Keep unifi access points or replace with something idiot-proof?

[Txom]

Hi,

I'm looking for advice on whether to replace the Unifi access points in our house with something easier for me to manage.

We 'inherited' the previous owner's IT guy when we bought this house, and he manages a system of Unifi APs remotely for us. Our set-up is Virgin Media hub > DrayTek POE switch > 3 Unifi APs around the house.

I'm very happy with how they work, but not so happy about having someone else managing our wifi access. I'm a bit uncomfortable being so reliant on him in case something goes wrong or we want to add/change anything.

I guess I have two options:

1) Take ownership of the Unifi stuff myself. I know almost nothing about this sort of thing, and my impression is that it might not be a good idea for me to take over managing it, as Unifi stuff isn't really aimed at people like me! But I just need it to work, I don't need to use any advanced features, so maybe I could get by...

2) Replace the Unifi access points with something a bit more plug and play, like a mesh setup. Is there something that would give me a similar level of performance to the Unifi APs, but is much easier for a non-expert to manage? The units would all be connected via Cat5E cable to the switch, but some of the access points aren't near a power socket so it would be handy to stick with something that uses POE.

Any thoughts welcome, thanks!

 

[the-evaluator]

I'd definitely go for option 1. They're easy enough to manage anyway but you do need something to run the UniFi controller on. That could be a PC, Mac, Raspberry Pi or similar. The controller doesn't have to be running all the time so you could run it on a PC that's turned off when not in use.

If you can get the current guy to export your site from his controller then it'd be easy enough to import that site into your controller and connect your access points to that controller. If you can't get that export then as long as you know your SSID and wifi password it's not difficult to setup a controller from scratch. It would be helpful if you knew the SSH credentials too so that if you need to reset an AP back to factory defaults you can do it without needing to push the reset button on the AP.

There's enough people on here (including me) that know the UniFi kit rather well so there will be plenty of people who can help out.

 

[Txom]

Thanks. So I could just have the controller running on the same MacBook Pro I use for work?

I'm currently using the Virgin Media hub in router mode with the wifi disabled. Is there any additional hardware that would make it easier to manage, like the Dream Machine? If I'm not spending anything to replace the APs, I'm happy to spend a bit on something else. I was also thinking about putting one more access point somewhere, and getting the Dream Machine would free one up for me. But if my current setup is easy to manage, that's great. I don't need a VLAN or anything else beyond basic wifi.

I know the SSID and password, but not the SSH credentials so it sounds like I'd need to do a factory reset if I can't get the site export. I'd just need to wait for a day when there is no-one else in the house so I don't have anyone breathing down my neck waiting for the wifi to be back up!

 

[Cadder]

My unifi AP has been unplugged for the best part of a year because I noticed a significant difference in Internet speeds and connection reliability when connected to it, in comparison to connecting to our router directly.

The controller was run on a tower server alongside it. I'm not convinced I had it set up right so at least you have already had it professionally set up. Hopefully it should be OK for you to just take over.

I noticed that with the problems I encountered I didn't get much help from the Unifi forums and so I just disconnected the AP until I can be bothered to redo the network.

 

[Txom]

My unifi AP has been unplugged for the best part of a year because I noticed a significant difference in Internet speeds and connection reliability when connected to it, in comparison to connecting to our router directly.

The controller was run on a tower server alongside it. I'm not convinced I had it set up right so at least you have already had it professionally set up. Hopefully it should be OK for you to just take over.

I noticed that with the problems I encountered I didn't get much help from the Unifi forums and so I just disconnected the AP until I can be bothered to redo the network.

Our APs are definitely working OK at the moment, but I'd say there's a fairly high chance they won't be when I start fiddling with them. Maybe I need to look for someone to come over and walk me through the setup. I'm not convinced the guy we currently use would want to take time out of installing fancy home automation systems to teach someone how wifi works!

 

[the-evaluator]

My unifi AP has been unplugged for the best part of a year because I noticed a significant difference in Internet speeds and connection reliability when connected to it, in comparison to connecting to our router directly.

Can you quantify the difference? It's not unusual that there's a difference. For example, I have 900Mbps FTTP but am 'only' getting about 520Mbps through my UniFi access points. That's not indicative of a problem, 520Mbps through 802.11ac is pretty darn good.

 

[the-evaluator]

Thanks. So I could just have the controller running on the same MacBook Pro I use for work?

Yep.

I'm currently using the Virgin Media hub in router mode with the wifi disabled. Is there any additional hardware that would make it easier to manage, like the Dream Machine? If I'm not spending anything to replace the APs, I'm happy to spend a bit on something else. I was also thinking about putting one more access point somewhere, and getting the Dream Machine would free one up for me. But if my current setup is easy to manage, that's great. I don't need a VLAN or anything else beyond basic wifi.

A UDM would work fine, you'd need to set the Virgin Media hub into modem mode and then the UDM would be your router and also an AP.

I know the SSID and password, but not the SSH credentials so it sounds like I'd need to do a factory reset if I can't get the site export. I'd just need to wait for a day when there is no-one else in the house so I don't have anyone breathing down my neck waiting for the wifi to be back up!

Yeah, if you can't get the export then a factory reset is probably the best way to go. A newly setup controller will need some tweaking, particularly with wifi channels (it'll want to use auto which is best avoided) but there's nothing too difficult about that.

 

[the-evaluator]

Maybe I need to look for someone to come over and walk me through the setup. I'm not convinced the guy we currently use would want to take time out of installing fancy home automation systems to teach someone how wifi works!

Or just ask questions on here. There's plenty of UniFi users here so there's bound to be someone that'll help you out.

 

[Txom]

Or just ask questions on here. There's plenty of UniFi users here so there's bound to be someone that'll help you out.

Thanks. So I guess first step is to ask about a site export. I'll probably be back with more questions!

 

[b0rn2sk8]

They don’t need that much configuration to get them up and running. Sure you can go deep and tweak them to get most out of them but it’s not something that is necessary.

I’d try and get him to export them first but if not just factory reset and start from scratch. Probably a good idea to change the SSID and password anyway as the other person will have it also.

 

[Cadder]

Can you quantify the difference? It's not unusual that there's a difference. For example, I have 900Mbps FTTP but am 'only' getting about 520Mbps through my UniFi access points. That's not indicative of a problem, 520Mbps through 802.11ac is pretty darn good.

You won't be impressed by our broadband speeds, but they're good for our semi-rural location at 40-50mbps. Through the AP it went down to 3-4mbps.

The access point would often work fine, at anywhere between 30-50mbps but then would drop to 3-4. The main way to get it to go back up were to disconnect and reconnect. After a few hours, repeat.

I had been having ISP issues, and the AP is downstairs, pointing downward, so there are multiple factors to this that could be contributing, but to save myself the headache I have disconnected it and have also flattened my server to sell.
Might just sell the AP.

 

[the-evaluator]

Might just sell the AP.

Might not be a bad idea. They're not unbox and forget bits of kit, for best results they need some tweaking. So either yours is faulty, not configured optimally or located badly. When setup and located well they work extremely well as I'm able to get this sort of throughput through my setup: