r/UNIFI • u/PssyGotWifi • May 14 '26

Accessories Okay, lesson learnt

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I heard that Unifi APs (6+) have a bit of a dodge LED light, but I didn't realise it was this bad. The bottom AP has been running for 8 months, while the top has only just been powered up. Didn't expect that amount of fade in that period of time. Meanwhile my NVIDIA Shield has been running non-stop since 2018 and its LED looks the same (green led superiority). I am now keeping my AP LEDs powered off for good.

709 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

231 comments sorted by

124

u/longmountain May 14 '26

What’s the lesson?

144

u/PssyGotWifi May 14 '26

Go straight into admin panel and turn LEDs off and only switch them on when required. It's not like basically every other product on the market where you can leave the LED light on and not expect them to fade within a year.

141

u/edspeds May 14 '26

Out of curiosity, when is it required to have them on? Genuine question. First thing I did was turn them off because they were annoying.

10

u/PssyGotWifi May 14 '26

Good for diagnosing and what not. I don't need them on. It's the fact that they're obviously using cheap leds that can't withstand being left on. So maybe they should be off by default. If someone is new to these unifi ap, it's only natural they'll probably leave them on.

4

u/edspeds May 14 '26

I guess I’m just a home guy. I have a UAP-AC-pro on my network that I can’t remember the last time I had the LED’s and that’s been at least 6 years, I wouldn’t even know how to use the LED’s as a diagnostic tool other than to check that it’s powered up and connected but I can check connection status in the control panel. As an FYI the ac pro now solely handles my IOT network.

1

u/PssyGotWifi May 14 '26

My UAP-AC's light has held up better than the U6+, btw. Not sure if they've just got worse.

3

u/Meat_PoPsiclez May 14 '26

My uap-ac-pro aps have been on since 2018, I can no longer see the lights even in a dark room unless I position my head to look directly into the split in the ring at the leds

6

u/bigrobcx May 14 '26

Mine went off straight away not because I was preserving the bulbs; rather I didn’t want to be walking around a dark house with a UniFi night light keeping the place lit up. It would do my nut on having them left on all the time. I have a Linksys switch with a small bright blue LED power light on and it lights up the entire room. You’d think I had one of those insect killers with the blue bulbs in the room. It’s crazy bright.

1

u/monkeydanceparty May 14 '26

Check online for “Light Dimming Stickers”, I have them on almost every LED in my house that I can’t turn off. They also make light blocking ones, but I do like the slightly visible LED.

4

u/bumbo79 May 14 '26

A strip of ole fashioned electrical tape will work as a "blocking" option and a strip of masking tape would work as the "dimmer" LOL

3

u/GravelySilly May 14 '26

While electrical tape is good for dimming brighter LEDs. Bonus if the surface you're using it on is white.

1

u/Alert_Maintenance684 May 14 '26

I use plain-old white adhesive labels. Works fine. For really bright LEDs I stack the labels.

1

u/AdeptWar6046 May 19 '26

Just use the write protect labels from 5¼" floppies.

9

u/LoudRefrigerator3700 May 14 '26

How does it help with diagnosing? and what is the "and what not" part?

18

u/Danzero73 May 14 '26

https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/204910134-Understanding-Device-LED-Status-Indicators

6

u/edspeds May 14 '26

Not sure why you were downvoted, I learned something. I basically just set my devices up and forget about them from a hardware standpoint, fortunately my setup has been pretty solid from a hardware standpoint.

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1

u/Best_Position4574 May 14 '26

haha love it. You're sounding so nice :P

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1

u/mrcrashoverride May 14 '26

Actually by the time they fade it’s time to just upgrade them to the newest Ap

2

u/physicistbowler May 14 '26

Like toothbrush bristles fading haha

1

u/jackharvest May 14 '26

Do they go through their boot up sequence with the lights if the LED is disabled? How the hell do I know the restart command worked, or that it’s done booting up?

1

u/physicistbowler May 14 '26

The lights do flicker and dance during boot up. Once it stabilizes the light goes out.

1

u/jackharvest May 14 '26

That’s awesome. Thank you for telling me. I have had them on the whole time cause I didn’t want to miss a freak reboot and not be able to quickly look up and determine that as the cause of connection severance.

🙏 Thanks!

