Meraki do fairly good radios controlled by reasonable software with the intention of making good Wi-Fi really really simple.
If that's all you want then that's great, just make sure you understand how their licensing works and that if your license expires then your network stops working.
How many APs do you need?
If that's all you want then that's great, just make sure you understand how their licensing works and that if your license expires then your network stops working.
How many APs do you need?
Soldato
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I can't really see the point of going down the UniFi route if you only need a single AP. They really show their strength in multiple AP environments.
Unless you can be 100% certain that you will never need to expand your wireless coverage then I would always consider an AP from a range that can cluster in some way.
You might decide to add an external AP for better coverage in your garden, and since you planned ahead a bit you now have a system where clients can roam between the two areas nicely without clinging onto a weak signal.
You might decide to add an external AP for better coverage in your garden, and since you planned ahead a bit you now have a system where clients can roam between the two areas nicely without clinging onto a weak signal.
Soldato
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It's unlikely anyone can be completely sure they'll never need an addition AP. Is that enough to justify choosing a managed option?
Soldato
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I'm planning to bin off all our Meraki kit. I found they used an inordinate amount of upstream bandwidth sending stuff to their cloud controller plus the range and throughout wasn't as amazing as they wanted us to believe it was. I find the licensing thing pretty objectionable too.
Admittedly they were all MR12's but the MR18 and MR32's that I've had on trial haven't been all that good either.
The MDM stuff I will miss, I need to investigate an alternative.
The APs are all being replaced with Unifi AC Pro units which cost bugger all so I can keep a few on site as spares.
Soldato
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Thanks, I just wanted to know if they were all PoE or if they had mains power too. No good to me if they're PoE is all
Soldato
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Whilst they all use some form of PoE they all come with the injectors that are required to get them running so you don't need to buy any additional hardware.
Great, sounds good. I live in a small 2 bedroom house and we'll only have perhaps 5 wireless devices (2 x phones, 2x chromecast, 1x laptop). Currently we have the homehub downstairs, and a old netgear DDWRT AP upstairs. Would it be daft/overkill to replace that set up with one of these? I'm going to order a better VDSL router today, probably the TPlink N600 or thereabouts.
Soldato
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If you're going to get a better router anyway you may as well see how the wireless on that performs first. If you're still having problems then I'd get a Unifi unit.
I've got one of the LR units in my place (big 4 bedroom detached house) and I get coverage everywhere. Previously I've used a BT HH5, Meraki MR18 and Asus RT-N66U but the range on the Unifi is significantly better.
I've got one of the LR units in my place (big 4 bedroom detached house) and I get coverage everywhere. Previously I've used a BT HH5, Meraki MR18 and Asus RT-N66U but the range on the Unifi is significantly better.
Further on to what has been said by bledd regarding the old Square Models (I had one sitting on top of a metal cabinet in the top floor of a house and it was still giving full coverage to the whole house 
) ensure you buy the AC version - the old UAPs are not the best, the UAP-AC is the new version.
The 5 Pack does not come with PoE Injectors as standard. The one and three packs however do.
) ensure you buy the AC version - the old UAPs are not the best, the UAP-AC is the new version.The 5 Pack does not come with PoE Injectors as standard. The one and three packs however do.
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Further on to what has been said by bledd regarding the old Square Models (I had one sitting on top of a metal cabinet in the top floor of a house and it was still giving full coverage to the whole house
The 5 Pack does not come with PoE Injectors as standard. The one and three packs however do.
While most Ubiquiti products have had firmware issues at some point, the current AC/Pro for example had people up in arms because handoff wasn't working as well as on the normal AP's. I have two of the original Unifi AP's, they've been flawless in terms of stability and coverage/range. In fact the other one is back in the box as it just wasn't needed in our 4 bed mid terrace. They are 2.4Ghz and 'only' 300Mbit, but to put it in context that's circa 35MB/s or in home terms significantly more than enough for each member of the household (4) to stream a 1080p film without issue (6.5Mbit/s per stream average), it'll also cope well beyond the point the WAN connection maxes (VDSL 40/10). I see wifi is a convenience for tablets, phones and occasionally laptop use, the odd bit of home/office automation, if I want to throw a few GB over the LAN i'd use a wired connection. So if you just want fast and stable wifi with good coverage for mobile devices then don't write off the Unifi AP's - they're a well proven bit of kit with mature firmware.
If by N600 you're on about the w9980 (it's the only N600 supporting VDSL router in the TPLink range that's widely available) then it's a decent router and hard to beat at the price point. Wifi coverage isn't bad so as above give it a chance before buying anything else.
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That's the one mate. Ideally it only has to cover the small room as it's in - there is literally only the kitchen and living room downstairs, and the only devices that it'll serve are a chromecast and a laptop that isn't used more than a couple of hours per day. The server and PC are upstairs and are connected to eachother via a gigabit switch. The router and upstairs are connected via homeplugs, but I plan on upgrading them to gigabit ones (500Mbit each way will suffice). Running a Cat6 cable isn't really feasible as she doesn't want any holes drilling anywhere.
It's always worth checking as the 8980 is ADSL2+ and last thing you want is to have to take it back. You should have no issues for that kind of usage/distance I have the old 8968 at work and was amazed at the features it has relative to the retail price, if I hadn't have been given it i'd probably have never touched a TPLink router (used the switches/powerline/wifi dongles but not a name i'd normally choose for a router). It's been up 59 days since the last firmware update/re-config and i've had no issues with it.
Yup, was aware I need the VDSL version, but it was quicker to just write N600 then go search the exact model number for the sake of the post.