Extend my Wireless Network?

AMDPower · 15 Aug 2018 at 17:11

Hi all

I want to extend my wireless network in the house. I currently have a Netgear Nighhawk EX7200 and it just does not work well with the Virgin fiber SH3 modem. I looses connection and does not reconnect automatically and netgear have been no help.

So i decided to upgrade this network. I know everyone recommend Ubiquiti so I have decided to get one. Just not sure on which model is suited for me, don't really want to spend crazy money either. But basically just 2 wireless device and 1 wireless computer with also my aquarium controller which is on wireless and I need to be able to communicate with it by reading stats.

I was thinking of the thinking

UniFi Nano HD
UniFI AP AC PRO
UniFI AP AC LR

or should i just buy the UniFI AP AC HD? which is almost twice as much. But my primary concern is range and speed but most important of all Reliability. I don't want to spend up to £250 and end up with something like the netgear nonsense.

Another issue is that these things fit on the ceiling and I have no Power connector there. I know you can get PoE injectors for power over ethernet. But not sure if these connect to the main device on the ceiling or I can place them upstairs where the main modem is?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks all

bremen1874 · 15 Aug 2018 at 17:31

If you're going down the UniFi route are you intending on putting the Virgin hub back into router mode?

The UniFi APs can only be powered using PoE.

The PoE injector can be positioned anywhere along the cable. Where it plugs into the router/switch is the usual option. You could also use a PoE equipped switch, be that'd be overkill for a single AP.

The choice of AP will depend on the size and construction of the building, and how fast you want it to be.

It may make more sense to buy two cheaper models rather than one expensive model. No way to know with the information supplied.

Simon42 · 15 Aug 2018 at 17:55

In general more APs correctly placed and configured (channels, power etc) will be far better than one 'mega' AP unless its a small and radio friendly building.

There's a tendency after hearing reviews of Ubiquiti to think that only one AP is needed. However in practice APs are all limited in power output by country and even with better internal aerials your client devices aerials are often still the limiting factor. With so few WiFi devices you definitely don't need a Nano HD and hence the money is better spent of a couple of cheaper models to give more consistent coverage given you needed more than one AP before.

I went from one router and extender (both expensive) to 4 Ubiquiti APs all set to low power. Great coverage everywhere a seamless WiFi experience - no single AP could do this no matter how expensive.

AMDPower · 15 Aug 2018 at 18:21

Thank you both for the help.

Just to provide you both with more information. The virgin media SH3 router is upstairs on the 2nd floor and it provides good coverage to both the second floor and first floor room right under the router but not very good to the room on the other side on the 1st floor. The ground floor kitchen and living room get no wifi signal and I need something there. I had the netgear EX7200 extender on the first set of stairs from the ground floor and that provided good signal to both the living room and kitchen. I though maybe one device would be fine and if its not I could add another.

Basically for the rooms this router is to provide signal to each room will be just 1 cement wall about 7 inch thick give or take.

but i am not sure how the wiring goes with these thing. I assume each Ubiquiti device would require each a dedicate cat 6 cable running back to the virgin modem?

Or could run cable to just one and the rest pick up wireless signal from that one?

i want most stable connection so I would rather run cables if it makes it better.

when the virgin media engineer came once he said dont touch the virgin SH3 modem because if i replaced it with something else, it will slow it down?

bremen1874 said:
If you're going down the UniFi route are you intending on putting the Virgin hub back into router mode?

Would this be better for me to do and i assume this require me to buy another modem? if yes what would you recommend.

I went from one router and extender (both expensive) to 4 Ubiquiti APs all set to low power. Great coverage everywhere a seamless WiFi experience - no single AP could do this no matter how expensive.

Does each ubiquiti device have its on SSD or can you use just 1 SSD for the whole network across all 4 devices.

I really would love to just have 1 SSD that all devices connect to all over the house rather than 2-3 different SSD as some of my devices don't seem to switch SSD too well. Is this possible with these Ubiquiti device?

