Wireless Reviews

Linksys LAPAC1200

The LAPAC1200 is Linksys' least expensive business-grade access point. It's a two-stream 802.11ac design based on Qualcomm chipsets. It's also the physically largest AP in the roundup group, with a hexagonal design measuring a bit over 9.5" across the widest parts of its rounded hexagon shape.

It can be wall or ceiling mounted with included hardware and powered with 802.3at PoE via its single gigabit Ethernet port or included AC adapter. As mentioned earlier, the LAPAC1200's 802.3at rating means it requires more power than 802.3af switches can provide.

Unlike the Broadcom-powered LAPAC1750PRO, the 1200 is built on a Qualcomm platform with a Qualcomm QCA9557 2x2 11abgn WiFi SoC acting as the main processor and 2.4 GHz radio and QCA9882 2x2 11abgn+ac radio SoC for 5 GHz.

Linksys LAPAC1200 board

Other key components are shown in the table.

	Linksys LAPAC1200
CPU	Qualcomm QCA9557 2x2 11abgn WiFi SoC
Ethernet	AR8035 Gigabit Ethernet PHY
RAM	16 MB
Flash	16 MB
2.4 GHz Radio	- In QCA9557 - SiGE SE2565T 2.4 GHz power amp (x2)
5 GHz radio	- QCA9882 - Skyworks SE5003L1 5 GHz power amp (x2)
Firmware tested	V1.1.02.000

The LAPAC1200 is managed through a browser interface via HTTPS / HTTP. There is no command line interface. Linksys has added a Cluster Management System that provides a single management interface to control up to 16 APs. Note, however, that all APs in a cluster must be the same model.

Linksys LAPAC1200 admin GUI

We reviewed the top-of-line LAPAC1750PRO back in 2014 and the AP Clustering feature last spring. So please check those reviews for further details. There's also an online emulator for the AP's management GUI (login credentials are admin/admin).

Features Port Type Gigabit Ethernet Ports 2 PoE 802.3at CPU QCA9557 Switch Atheros AR8035 gigabit Ethernet PHY RAM (MB) 16 Flash (MB) 16 Firmware V1.1.02.000 Captive Portal Y Cloud Mgmt N Web Mgmt Y S/W Controller Mgmt N AP Controller Y VLAN Y Wireless Backhaul Y Client Bridge Y Mesh N Notes Wireless backhaul uses WDS

Wireless Class AC1200 # of streams 2 Band Both Band Steering Y AP Load Limiting N Roam Assist None Auto Tx Power N Auto Channel Mgmt N DFS N MU-MIMO N Client Isolation Y Radio 1 2.4 GHz: In QCA9557 + SiGE SE2565T 2.4 GHz power amp (x2) Radio 2 5 GHz: QCA9882 + Skyworks SE5003L1 5 GHz power amp (x2) FCC ID Q87-LAPC1200 Antenna internal pcboard dipole (x2) Antenna Upgradeable N Connector N/A RADIUS Y Schedule Y SSID # 8 Notes Band steering 2.4 to 5 GHz only

QoS Type B/W Direction Both Auto N Notes Bandwidth limit is by SSID