, while advanced users can dig in and find all sorts of things that meet their needs.
It’s worth noting that UX7 has only two network ports and is, therefore, limited in port-related features as a router. For example, it doesn’t have dual-WAN or Link Aggregation, and you can’t switch its ports’ role between WAN and LAN. However, these are advanced features most home users won’t need.
A not-so-typical UniFi access point or mesh node
As mentioned, the UX7 can work as an UniFi access point but it’s not like other UniFi access points I’ve tested.
Right off the bat, it’s not PoE-enabled—you’ll need to use the included power adapter. This standard powering method is less convenient for an access point but makes it more suitable for use in a fully wireless mesh mode, similar to an extender.
Just to be clear: Other UniFi access points have this wireless mesh mode, too, but considering many use PoE as the (only) powering method, it’s pointless not to use the network cable as the wired uplink.
Unfortunately, when used in a fully wireless setup, the UX7 didn’t use the MLO link as its backhaul—Ubiquiti confirmed with me that was the intended case. Instead, it uses the 5GHz band for both the fronthaul (for clients) and the backhaul.
Backhaul vs. fronthaul
When you use multiple Wi-Fi broadcasters—in a mesh network or a combo of a router and an extender—there are two types of connections: fronthaul and backhaul.
Fronthaul is the Wi-Fi signals broadcast outward for clients or the local area network (LAN) ports for wired devices. It’s what we generally expect from a Wi-Fi broadcaster.
Backhaul (a.k.a backbone,) on the other hand, is the link between one satellite Wi-Fi broadcaster and another, which can be the network’s primary router, a switch, or another satellite unit.
This link works behind the scenes to keep the hardware units together as a system. It also determines the ceiling bandwidth (and speed) of all devices connected to the particular broadcaster. It’s the backbone of the system.
When a Wi-Fi band handles backhaul and fronthaul simultaneously, only half its bandwidth is available to either end. From the perspective of a connected client, if there are any, that phenomenon is called signal loss.
When a Wi-Fi band functions solely for backhauling, or when there’s no client connected to it other than the satellite, it’s called the dedicated backhaul. Often, that means no other band will do this job, though that depends on the hardware.
In a mesh system, only traditional Tri-band hardware—those with an additional 5GHz band—can have a dedicated backhaul band without ostracizing clients of the same band.
Generally, it’s best to use network cables for backhauling—wired backhauling, which is an advantage of mesh hardware with network ports. In this case, a satellite broadcaster can use its entire Wi-Fi bandwidth for front-hauling.
In networking, network cables are always much better than wireless in speed and reliability.
The result? Each side will only have 50% of this 5GHz band’s bandwidth. However, if you only have 6GHz and 2.4GHz clients, this band will automatically use all of its bandwidth for the backhaul.
UniFi Dream Router 7 and UniFi Express 7 combo: A reliable Wi-Fi system
I tried the UX7 as a mesh satellite with the UDR7 as the primary router, and the two formed an excellent mesh system. It’s safe to say the experience will be similar if you use any other UniFi gateway as the primary unit, including another UX7 unit itself. In any case, there are a couple of things to keep in mind when using the UX7 as the mesh satellite unit.
The first thing to note is that the UX7 is designed to support wired or wireless backhauling, using the same simple setup process for each. Specifically:
- UX7 as a wired mesh node (access point mode): Connect a (factory reset) UX7 to the primary gateway (Wi-Fi-enabled or not) using one of its network ports—you can use either, but the port grade will determine the backhaul link’s bandwidth. Now, turn on the hardware.
- UX7 as a wireless mesh node (extender mode): Place a (factory reset) UX7 within a few feet of the primary Wi-Fi-enabled gateway. Now, turn on the hardware.
In either case, upon booting up, the UX7 will appear within the primary unit’s interface (the UniFi mobile app or the web page) and can be adopted with a single click, just like any UniFi device. Then, after a few minutes, it’ll work as part of the system. All that remains is to find a suitable place to put it, and maybe a bit of in-depth band configuration (channel, channel width, broadcasting power, etc.) to best fit its location.
The second thing to note is that the UX7 does not support swapping the backhaul between wired (#1) and wireless (#2) on the fly, and that’s what I experienced during my testing. Specifically:
Once set up as a wired unit, the UX7 remained that way. If I unplugged the network cable connecting it to the UDR7, it’d become offline—it would not automatically turn into a wireless mesh unit. Conversely, once set up as a wireless unit and I connected it to the UDR7 using a network cable, its wireless backhaul remained, and the real-world performance still reflected that.
Future software updates might change this rigidity, but considering it’s fast to set up an UX7 up as either, it’s not a big deal to simply reset it (by removing it from the system via the primary router’s interface) and then re-adopt it.