I previously had a problem connecting to my aquarium controller, as it was downstairs and it connected to a different SSID, when i was upstairs connecting to a different SSID, i could not connect to the aquarium controller. I had to come downstairs and connect to the SSID that was covering downstairs and the aquarium controller in order to connect to it, it was very annoying.

thank you for all the help

bremen1874 · 15 Aug 2018 at 18:29

Would this be better for me to do and i assume this require me to buy another modem? if yes what would you recommend.

The modem is always going to be the Virgin hub.

You need a router for the UniFi APs to connect to. This could be the Virgin hub in router mode with the wireless switched off.

You can have a single SSID for the entire network.

You really want to have a dedicated cable for each AP.

Have you considered using one of the mesh systems?

AMDPower · 15 Aug 2018 at 19:06

bremen1874 said:
The modem is always going to be the Virgin hub.

You need a router for the UniFi APs to connect to. This could be the Virgin hub in router mode with the wireless switched off.

You can have a single SSID for the entire network.

You really want to have a dedicated cable for each AP.

Have you considered using one of the mesh systems?

Thanks, I understand now.

Would it be possible to use the Virgin SH3 in router mode with wireless on to provide wireless signal upstairs and one ubiquiti device to provide signal downstairs but with both using the same SSID for seamless wireless connectivity in the whole house? I got a feeling this might cause connectivity issues.

my other issue is that i only have 1 port free on the virgin modem. So i can only draw one wire and if I were to connect two unibiquite devices i assume i would have to buy one of the Ubiquiti swtiches?

sorry for so many questions as you guessed I am no expert with networking stuff.

Have you considered using one of the mesh systems?

do you mean the Ubiquiti UniFi Mesh Wifi?

this
https://unifi-mesh.ubnt.com/#products

bremen1874 · 15 Aug 2018 at 19:31

AMDPower said:
Would it be possible to use the Virgin SH3 in router mode with wireless on to provide wireless signal upstairs and one ubiquiti device to provide signal downstairs but with both using the same SSID for seamless wireless connectivity in the whole house? I got a feeling this might cause connectivity issues.

You could, but I wouldn't.

my other issue is that i only have 1 port free on the virgin modem. So i can only draw one wire and if I were to connect two unibiquite devices i assume i would have to buy one of the Ubiquiti swtiches?

Any unmanaged Gigabit switch would do (~£15). You could also use a PoE switch and avoid having to use the injectors.

do you mean the Ubiquiti UniFi Mesh Wifi?

The sort of thing. Most manufacturers have a mesh option now

neil_g · 15 Aug 2018 at 21:31

If it helps I run the tplink deco mesh system with my vm box in modem mode, works great over a larger house with solid walls.

As above multiple nodes > single strong node.

AMDPower · 15 Aug 2018 at 21:34

bremen1874 said:
The sort of thing. Most manufacturers have a mesh option now

lets say I bought the mesh for a second, would it not be the same as me just buying two Ubiquiti AC LR for example.

is there much difference between the mesh and What i want to do? The only difference i can see is that with mesh, one unit is hard wired with cat 5/6 back to the modem and the rest work wireless without wires, just power cables. Is this correct?

I originally though i could do this whole project with £100 but now its looking more like a £300 upgrade.Whatever i buy, i don't want Netgear, i just thought Ubiquiti was the best for home use anyway.

Thanks again, much appreciated.

AMDPower · 15 Aug 2018 at 21:37

neil_g said:
If it helps I run the tplink deco mesh system with my vm box in modem mode, works great over a larger house with solid walls.

As above multiple nodes > single strong node.

Thanks for the suggestions, I will look it up and see if it suits my needs.

BigT · 15 Aug 2018 at 21:42

AMDPower said:
I originally though i could do this whole project with £100 but now its looking more like a £300 upgrade.Whatever i buy, i don't want Netgear, i just thought Ubiquiti was the best for home use anyway.

UAP is best for dense environments with lots of clients and extended features for a keen price. That doesn’t necessarily make it the best for the home. I think you can achieve what you want with a mesh system for about £100.

The Tenda Nova MW3 whole home mesh system is available at Amazon for £85 and I think will give you the coverage you need. It’s not the fastest nor most feature packed mesh system but I think it might be fit for purpose for you.