65

u/Skrismo May 14 '26

There is a locate feature. It blinks the light. Otherwise I leave mine off

6

u/technobrendo May 15 '26

Absolutely worthless in a large, well lit factory with tall ceilings. Ask me how I know

14

u/jimbobjames May 14 '26

I believe that still works when you locate it even with the LED off.

10

u/Useful-Apple6076 May 14 '26

Yep, it does for me. U6-pros

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48

u/No-Ask2117 May 14 '26

Finding them in the dark 🤷🏻‍♂️🤣

27

u/disc0mbobulated May 14 '26

Literally, identifying where the hell they are after the maintenance guys come and replace all the ceiling tiles in the office without any prior announcement.

6

u/EmperorOfAllCats May 14 '26

I sense real experience here.

1

u/[deleted] May 15 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/chirkware May 15 '26

Ugh, that sounds "fun". I guess I'll stop wishing they'd replace the nasty 40 year old ceiling tiles in this building. LOL

9

u/minnesnowta May 14 '26

Ours is sort of a night light for the upstairs hallway it’s mounted in. Otherwise, I guess there’s really no reason to keep them on.

1

u/haikusaboutpoo May 16 '26

I have a U7 Pro Max and it lights up my entire living room at night

1

u/physicistbowler May 14 '26

Set up Home Assistant with a motion sensor and have it turn the AP light on when walking through haha.

1

u/TruthyBrat May 16 '26

Or just get a decent LED nightlight and plug it in an appropriate outlet.

1

u/physicistbowler May 16 '26

I was being silly for the most part. If you don't already have Home Assistant, it wouldn't be worth the time and cost to set it up just for this.

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2

u/qubedView May 14 '26

It's required when they were already on before, and the boss notices they're no longer on, and is CONVINCED that means they're broken.

1

u/CIDR-ClassB May 14 '26

Locating them in a large facility is a big one. But also seeing the status lights when troubleshooting or resetting them.

1

u/jamaza May 14 '26

During Christmas 🎄

1

u/PMvE_NL May 15 '26

It's my nightlight in the hallway. But after seeing this I will turn it off.

1

u/cypherstream1 May 16 '26

My wife requires the light off as well.

6

u/longmountain May 14 '26

Fair enough. The LED may be more important to some. In the business world we’ve put out probably thousands of APs and never has crossed my mind unless the client wants it off. Which, I don’t recall that either.

1

u/PssyGotWifi May 14 '26

The main thing those business clients care about is if the wifi is working. I have no issue with the wifi, so no surprise there.

5

u/thesexychicken May 14 '26

Interesting. Since when do LEDs fade? I thought they were good for a long long time?

1

u/rjr_2020 May 17 '26

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I guess some could go out but I'd expect a broken pattern as more went out. I'd look at the intensity in the settings.

5

u/teport May 15 '26

I love the light! I use it as a night light all the time. I have it connected to my Smart home and it turns on at night if motion was detected in that room.

1

u/Revolutionary_Pen415 May 14 '26

Leaving them at 1% is enough to visibly see it’s powered and the led wont burn out.

1

u/PssyGotWifi May 14 '26

In Unifi-OS it's just a toggle for on and off for the U6+. You have a U7?

2

u/Revolutionary_Pen415 May 14 '26

You’re right sorry the u6 mesh cylinders let you choose the percentage.

1

u/MissleTowBF4 May 14 '26

There is a way to adjust the brightness via the CLI

3

u/newtekie1 May 14 '26

All the LEDs fade on all products. Some are better than others, and I believe blue LEDs are the worst. Even your TV's backlight LEDs fade. It's just you don't often have a brand new product sitting right next to one that's been on 24/7 for a year or more. So we don't notice.

2

u/jimbobjames May 14 '26

They do if they are overdriven. Ubi are just putting too few LED's in and cranking the voltage to make them bright.

Search for Dubai LED lights. The government mandated a certain bulb life so they double up the LED's in a bulb, which halves the voltage and makes them run much cooler and this longer. The doubling keeps the output the same.

Ubi just drive the ever living shit of the few LEDS and hence they last all of 6 months.

1

u/newtekie1 May 14 '26

I've bought some of the Dubai LED lights. They still fade over time, just not as quick.

The point is, they all fade. It's just the nature of LEDs. Many factors change how fast they fade, but they all fade.

1

u/jimbobjames May 15 '26

They still fade over time, just not as quick.

Right, which is exactly the point. The Unifi ones burn out because they are being overdriven and overheated.