UX7: Best used as a standalone router or part of a UniFi system
It’s worth noting that while you can use the UniFi app to set up the UX7 as a standalone access point or extender to use with an existing non-UniFi network, its usability is limited in either case—such as the lack of a web user interface itself.
Additionally, you can’t change its role after setting it up as a router, so there’s no AP mode when it’s hosting a UniFi access point. Keep this in mind when you already have an existing router in your network, such as an ISP-supplied gateway—you will likely need to use the UX7 in a double NAT.
The point is that other than being the sole router of your network, the UX7 only makes sense to be added to a network already hosted by a UniFi gateway. So, you should consider it only when:
- You’re looking for a standalone Wi-Fi 7 router—when a single Wi-Fi broadcaster is enough. Or
- You want to extend your existing network hosted by an existing UniFi gateway, including another UX7 unit.
With that, let’s find out how the UX7 performs in either case.
Uniquiti UniFi Express 7: Excellent performance for the specs
Considering the mid-tier Wi-Fi specs and the lack of a 10Gbps LAN port, I didn’t expect the UX7 to be the fastest Wi-Fi 7 router and it wasn’t. However, its performance was still quite impressive considering how tiny it is.
As a single router, it performs similarly to the UDR7, which shares the same Wi-Fi specs. Generally, you can expect Gig+ from it. Interestingly, its MLO performance was worse, while its 2.4GHz band was better, than the UDR7. Still, overall, I’d say the two are similar.
What is Gig+
Gig+, or Gig Plus, conveys a speed grade 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 call its Wi-Fi 6E client chips—the AX210 and AX211—to describe their real-world speeds.
Gig+ applies mainly to the sustained speeds of Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 7—via a 2×2 at 160MHz connection—or broadband Internet speed.
By the way, you can expect the UX7 to perform the same as a Wi-Fi router when working as a wired satellite. In this case, due to the Wi-Fi specs, its performance remained practically the same whether you use the 10Gbps or 2.5Gbps port as the uplink (its other port will work as a LAN). Still, if you indeed use the UDR7 as the primary router, it might be worth it to get an SFP+ to 10BASE-T adapter—I’d recommend using one from Ubiquiti or this one—to form a 10Gbps backhaul link.
When working as a wireless mesh satellite (with a UDR7 as the primary router), the UX7 showed excellent performance despite not having an MLO backhaul link, considering its mid-tier specs. It’s worth noting that, since 5GHz is used as the backhaul, 5GHz clients will suffer signal loss when connected to the satellite. However, when no 5GHz client is connected, 6GHz clients can enjoy almost the full bandwidth of the backhaul link.
In terms of Wi-Fi coverage, which is always tricky to quantify, the UX7 did better than Ubiquiti’s claim, though not by much. Generally, if you have an area of around 1700 ft2 (160 m2) and place it at the center, it’ll be able to blanket it. Keep in mind that your mileage will vary depending on the environment.
I tested the UX7 for over two weeks, including many days as a wireless mesh satellite unit of the UDR7, and it proved to be reliable in either case, passing my stress test without any disconnection.
The hardware also remained relatively cool, feeling only a bit warm even during heavy operations. Per Ubiquiti, the UX7 has no internal fan, and it was indeed silent the whole time.
Pros
Flexible enough to be the primary router or a satellite unit of a robust UniFi mesh system
Excellent throughput performance for the specs, reliable coverage
Tons of useful network-related features, including a mesh controller
Compact and beautiful design, comprehensive web user interface with an optional mobile app
Affordable, quiet and relatively cool operator
Cons
Only two network ports with only one being 10Gbps, no PoE, supports only the UniFi Network application
Few convenient network-related features require a UI login account, not wall-mount-ready
Rigid backhaul as mesh satellite unit; no AP mode when hosting a Wi-Fi system; the MLO feature could be better overall
Conclusion
The Ubiquiti UniFi Express 7 is a little router that could. At $199, it is an excellent entry-level multi-Gigabit Wi-Fi 7 hardware for a small home.
What’s most noticeable is that you can use multiple units to form a mesh system via wired (recommended) or wireless backhauling. You can also use the UX7 with a standard UniFi Wi-Fi 7 access point, including one of those just-announced dual-band units, to create the same effect—a PoE switch or injector is needed in this case.
And there’s more! You can also use a UX7 unit to add Wi-Fi to or extend the Wi-Fi coverage of an existing network already powered by another UniFi gateway, such as the UDR7, the UCG-Max, or the UCG-Fiber.
So, if you’re in the market for an affordable, yet totally not cheap, Wi-Fi 7 solution for your (up to) 2.5Gbps broadband, start with a UX7 today! You won’t be disappointed.
