Tenda i29 — AX3000 Wi-Fi 6 Long Range Ceiling Access Point

Buying it, and when not to

The i29 is an AX3000 Wi-Fi 6 long-range ceiling access point. Same AX3000 class as the i27, but engineered for reach - fewer units covering a bigger area rather than many units covering a dense one.

This is the access point for volume: a warehouse, a church auditorium, a factory floor, a large open-plan hall, an event space, a covered market area. In those buildings the budget goes on cabling rather than on the access point, and an access point that covers more floor from one drop saves more in cable and labour than it adds in hardware. Mount it centrally, feed it from a PoE switch, and expect to need fewer drops than an equivalent build with standard-range units.

Do not use range as a substitute for capacity. In a dense environment - hundreds of people in a small area - several i27s spaced closer together will serve them better than fewer long-range units, because the limit there is airtime, not distance. For small premises the i26 or i24 is the appropriate size and price. For outdoor coverage, the OAP1200 is the unit built for exposure. And in every case check the PoE budget on the switch against the number of AX3000 access points before promising the site will work at full load.