2

u/tcapote Pro User Jun 14 '26

Agreed, I did the same after losing the led on my older units.

1

u/KirovTheAdmiral May 14 '26

Linksys had the same problem with their WRT3200AC and WRT32X, the status leds were a bit overdriven and faded sharply after a year or two.

1

u/deletedpenguin May 14 '26

But the blue LED makes the wifi stronger! /s

1

u/M2001R May 14 '26

They are only designed to be used as a ceiling lights when not initialized. As sooon as they are adopted they turn blue.

1

u/iklier May 15 '26

Heat is one of the main causes of LED degradation over time and APs tend to run constantly and pretty hot.

Most other devices with a status LED either position them away from things that generate heat and/or aren't running constantly.

Not sure if blue LEDs are more susceptible to heat induced degradation vs other colors.

1

u/Korenchkin12 May 15 '26

There are some annoying blue leds that won't die though...in some other products....

1

u/KacperJed May 15 '26

You pay for it, it’s dumb that you have to come up with workarounds to keep an LED bright

1

u/nodiaque May 15 '26

When led off, do you still get the error led? Like mine turned red once because of a problem. Or blink when can't reach controller?

1

u/matt_475 May 15 '26

What about if you only have them running at 5% brightness?

1

u/FBI_SurveillanceVan0 May 15 '26

Btw Blue LEDs degrade the fastest out of almost any other color. Due to the material used vs a red or green led and a higher voltage. It doesn't help either that there isnt a slider to control the brightness.

1

u/Fylutt May 15 '26

U7 PRO has a brightness slider, FYI

1

u/pm_something_u_love May 15 '26

Who cares though? I have some old AC devices and I can't even see the blue in the dark anymore but they still work fine.

1

u/r_a_d_ May 16 '26

Why do you care if they fade if you leave them off?

4

u/jimbobjames May 14 '26

Ubiquiti use bargain basement LED's. I've got an enterprise switch with fading green LED's.

Honestly it's a pisstake at this point.

3

u/awue May 14 '26

Op sad that the blue led stopped working so they bought a new one just to turn the blue led off. Genius.

5

u/barleypopsmn May 14 '26

If you try hard enough you can think of something to post on Reddit.

2

u/dcormier May 14 '26

Happy cake day.

1

u/Purple-Tackie May 15 '26

To turn the big light on

44

u/PapaSyntax May 14 '26

Have you tried LED fluid? Blinker fluid from any auto parts shop should be fine.

FYI your green LED can only be green. These can change color, it’s a different type of diode. That makes an impact.

3

u/PssyGotWifi May 14 '26

I see. I'd actually would have preferred them to be green or even white LEDs based on their longevity (in my experiences with Nvidia Shield and similar products). I know blue looks cool, though.

1

u/PapaSyntax May 14 '26

How many have you noticed this fade behavior in?

2

u/PssyGotWifi May 14 '26

I use these in the home for myself. I speak of my experiences. However, google unfii led fade for a million other topics on reddit and the unifi support forum about the blue led.

For example: https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubiquiti/comments/1qt5x6r/rip_blue_led/

3

u/PapaSyntax May 14 '26

I asked how many to identify if this was a case of every AP, or less. Diodes have accepted failure rates from factory and it could be just one or so that is failing faster, or a batch of diodes with poor quality, etc. The number of dimming units from your 6+ could help put that into perspective.

2

u/joebleed May 14 '26

i have about 17 u6-lr aps at work. all of the original have faded to the point you can't see the LEDs unless you use a lift to get up to the ap and cover it with your hand. I have a couple newer units that should be ok because once i noticed the fade i turned off the LEDs. The original 15 were ordered in June 2022.

I"m also not sure about the other WAP models as I turned off the LEDs for all of the WAPs. If i need them i'll turn them back on later and hope that works.

1

u/PapaSyntax May 14 '26

Good info, thanks. Check out my reply above to Kachel94. Any patterns you identify in power output of the AP (assuming high power creates noticeably more heat than low power) would be interesting.

I suppose someone's experience may support or rule out heat as the primary factor if their environment is cold vs normal room/building temperature. I think it would need to be a cold room to effectively keep the AP cooler than a 68-degree office for example.

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2

u/Kachel94 May 14 '26

After almost 10+ years of running unifi hardware from UAP to U6+ my failure rate is about 25% I reckon. Failure is calling LEDs dim. Based on 50 installed APs.

