If you're in the market for a 5GHz PtMP platform from Ubiquiti, the company has three different offerings, ranging from the legacy airMAX M to the newer and more compatible airMAX AC and then the still brand new, UISP LTU. However, there was a platform before airMAX M called simply, airMAX which had products such as the NanoStation 2 and NanoStation 5, you can tell the difference in the product name, such as NanoStation M2 etc.
Ubiquiti 5GHz PtMP products are used in a whole variety of situations, from extending a network to a building in your garden, full on WISP networks bringing internet to rural areas and even for businesses, looking for a cost effective way to get connectivity to IP cameras in a parking lot.
airMAX M
airMAX M is the oldest product line that Ubiquiti is still manufacturing and selling. Some of the first devices are around ten years old and still receive software updates. These run airOS 6 and are generally limited to around 100mbps, due to the 10/100 ethernet port. Some later PowerBeam M5 models did have 10/100/1000 ports, but due to the lower spec hardware, getting over 100mbps requires a noise free free envoriment.
Ubiquiti still offers the NanoStation M2, M5 as well as NanoBeam and PowerBeam versions of these too. They are generally cheaper than airMAX AC models and are usable for deployments for relatively low bandwidth and that are budget focused.
airMAX AC
airMAX AC itself has been out for around 7-8 years, first released with airOS 7 and then upgraded to airOS 8 to add in backwards compatibility between airMAX AC and airMAX M. Ubiquiti is still developing some new products and antennas for the platform. In the last few years, firmware updates have been few and far between, but considering how old the platform is, it is probably pretty stable at the point.
airMAX AC supports both 5GHz and 2GHz with backwards compatibility with M5 and M2 devices.
The product line is pretty large, with NanoStation AC, the only airMAX device to support both 802.3af and 24v passive PoE. The LiteBeam devices offer high-gain at a low price point and for performance, the Rocket 5AC Prism can be used with external sector, dish, horn and omni antennas and offers noise filtering.
UISP LTU
Both airMAX M and airMAX AC use 802.11 WiFi as its underlying technology, LTU was developed solely for the use in the WISP industry. Ubiquiti has used custom chips and hardware to achieve much higher performance than airMAX AC. For this reason, LTU is not backward compatible with airMAX M and airMAX AC. The devices too are different, the LTU Rocket AP can only be an AP and you need a different device to use for a connectirised station. So far, there is the LTU Lite, LTU LR and LTU Pro for CPE devices.
Many users are asking for a LTU PowerBeam, with a feed drop in so existing customers and sites can be upgraded easier, without dishes being shipped out.
Conclusion
For WISP users looking to start a fresh on some sites, UISP LTU is the way to go. It offers much higher performance than airMAX AC, but due to it being not backward compatible with airMAX M and airMAX AC it is something new for techs to learn and another device type to stock in the warehouse. For casual PtP users, airMAX AC is still the best way to go, two NanoStation AC Loco devices costs around £100/$100 and at the time of writing, LTU Lite cannot be used like this.
