NanoStation Loco

Ubiquiti NanoStationM5 (NSM5)

The NSM5 was one of the most popular products ever made by Ubiquiti. Operating in the 5 GHz band using Wireless-N technology, it was a dual-polarity radio/antenna combination device that was ideal in many situations as the ends of a Point-to-Point (PtP) link, or as the 'client' end of a Point-to-Multipoint (PtMP) network.

The newer NS-5AC uses the faster Wireless-AC technology.

The NanoStation M2 is the 2.4 GHz version of the NSM5.

The LocoM5 is a smaller version of the NSM5.

Ubiquiti LocoM5 / Loco5AC

The Loco variants of the standard NanoStations are simply smaller versions. As such they are cheaper, and have shorter range.

Did you know Loco means Crazy in Spanish!

Features

All these units run Ubiquiti's airMAX firmware which offers a proprietary radio link technology that is highly robust with low latency and excellent rejection of standard neighbourhood WiFi signals. They also have built-in directional antennas.

All these units can be operated in Access Point (AP) or Station mode.

• Station: The unit can only connect with one Access Point unit.
• Access Point: The unit can connect with one or more Station units. Which these units can connect with multiple Stations, all such stations must be withing the (fairly narrow) beamwidth of the built-in antenna.

Things to look for

• Antenna Gain/Size: The bigger the antenna, the bigger the gain and the bigger the range.
• Band: 5 GHz is generally less congested but requires very clear line-of-sight between antennas. 2.4 GHz is a more congested band, but penetrates minor obstacles (e.g. trees) better. 900MHz has limited range in Australia due to strict maximum transmitted power (EIRP) restrictions to prevent interference with some mobile phone towers. But 900 MHz can penetrate obstacles that 2.4/5GHz simply can't.
• M or AC technology: Products with "AC" in the name have faster links than the similar "M" product, all other things being equal. Having said that - the "M" products are generally a bit cheaper and still operate links capable of nearly 100 Mbps which is faster than most Internet connections.
• Do you need Standard WiFi: Ubiquiti "AC" products only operate in a proprietary mode and can not participate in a standard WiFi network. Ubiquiti "M" products with the proprietary airMax mode turned off:
  • in "AP" mode can accept connections from Laptops, Phones, etc.
  • in "Station" Mode can connect to normal WiFi APs

  Configuration Guides

  See airMAX-Configuration for excellent How-To guides.