Hands on: I tested the Sophos AP6 420E – see how this access point debut from Sophos works out
Why You Can Trust Techradar
We spend hours testing every product or service we review so you can make sure you buy the best product. Learn more about how we test it.
This comment first appeared in issue 353 PC Pro.
Known for its excellence Safety Electrical and Endpoint protection Service, Sophos’ first entry Wi-Fi 6e Domain with AP6 420E access point. It combines with 2.4GHz, 5GHz and Wi-Fi 6E 6GHz bands, supports 5GHz and 6GHz high-speed 160MHz channels, and can be managed independently or cloud-based.
The AP6 420E presents six spatial streams – 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz, respectively, with a maximum speed of 600mbits/sec, 2,400mbits/sec and 2,400mbits/sec, respectively. For the triple-band AP, it’s very compact, but manages to squeeze two omnidirectional air and a 2.5GBE multigene network port in each broadcast, which requires a POE+ power source.
Small Business Just needing a single AP will find it easy to deploy, as it defaults to standalone operation. Security is tight: its browser interface sticks with you changing the administrator password and starts with a preconfigured SSID that renders all three radios and applies a unique key using the AP’s serial number.
Here are a lot of ways to play: You can create up to eight SSIDs for each broadcast and choose mandatory WPA3 encryption for WPA2 or WI-FI 6E networks. All radios support Opportunistic Wireless Encryption (OWE), which enables you to provide a secure open public network that encrypts all endpoint traffic without requiring authentication.
Other features include customer isolation, walled gardens and captive portals with custom landing pages, daily, weekly or monthly passwords generated using AP, vouchers and Facebook and URL redirection and authentication for Facebook and Facebook, as well as Google Log in. Traffic plastics are very wide because different upload and download restrictions can be applied to each broadcast, selected SSID, or its associated clients. AP also supports SNMP V1/2/3 monitoring, which can run packet capture sessions and save their output as PCAP files.
Sophos achieved good results in the real-world performance tests we used Dell Windows 11 Professional workstation with TP-Link Archer TXE75E Wi-Fi 6/6e PCI-E adapter. With 160MHz channel enabled on a 6GHz radio, the average copy of the large file between the workstation and the Windows Server on our 10GBE LAN is 210MB/sec, and at a close range of 210MB/sec, falling to 183mb/sec, the AP moved 10 meters away from 10 meters away and entered the adjacent room.
this Cloud Management The option will attract businesses investing in Sophos, as all APS and wireless networks are managed by the same Sophos Central Web portal. When you use CSV files to enter the serial number of the AP or provide up to 30 batches, onboarding people are not as clever as other wireless vendors that offer mobile apps and QR code scanning.
this sophos The central portal has been refreshed and all main menu options are moved to the top for easy access. Select Wireless Page provides a dashboard for all APs, alerts, and connected devices. Usage Insights diagrams show traffic categories for all clients, but currently no AP6 models are supported, and Rogue AP Detection and Roaming Assist are not targeted at sticky customers.
However, all other features in standalone mode are available on the portal, so you can create the same number of SSIDs on each radio using your own security settings. For easier fleet management, the portal also allows you to create different sites with associated maps and floor plans, each of which is assigned a set of APs.
The AP6 420E is relatively expensive, and many features of the AP6 device have not yet been implemented in the Sophos Central Portal. That said, it provides good overall performance and is a natural choice for businesses that already rely on Sophos for cybersecurity.