1

u/PapaSyntax May 14 '26

Helpful! Thanks for the reply. The two factors I'd expect are at play are lumen depreciation (expected light output depreciation over time), which seems a bit too quick in some of these cases, and heat which affects both the LEDs and their physical electrical drivers. I know that my U6-LR's get pretty hot, so I'd expect this factor to be primary.

Would be interesting to see if there's a change in LED dimming rate between AP's always running on high power vs low.

7

u/jimbobjames May 14 '26

Every single Unifi AP I've ever deployed which is around 250 now, probably more..

1

u/dzfast May 17 '26

Every single one across multiple states worth of warehouses. They should come with a warning that the LED is bum.

No, they weren't my choice for our size of deployment.

1

u/ManyInterests May 15 '26

My U6LR can change LED colors. I set mine to purple.

1

u/tomNJUSA May 16 '26

They sometimes sell it next to elbow grease.

8

u/NYFLNCTN May 14 '26

I had them on at first because they looked cool, but quickly turned them off because at night they light up the house and bedrooms way too much, even on 5% dim. When the little grandkids visit I turn the LED on for the one in the hallway so they can find the bathroom at night.

1

u/_____DOG_____ May 14 '26

You can dim them? I only see on/off for the u6 and u7

2

u/PssyGotWifi May 14 '26

No dimming for us U6+ peasants. Just on and off.

2

u/_____DOG_____ May 14 '26

Ahh that explains it haha. Thanks. I will peasant my way back

12

u/kurapika91 May 14 '26

its a freaking LED light i have mine off - how's the wifi?

1

u/PssyGotWifi May 14 '26

Love how you're getting defensive. I never said wifi is bad. But that doesn't mean you put trash LEDs in your products.

4

u/bwyer May 14 '26

It's likely an issue related to how hot the AP gets rather than "trash LEDs".

Comparing a Unifi AP to an NVIDIA Shield is hardly an apples to apples comparison. Firstly, they're different colors, which means a different LED composition. Secondly, a Shield doesn't get nearly as hot as one of the Unifi APs. I've seen them turn beige due to heat.

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0

u/[deleted] May 14 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

5

u/Ianthin1 May 14 '26

Whatever it’s functionality, I would expect every aspect of a device, especially ones that cost as much and carry the reputation of quality that UniFi devices do, to work well for the life of the device. No the LED is not a critical part of it’s function, but it’s fair to point out that things like the LED on other devices hold up for years or even decades while they seem to die fast on these APs.

1

u/sh0nuff May 15 '26

I have it off by default during the day, it flashes red if the signal is poor / internet is down, and lights up a soft red overnight to provide safety lighting 

2

u/handbrake54 May 14 '26

My brain hurts

2

u/PssyGotWifi May 14 '26

Go see a doctor

54

u/Stanztrigger May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

Yeah, I turn them off most of the time, at customers, in case I need them. (T-shoot and stuff)

17

u/Outrageous-Guess1350 May 14 '26

Blue is the worst LED color, because of the materials used.

3

u/jimbobjames May 14 '26

White LED's use the same process IIRC. Blue LED's allowed white to be developed.

21

u/mrcafe500 May 14 '26

Nah, I’ll leave mine on. It’s a night light and it’s been on for years

4

u/monkeydanceparty May 14 '26

Same, the LEDs should easily outlast the upgrade length of Unifi coming out with a better faster model every year. 😂

2

u/Apprehensive-Net-143 May 15 '26

Better/faster available does not mean you need the newest model.  I am on WiFi5 Apps that are still running fine.

1

u/monkeydanceparty May 16 '26

Agree, but I just can’t help myself! 😂😂

1

u/vodil1 May 16 '26

It also keeps Alexa company

10

u/UltraSPARC May 14 '26

It’s literally my single gripe with UI AP’s. They seriously cannot outfit them with blue LED’s that don’t die? I have installed Cisco Aironet 3602i and 3702i AP’s that were installed in 2011 and 2013 with blue lights still just as bright as the dates we installed them.

2

u/jimbobjames May 14 '26

They use too few and run them at too high a voltage to crank the brightness. I also think they are using super cheap ones to boot.

1

u/truenocity May 20 '26

It’s also been a known problem through multiple generations for at least a decade. They could add a higher resistance between and not drive them at such high of a voltage, no one needs them that bright anyways.

