MikroTik's high-performance, all-weather
RouterBoard LtAP LTE6 (2.4GHz) Wi-Fi access point in a small form factor with 4G (LTE) and GPS support for fleet monitoring. Ideal for busy urban environments or building standalone outdoor networks.
The
LtAP LTE6 Kit has a built-in LTE
Category 6 modem that allows aggregation of carrier frequencies and simultaneous operation of the device in multiple bands - an important advantage when used in locations with a large number of LTE users. It provides data reception speeds of up to
300 Mbps and improves responsiveness in high traffic environments and low signal performance in rural areas.
MikroTik's LtAP LTE6 Kit specification - a rugged access point
MikroTik RouterBoard LtAP LTE6 kit is an outdoor 2.4GHz WiFi access point with a built-in LTE cat.6 modem, which can provide basic or backup Internet access (combination of LtAP access point and R11E-LTE6 card). The device works in the 802.11b/g/n 2x2 MIMO standard and supports 4G connectivity (LTE cat.6). It enables data transmission in 4G LTE cat.6 band with maximum speed of up to 300Mbps download and 50Mbps upload.
The use of GNSS (GPS) support opens a new possibility of using it e.g. in cars in order to track your position in real time, you only need to buy an additional external GPS antenna, which unfortunately is not included in the set.
It has a dual-core 880MHz processor and 128 Mb of RAM, an integrated LTE antenna with 4 dBi gain, and the possibility of using three power sources (DC outlet, passive POE, or a car socket - it has special connectors included in the set).
MikroTik RouterBoard LtAP LTE6 Kit - device unboxing
The package contains a quick start guide, 4 screws with wall plugs for mounting the device outdoors, a power supply, the cable that will allow us to connect the power to the device e.g. in the car, and the MikroTik RouterBoard LtAP LTE6 kit with dimensions of about 165 mm x 165 mm x 40 mm with a black durable, water-resistant plastic housing.
After removing the cover protecting the inputs you will find a reset button, inputs for plugging the supplied power in e.g. in a car, a USB port, one Ethernet port, a serial port RS232 offers access to the console for debugging or other devices communicating in this technology, RBLtAP-2HnD
On the casing there are LEDs informing about the status of the device: connected power supply, device configuration, and the GPS module status.
After removing the outer casing we can see a miniPCI slot located inside, which additionally allows adding an LTE card or simply a 5Ghz card to increase the functionality with the possibility of connections in the 5Ghz band.
Basic configuration of Wireless Access Point RouterBoard LtAP LTE6 MikroTik
In the brief user manual you will find very short information in Polish on how to connect the device:
- To turn the device on, connect it to the power supply.
- To configure our router, open a browser and enter 192.168.88.1
It is also stated that more information can be found on
MikroTik Documentation
In Polish we can still find short information about the fact that the device is compatible with the
EU Directive
2014/53/EU, which means that it can be used in the European Union.
The configuration can also be performed via a mobile device by downloading the application and scanning the QR code (for this type of configuration you need to download the application from the google store or the APP Store, scan the code or use the address
192.168.88.1), via
winbox or
browser.
We don't recommend configuring it via a phone or tablet and we won't focus on it because of the small icons in the application, so it's best to do it using a standard computer or laptop and we'll focus on that.
After plugging in the power, the device will show up on the list of our Wi-Fi networks as :
We connect to it, and the configuration can be done in any of the following ways:
Winbox (remember to download the program first).
or via a browser by entering the address 192.168.88.1
On the start page you see the basic settings, after pressing "Close", on the individual tabs we can set the configuration parameters as desired, change passwords and settings
Test of RouterBoard LtAP LTE6 Kit from MikroTik - conditions
In order to test the speed of the LTE connection we used the online tool Speedtest and a connected laptop, which was used for wireless testing. Initially, a sim card from the phone carrier Play was inserted into slot 2.
NOTE: The results below are poor, unfortunately no more could be obtained. It looks like an overloaded P4 transmitter.
To make a signal map we used the software AirSurvey. For correct reading of the signal levels, please pay attention to the color legend at the bottom of the picture.
The placement of the device is marked with an appropriate icon. Speed tests were performed outdoors at distances as marked on the map: 10, 25 and 50 meters. The antenna was placed on an outdoor mast at a height of about 5 meters above ground level.
The graph shows the quality of the signal received from the device at various angles within 50m.
Tests of WiFi connectivity in MikroTik LtAP LTE6 Kit access point
The test device was a MacBook ProA1502 with an embedded AirPort Extreme wireless adapter (Broadcom BCM4360 3x3, 1.3 Gbps PHY) running 802.11a/b/g/n/ac. We performed speed tests using WiFiPerf software, and the speed test server was iperf3 software. Before the speed tests, we verified the maximum performance of the LAN and the iperf3 server. These were conducted outdoors at 3 measurement points:
- 10 metres from the antenna
- 25 metres from the antenna
- 50 metres from the antenna
The test equipment was pointed exactly in the direction of the main antenna beam.
Measurement point 1 - Download 76.61 Mbps / Upload 91.81 Mbps
Measurement point 2 - Download 65.71 Mbps / Upload 42.11 Mbps
Measurement point 3 - Download 56.45 Mbps / Upload 35.64 Mbps
The first MikroTik RouterBoard LtAP LTE6 Kit test point, at a distance of 10 meters from the device, showed a pretty good result, giving a maximum of 69.92 Mbps for download and 91.89 Mbps for upload. The second result at 25 meters is noticeably weaker than the previous one, but still consistently shows results like 65.91 Mbps for download and 42.11 Mbps for upload. The last test of the MikroTik RouterBoard LtAP LTE6 Kit was performed at a distance of 50 meters from the antenna. The values are noticeably lower than the previous ones and are 56.45 Mbps for download and 35.64 Mbps for upload respectively.
It should be noted, however, that the WiFi connection to the MikroTik RouterBoard LtAP LTE6 Kit at each point was able to be established in a sustained manner, and the transmission was quite stable, staying at the same level at a given point throughout the tests.
A simple access point with a wide range of applications - RouterBoard LtAP LTE6 Kit from MikroTik
MikroTik RouterBoard LtAP LTE6 Kit is a nice access point with a wide range of applications and flexibility in configuration. Thanks to the additional power connector and cable included in the kit, the RouterBoard LtAP LTE6 can be easily connected in a car, but note the short length of the power cable, which will probably need to be extended. Also, the lack of a GPS antenna in the kit is a bit disappointing (it does, however, lower the price of the product). Instead, thanks to the presence of 3 SIM card slots, you can flexibly configure your internet connection while roaming in different regions and countries. The mere availability of 2 miniPCI-e slots allows you to expand the capabilities of the LtAP LTE6 kit by installing a second LTE modem for redundancy or a 5GHz interface to ensure simultaneous operation of the LtAP LTE6 kit in the 2.4GHz / 5GHz LTE bands.
Thanks to its good internal operation, MikroTik RouterBoard LtAP LTE6 copes well with heavy traffic in both urban environments and heavy wireless connection loads, making it a great device for use in offices, building autonomous street networks, city or long-distance transportation.
- Weatherproof housing
- LTE Cat 6 support with aggregation of bands
- Possibility of using GPS
- 2x miniPCI-e slots
- Supports up to 3 SIM cards
- 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet LAN port for wired devices
- Aggregation of bands
- Lack of extended instructions - information in Polish
- No information on antenna characteristics
- No 802.11ac and 5GHz WiFi support (optional via add-on card)
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