*** Official Ubiquiti Discussion Thread ***

[Cavallino]

Home plugs on average syncs at 20% of their advertised speed due to varying quality over home electrical wiring, so they usually cheap out on the ethernet connection to 100mb as 1gb is usually wasted. I'm assuming you did use the Devolo software to check the true sync speed? Even when they're on the same extension I don't usually see them syncing at the max advertised speed.

If your homeplugs really are syncing at over 100mb+ though, then you should see roughly 80mb, give or take due to overhead.

Cheers bud.

So Im using the Devolo software which is showing the connection between the homeplug next to my router and the homeplug which is connected to the Unifi AP and this is showing 499-500mbps.
Elsewhere in the house it does drop down to 130-150mbps.

But what I don't get is why I am not seeing something close to 100mbit if indeed the max speed is 100mbit...

Surely iPhone 6s, iPad 2 and one of the latest android phones should support speeds in excess of 100mbit?

Also regarding the entry about 100FDX, I guess that's picking up from the ethernet connection to the homeplug limiting to 100mbit?

 

[dbmzk1]

Cheers bud.

So Im using the Devolo software which is showing the connection between the homeplug next to my router and the homeplug which is connected to the Unifi AP and this is showing 499-500mbps.
Elsewhere in the house it does drop down to 130-150mbps.

But what I don't get is why I am not seeing something close to 100mbit if indeed the max speed is 100mbit...

Surely iPhone 6s, iPad 2 and one of the latest android phones should support speeds in excess of 100mbit?

Also regarding the entry about 100FDX, I guess that's picking up from the ethernet connection to the homeplug limiting to 100mbit?

You will not get more than 100mbit going through the AP if it's only connected via 100mbit Ethernet.

Unless your homeplugs are terrible, which they easily can be, you should be getting more than 60mb on a decent device like an iPhone I'd have thought. What speed are your actual devices connected to the AP at? You can check that in the clients section of UniFi.

 

[WJA96]

If the access point is being used in a congested environment (and I bet the AP is set to AUTO on both power and channel) it’s perfectly feasible that the connections will be slow. Only the AP-AC-HD and SHD can vary their channels based on the environment. Everything else needs to be set up manually. And even the HD and SHD tend to get it wrong and default to 1, 6 or 11/13. And AUTO power means maximum so I generally turn that down to medium or low. Which is counter-intuitive but works.

What we need is a scan of the environment. Do you have that capability on you computer?

https://www.acrylicwifi.com/en/wlan...oftware-tools/wlan-scanner-acrylic-wifi-free/

In the controller what % channel utilisation does it show?

And you are ABSOLUTELY certain that the clients are not connecting to the 2.4GHz connection? Are you using bandsteering? I’ve not had good results with that.

 

[Cavallino]

If the access point is being used in a congested environment (and I bet the AP is set to AUTO on both power and channel) it’s perfectly feasible that the connections will be slow. Only the AP-AC-HD and SHD can vary their channels based on the environment. Everything else needs to be set up manually. And even the HD and SHD tend to get it wrong and default to 1, 6 or 11/13. And AUTO power means maximum so I generally turn that down to medium or low. Which is counter-intuitive but works.

What we need is a scan of the environment. Do you have that capability on you computer?

https://www.acrylicwifi.com/en/wlan...oftware-tools/wlan-scanner-acrylic-wifi-free/

In the controller what % channel utilisation does it show?

And you are ABSOLUTELY certain that the clients are not connecting to the 2.4GHz connection? Are you using bandsteering? I’ve not had good results with that.

Thank you all for helping me I do appreciate it.
They are set to auto correct.
I have turned the transmit down to medium for both 2G and 5G.
6 and 48 are selected with 20% and 1% utilisation.

I'm just about to conduct a scan..

For sure my devices are being connected to the 5G and using speedtest to measure (and I can confirm I get the full 200mbit from my desktop PC which is hardwired to the router directly).

 

[Cavallino]

Ok I did an RF scan and its switched me to 13 and 64... but no change in performance.

 

[bledd]

Best to avoid 13, many devices won't connect on it. Stuck to 1,6,11

 

[Cavallino]

But 13 is 2G I guess which I won't be using. Trying to keep on 5G
I guess they should not interfere with performance of the 5G?