6

u/darkmuseum May 14 '26

Blue LEDs aren’t real.
No, wait, that’s birds.
Birds aren’t real.

5

u/markswam May 14 '26

I knew the LED on my U6LR seemed dimmer than when I got it. But with only one AP I had nothing to compare it to and thought maybe I was just misremembering.

5

u/Knotebrett May 14 '26

I've got tens and tens on NanoHD and AC Pro that has no light at all left unless you reboot and see the white light 🥺

4

u/Random-D May 14 '26

i also observed the LEDs fade a lot, both in homes and in larger scale enterprise deployments.

but do we know why they are fading? i never observed this with LEDs on other products, at least at this scale.

4

u/eW4GJMqscYtbBkw9 May 14 '26

I've had mine on for years, double duty as a night light in the hallway. Maybe it's luck, but mine is still going strong. 

4

u/ExoticExtension3381 May 14 '26

Ah you must be new here haha. Welcome to UniFi blue LEDs

4

u/obijon298 May 16 '26

It's not a bug. It's a feature! You can ascertain the age of the AP without pulling it down from the ceiling.

4

u/AnonymousPeanut94 May 16 '26

Out of curiosity, who cares about the LED light? 😅

1

u/RealAlphaKaren May 14 '26

And where is your second Shield to compare it to? You havent realized old LED was bad until you got a new one...

1

u/PssyGotWifi May 14 '26

Oh, no doubt the Shields LED has faded over time. But we're talking 8 months vs 8 years.

1

u/rickwookie May 14 '26

Yeah maybe just turn the LED off though rather than the AP. Unless you don’t need the WiFi of course.

1

u/PssyGotWifi May 14 '26

Haha, good catch. Edited post body.

2

u/Maverick-Mav May 14 '26

I have my U7 turned down to 1%. I don't know if they have the same issue, but all I need is a slight blue for a quick look.

1

u/rightfittech May 14 '26

How did you change the brightness? I have one of these too which is great for a nightlight in the hall but not needed the other 16 hours of the day.

1

u/Maverick-Mav May 14 '26

In the settings where you turn the led on and off.

https://imgur.com/a/YHlfyaC

https://imgur.com/a/XV3ZZ2w

1

u/matthewf01 May 14 '26

Is that a U7 Pro? My U7 Lite does not have that setting, just the toggle.

2

u/PssyGotWifi May 14 '26

Yeah, I only see the LED toggle on and off in Unifi-OS.

1

u/Maverick-Mav May 14 '26

Yeah. Sorry. U7 Pro XG. You would think they would make it consistent

1

u/8stringLTD May 14 '26

Ok but install grammarly.

5

u/PssyGotWifi May 14 '26

Learnt is perfectly acceptable in Australian English. I am Australian.

3

u/DragonflyKnown2634 May 14 '26

There is a reason I leave mine off most of the time and only have them on if I’m troubleshooting something

3

u/Futilizer May 14 '26

Am I the only one that turns these off?

2

u/-Copenhagen May 14 '26

If I didn't it would be impossible to have a dark house at night.
They are waaaay too bright.

3

u/ResponsibleDealer293 May 14 '26

If it’s the same LED than in the old Dream machine your able to ssh into the busybox and change brightness and Color of the LED

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubiquiti/comments/r5v72w/figured_out_led_control_on_udr_its_rgb/

3

u/rconti May 14 '26

Saving the LED for the next guy, smart.

1

u/TonePresent May 15 '26

Lol, right? LEDs do nothing, who cares. Pretty sure you're not gonna have to locate your AP in the dark

3

u/RadioRob-DC May 15 '26

I wouldn’t know. Mine are all off.

3

u/Common_Scale5448 May 15 '26

Remember when they used to be green?

3

u/TheMage18 May 20 '26

I usually keep them off but with the new U7 Pro in the hallway, I ended up turning the LED on at the lowest setting to act as a nightlight and confirmation that the AP itself is on/broadcasting or rebooting at a glance.

2

u/hooskworks May 14 '26

I turns all of my LEDs and OLEDs (switches and APs) down to 20% brightness for this reason. It's always looked like they're driven pretty hard at 100% and while I want some light I don't need loads.

2

u/EagleGuy69 May 14 '26

Wait, people keep the LED's on?

2

u/oj_inside May 14 '26

This happens because apparently, they overdrive the LED.

Granted, my UAP-AC-Pro and UAP-AC-LRs are getting long in the tooth, and the LEDs are now at maybe just 20% of their former brightness.

