Watch on YouTube
Watch on Vimeo
Thomas Hildebrand detailed Ubiquiti’s hardware strategies and product updates designed to support deployments ranging from large multi-tenant installations to massive single-site environments. The presentation began by highlighting a new, small-scale access point utilizing a unique RF profile, featuring a built-in 90-degree directional antenna with a 10 dB gain on the 5 GHz band, optimized to provide long-distance wireless uplinks in low-density deployments like parks. Hildebrand then addressed the widespread market confusion in 2026 surrounding Multi-Link Operation (MLO) standards, noting that while EMLSR is common in modern client devices, its latency benefits are rarely realized outside of hyper-congested environments. To overcome a lack of broader ecosystem support for Simultaneous Transmit and Receive (STR) MLO, Ubiquiti bypassed the traditional client-device bottleneck by creating its own dedicated hardware clients, ensuring optimized throughput and spectral flexibility across both the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands.
These initial STR-MLO clients include the UDB Switch, a PoE-powered device with seven 2.5 Gbps ports capable of consolidating legacy Wi-Fi infrastructure onto a modern Wi-Fi 7 endpoint, and Airwire, a highly adjustable USB-C client featuring an 11 dB directional antenna and integrated spectral scanning. Hildebrand explained that capture analysis reveals data splits evenly across bands without packet duplication, scaling performance cleanly. To streamline RF management, Ubiquiti rolled out Channel AI, a non-disruptive, automated channel-planning algorithm that uses neighbor reports to optimize spectrum allocations in real time. The enterprise wireless portfolio has also expanded with indoor dual-mode certified LPI standard-power APs, joining the outdoor E7 Campus and software-selectable Audience models to provide high-spatial-stream directional coverage for massive, wall-free spaces like convention centers.
At the infrastructure core, Ubiquiti introduced its new flagship EFG Core gateway, supporting threat management up to 79 Gbps alongside thousands of concurrent VPN tunnels, and the ECS Core, a 32-port 100 Gbps rack-mount switch designed for leaf-spine architectures. Access layer capabilities are bolstered by the new ECS stackable switches, allowing ring-based redundancy up to eight units via 100 Gbps rear interconnects. For wide-area cellular connectivity, the brand launched a trio of unlocked 5G modems using GRE tunneling for flexible switch-port placement, as well as a budget-friendly $99 U5G Backup modem powered by 5G RedCap technology. Finally, Hildebrand previewed the upcoming UniFi Industrial lineup, featuring the temperature-hardened UCG Industrial gateway, DIN-rail mountable switches, and the rugged, dual-band Batman-inspired U7 Industrial AP, which utilizes physical, software-monitored RF reflectors to dynamically control and alter coverage beam width.
Personnel: Tom Hildebrand
Thank you for being part of the Tech Field Day community! Our mailing list is a great way to stay up to date on our events and technical content, and we appreciate your signup.
We promise that we’ll never spam you, send ads, or sell your information. This list will only be used to communicate with our community about our events and content. And we’ll limit it to no more than one message per week.
Although we only need your email address, it would be nice if you provided a little more information to help us get to know you better!
