Robust WIFI solution

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Hi all

I'm in the process of redecorating my house and would like to take the opportunity to beef up the WiFi infrastructure. I was wondering if people have suggestions on what kit I should be looking at.

I currently have a pretty comprehensive wired network with some dedicated wireless access points dotted around the house. This did seem to work pretty well in the past although in recent times I've had a few issues with disconnects etc.

I was looking at Goggle WiFi "mesh" type functionality but not sure if there are better ones knowing that I can get a wired connection to any of the proposed wireless units.

I have a large-ish house and determined I need the following units in the past

1 - Front / downstairs
2 - Middle upstairs
3 - Back downstairs (extension)
4 - Outbuilding 1
5 - Outbuilding 2

Budget is pretty flexible within reason.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Thanks
 
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The UniFi range is very, very good and worth a look.

Thank you.

I have read that elsewhere and have just started researching. There's so many models to choose from though including switches and security bolt ons....

Am I correct in thinking I'd keep my existing modem (Virgin), router (D-Link) (but turn off the inbult wifi) then plug a load of these unifi devices in around the home network as applicable? No other ubiquiti hardware needed?

Can you suggest a model please?

Thanks for your time.
 
Soldato
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I use a single "AC LR" access point in my house on the ground floor ceiling and that covers my entire house. (loft as well)

If you want a faster connection you can opt for the pro model as I believe that uses 3x3 MIMO

You don't need any other kit except the access points, although if you later decide to upgrade any of your existing kit, they are designed to integrate with each other.
All APs will be monitored from a single access point using the software.

You could (if you needed it) buy a cloud access key which allows you to manage the network form anywhere, but I just use a single laptop as my management console, I don't know about other people but I rarely have to mess with my AP.
 
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AC LR here too. I was struggling to get signal in the farthest parts of my house, and a single AC LR covers the whole house now. If need be, a second (or more) can be added to increase coverage.

My main reason for wanting a more robust solution was because I have multiple SSIDs for the kids, guests etc. the UniFi products allow separation by VLAN and everything works reliably. I run the controller software on a docker instance, which saves having to buy the key.
 
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Thanks all.

So another question please. How do these behave concerning devices switching over to them when walking around the property.

Eg, do you set them all with the same SSID? In my example, if my tablet were to be connected in the main house and I were to then walk to an outbuilding, would there be a seemless switch over? What about in areas where two of the APs are overlapping, any conflicts?

Thanks
 
Soldato
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Thanks all.

So another question please. How do these behave concerning devices switching over to them when walking around the property.

Eg, do you set them all with the same SSID? In my example, if my tablet were to be connected in the main house and I were to then walk to an outbuilding, would there be a seemless switch over? What about in areas where two of the APs are overlapping, any conflicts?

Thanks

They have settings in the controller that help roaming from one AP to another. Lites or LR's are the the most commonly used models in the home.

And if you want to collect stats and want a Guest portal you'll need something to run the Controller software on, be that a Unifi Cloud Key a Raspberry Pi, computer or even some NAS.
 
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Soldato
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Let’s be honest here, Wi-fi is a convenience for devices that are low bandwidth, portable and/or lack a hardwired option. The highest bandwidth use tends to be streaming. With that in mind, 2.4Ghz offers better penetration/range and 5Ghz better speed. The majority of those devices won’t benefit from a faster connection as they are WAN limited anyway, an 8Mbit stream is still 8Mbit even in a 10Gb connection.

With this in mind have a look at the Unifi AC Lite, real world results aren’t going to differ massively between it and the higher end stuff unless your client has the capabilities to make use of them, at £79 or less each, it’s relatively painless/easy to add more if you require them. They come with PoE injectors, or the Ubiquiti PoE switches support them, later versions moved to standard PoE spec from memory, but double check if you intend to use PoE.
 
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Hi all

Thank you very much for your help. I think I'm sold now on the Unifi kit.

Just to confirm, for the controller software, is this used for initial setup and periodical changes / stats downloading only or to get full benefits should it be left continually running on a fixed asset? I have a Windows home server 2k11 box on 24/7 (that I'm planning to renew with a windows 10 unit) so no problem either way, just trying to get my head around things.

And finally, the existing access points I've wired in at the moment are D-Link DAP 2695s. Would I be correct in thinking the performance / user experience of these Unifi devices exceeds these?

Thanks again
 
Soldato
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Location
N.Devon
Hi all

Thank you very much for your help. I think I'm sold now on the Unifi kit.

Just to confirm, for the controller software, is this used for initial setup and periodical changes / stats downloading only or to get full benefits should it be left continually running on a fixed asset? I have a Windows home server 2k11 box on 24/7 (that I'm planning to renew with a windows 10 unit) so no problem either way, just trying to get my head around things.

And finally, the existing access points I've wired in at the moment are D-Link DAP 2695s. Would I be correct in thinking the performance / user experience of these Unifi devices exceeds these?

Thanks again

To get full benefit you need to keep the controller software running all the time but if you’re not interested in stat collection or having a guest portal then you can just run it when you want to change settings or update the firmware. Unifi gear instead of having a web interface for each item are controlled by one bit of controller software which obviously makes a lot of sense if you have 10s or even 100s I’d devices to admin which is Unifis intended application.

Check out the demo here https://demo.ui.com/manage/site/default/dashboard
 
Soldato
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I bought unifi AP Pro a while back to replace a fairly decent TPLink router with lots of antennas. I was not convinced that the AP can do the job. But I have it on my first floor landing and get exceptional good services through out my house (got a loft extension). The only area it can’t cover is the garden as the brick seems to have high lead or heavy metal content as signal get blocked quite badly.

You can’t go wrong with AP range of stuff.

To setup the kit you do need to hardwire connect it to a computer first. Once you have it setup the control software can be ran on any devices connected to the AP or your router long as they can see the AP. As previously post suggested, you don’t need to run the software all the time. Only if you want to change settings or something gone wrong.

But do note down your password when you setup the kit initially. I used a random password which I had never used or not generated from my normal process, I had to get online help to reset the password. It was not fun.
 
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Just a follow up post to say I decided to buy a load of NanoHDs in the end. Very happy with the puchase, thank you for the suggestions.
 
Soldato
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I recently just spent a fair bit of time looking into this as I was sick of wifi signal upstairs. You might find a couple of threads by me on the subject.

I considered a router upgrade, AP's and all sorts. As a temporary solution I found Ethernet Over Power much better than WiFi and as permanent solution I've just had all 3 bedrooms cabled via the loft and outside walls for much less than some of these WiFi solutions.
 
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