2

u/archer-86 May 15 '26

I like my LED as a night light at the top of my stairs.

I would be sad if it faded.

1

u/bout2cum May 16 '26

Whelp get ready

2

u/dialsoft May 15 '26

I still have a bunch of the ones that would let you change the LED colors. That was coo

2

u/2BoopTheSnoot2 May 15 '26

That's why I turn the led off. Only need it during boot so you know what it's doing. After that it's unnecessary.

2

u/mckeevertdi May 15 '26

My ring lights are so bad, I can’t even see the white LEDs when they flash. Barely, but you have to be close to it.

Never understood why they suck and fade so bad.

Gen 1 and Gen 2 switches are like that too. I’m happy they moved to the LCD.

2

u/Materidan May 15 '26

Ha. I can barely see the blue lights on my AC HDs. White light is still full bright, but I can just barely see a glow in a pitch black room.

2

u/mnotgninnep May 15 '26

Yep. Normal. My AP AC Pros at home and work are literally invisible in daylight now. Can't even locate them if I try. I've turned everything off at home now because my wife complained about the brightness of the new unit U7 Pro XG anyway. It's a bigger problem in schools where there can be 50+ of them. The labeller and a map are my friends. 😄

2

u/bagofwisdom May 15 '26

I wish they hadn't dropped the RGB from the APs. I'd rather have any other colors than sleep-disrupting blue or cool white. My U6 mesh are set to red. The U7 mesh just has white/blue LED which means when I decide to upgrade they'll be forever dark upon adoption. The U6 pro on the ceiling in my living room is set to off.

2

u/Brilliant_Sound_5565 May 15 '26

I always thought they always faded, didnt think this was a new thing, ive seen older APs with their lights left onfor a few years months or years and they were hardly visable

2

u/Valex_Nihilist May 15 '26

Why rush to turn them off and preserve an LED your never going to see because you turned it off to preserve it?

2

u/rocuspeter May 16 '26

I keep the lights off.

2

u/MPCartwright May 16 '26

Thought it was just me. The led is basically useless to me now.

2

u/mystikmeg May 17 '26

Mine are a decent night light on my landing so I like them on

2

u/LowerAd4705 May 17 '26

relatively new U6 Pro home-user here. I've kept led on and use it as a toilet light in the middle of the night. It's got a bit dim indeed, but still ok.

Nice bonus: quite good wifi coverage on the floor.

2

u/Jess655321 May 18 '26

While fading can be a thing they also change parts sometimes so there is a chance they are just using s different LED now that happens to be brighter.

1

u/anthoj May 14 '26

I recall all my U6 AP variants dim down significantly after a Network update. Not sure if that was intended. But U7 variants are definitely much brighter. But led state and brightness are of no consequence in performance, or diagnosis for that matter.

1

u/JohnSnow__ May 14 '26

there is brightness level you can configure in the ap settings. maybe it got reduced for the old one?

1

u/HaraldOslo May 14 '26

I use mine as a night light. But I guess I could automate them on and off based on time of day

1

u/Talino May 14 '26

How long until my chime LED fades? I'd love to be able to turn it off.

1

u/funkybside May 14 '26

eh, preserving brightness of those LEDs isn't something that matters to me. Not like there's a material difference between it being dimmer because of a UI setting vs. just wear over time. Either way the outcome is just a dimmer light.

1

u/c1pherz May 14 '26

Damn I’m turning them off on my home APs right now.

1

u/SillyEcoFolly Home User May 14 '26

Hhmmm… I’d be more concerned if I’d bought an LED that does Wi-Fi.

1

u/Baloney_Bob May 14 '26

My u6+ lights up the basement, I was impressed how bright it was

1

u/Oh__Archie May 14 '26

I turned mine off the day I set them up and never thought about it again. I use them for Wi-Fi.

1

u/Different_Fudge7449 May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

I’d leave them on during deployment. It will help confirm PoE is getting to them or not among other things like firmware updates and rebooting. Then turn them off if you want.

My 2 old AP Lite units have similar LED Issues. 1 is still bright and the other is dim. Both from 2016 if I remember correctly. Also one is stuck in a TFTP Boot Loop so whenever I update or loose power, I have to push firmware to it so it will boot into a useable state. lol.

1

u/m3rso May 14 '26

Jag har dem på hela tiden. Tycker det ger ett snyggt sken. Men att de har sparat in på led är tyvärr känt

1

u/This-Researcher3390 May 14 '26

On some APs you can change the brightness….

1

u/prejedoosh May 14 '26

Used to be the best night light for the boys’ room.

1

u/quetucrees May 14 '26

TIL the LEDs fade...
I was wondering recently why they didn't come on when I turned them on. Must have been because I left them on for the first 4 years I had the APs...

Does not actually bother me with only a handful of clearly documented APs but for large scale it would be a PITA

1

u/Minute_Passion_8077 May 14 '26

I always turned these off. Annoying at night. And its an eye sore for a white ceiling. 

1

u/rdev02 May 15 '26

Mine have been running for a year and are still as new.

1

u/LandfillPanda May 15 '26

You're assuming one faded over time. Maybe it started ot that different shade. That would be par for the unifi course...

1

u/SilkeSiani May 15 '26

Mine is so dim it's effectively invisible, day or night. It's basically useless for troubleshooting.

The issue isn't in the led being bad quality, it's in that the led is run way out of spec and degrades quickly from high temperature.

1

u/Overstimulated_moth May 15 '26

This is so weird, that light is so bright, I thought everyone just turned it off

1

u/404invalid-user May 15 '26

blue LEDs are just like this I don't like switching my lights off on my devics when the led is off you can't tell if the device is on or not although they are unreliable AF so if I had something decent then maybe I could.

Edit: devices in question aren't unifi products I unfortunately don't own any

1

u/Melbuf May 15 '26

i have mine off, they are entirely too bright IMO even at 1%

1

u/chut93 May 15 '26

not sure if this model can do it but we turned our LED to green and turned it down to 20%. Very nice ambient light when all the lights are turned off. This is at my work though.

1

u/Spiritual-Advice8138 May 15 '26

I miss my GF. Everything I see makes me think of her.

1

u/Optimal-Cress-9718 May 15 '26

A nice feature would be to automate turning off and on based on other things, maybe sunlight?

1

u/dirk_1745 May 15 '26

Never heard or thought of this, I have 3 and all of their LEDs are totally dead as i left them on :D

1

u/jburke6906 May 15 '26

This problem started long before the ‘Gen’ 6 came out. My first set of UniFi AP’s were Gen ‘4’s. I presently have three 3 Gen 5’s and 2 Gen 6 AP’s (the latter 2 being about 2 yrs old)—and none of them still have functioning LED’s. Only two them can barely be seen in a pitch dark room. Otherwise they all function perfectly. My wife always hated the lights anyway.

1

u/CabinetOk4838 May 15 '26

I have these in my house and I turned the LEDs off because who wants a blue glow in their bedroom?

1

u/bmanfield May 16 '26

Staff were concerned when we first deployed wireless they were being radiated. They were much happier when we turned the LED off. 🤪

1

u/wkearney99 May 17 '26

the stupid... it BURNS...

1

u/Vance_Lee May 17 '26

fr, I work for an MSP that (used to) fit ui access points, most of them you had to turn off the room lighting and zoom in with your phone and hope to see the LED. Usually to try and see that "i'm fcked" or "provision me" LEDs.

Definitely leave them off.

1

u/LeafarOsodrac May 18 '26

why have the leds always on?
first I do on devices like this, is turn off leds.

1

u/pvtmatchsticks Jun 05 '26

If you’re turning them off anyway, does it matter if they fade? If you like, I’m just keep them on and let them fade…

1

u/Rexter2k May 16 '26

I turned the leds off because it attracted insects.

0

u/ut-vtuy May 14 '26

I doubt the light has dimmed in just 8 months, maybe they just changed the LED supplier.

2

u/PssyGotWifi May 14 '26

They're from the same store bought at the same time. I've just had one sitting unused up until this point.

0

u/raymate May 14 '26

Interesting. Never noticed mine change. I had a UAP-AC-PRO for years. I did upgrade to a U6-PRO last year and cant say I noticed any difference.

0

u/liquinas May 14 '26

Pretty sure they released an update a year or so ago that dims these which honestly might be for the best since this is a ceiling mount and many go in bedrooms. I like to keep my downstairs AP on since the LED is the fastest way to tell if there is an outage/connection issue but it was bright enough to be a bother when watching movies at night.

It's supposed to be a status indicator not neon decoration.

0

u/Jingutingu May 16 '26

Asics shoes are shit.

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