 

[WJA96]

I’ve just checked my own network using a combination of Acrylic, Dr WiFi and QNAP file transfer test and I’m seeing about 140Mbps on my iPad/iPhone

But 13 is 2G I guess which I won't be using. Trying to keep on 5G
I guess they should not interfere with performance of the 5G?

No, but Bledd is right. Many IoT devices and anything well behaved should refuse to connect on channel 13 which technically isn't OK to use in the UK.

If you really don't need 2.4GHz then turn off that radio in the Access Point and decrease the RF clutter in your part of the world. I have 6 access points at home and only two of them have 2.4GHz 802.11bgn turned on. The others are AC only and really helps my next door neighbours. The other thing that is well worth doing if you get on with your neighbours is to agree what channels you are using. So you might use Channel 11, next door on both sides would use Channel 1 and the people on either side of them would use Channel 11 etc. That way everyone gets the best out of 2.4GHz.

In terms of your speed - what is your VT set to? 20, 40 or 80? If not set to 40 or 80 what happens to your speed if you switch it to 40 or 80?

 

[lltfdaniel]

Ubiquiti has a lot of products and i am a newbie regarding my understanding of wifi.

Which product name of Ubiquiti do you recommend for home use which will be used like a home router?

Thanks,

Dan.

 

[WJA96]

I wouldn’t recommend anything from Ubiquiti if you want a simple all-in-one device. The closest thing they have is the AirCube AC which is OK, but not exactly state of the art. It is very cheap though.

They make something called Amplifi which is a mesh system, and it’s OK but not as good as the BT, Google or Netgear equivalents.

What UBNT do REALLY well is WiFi. Their access points really are the best. Much cheaper than anything equivalent from Cisco, Juniper, HP etc. So if you can run a cable to the top of your house and fit an access point, UBNT will do everything you want.

For an all-in-one router the Synology 2600AC worked well for me, I think the current BT Home Hub is one of the best AC devices on the market and if you want something a bit more unusual then the Mikrotik hAP AC would be my choice.

 

[lltfdaniel]

I wouldn’t recommend anything from Ubiquiti if you want a simple all-in-one device. The closest thing they have is the AirCube AC which is OK, but not exactly state of the art. It is very cheap though.

They make something called Amplifi which is a mesh system, and it’s OK but not as good as the BT, Google or Netgear equivalents.

What UBNT do REALLY well is WiFi. Their access points really are the best. Much cheaper than anything equivalent from Cisco, Juniper, HP etc. So if you can run a cable to the top of your house and fit an access point, UBNT will do everything you want.

For an all-in-one router the Synology 2600AC worked well for me, I think the current BT Home Hub is one of the best AC devices on the market and if you want something a bit more unusual then the Mikrotik hAP AC would be my choice.

Thanks for the advise, i appreciate.

Yea i looked at the home mesh thing i hope linking to the page is fine on ocuk > https://store.amplifi.com/products/amplifi-mesh-router

edit

Did not want to read all 100 pages of discussion about ubiquiti.

Dan.

 

[Cavallino]

Folks, just an update.....
I connected the AP directly to my router
And when standing next to the AP, I get the full 200mbit np...

However when I am one/two rooms away it does drop down to under 100mbit... I guess this is where walls/intereference comes into it and the above investigations?

In the meantime it seems the homeplugs are a factor....
However I still don't understand if the homeplugs are connected at 500mbit.... and worst case scenario we say that we only get 100mbit... why am I only getting 60mbit or so....

 

[WJA96]

However I still don't understand if the homeplugs are connected at 500mbit.... and worst case scenario we say that we only get 100mbit... why am I only getting 60mbit or so....

It doesn’t matter what the homeplugs say they are linking at. They only have a 100Mbps connection to the outside world. So you’ll never get more than 100Mbps into that system or out of it. That’s why you’re stuck at 100Mbps maximum.

Why you’re only getting 60Mbps from your AC devices is another question. Which is why I asked about how much bandwidth you have opened up for them? Is it VT20, VT40 or VT80?

 

[Cavallino]

It doesn’t matter what the homeplugs say they are linking at. They only have a 100Mbps connection to the outside world. So you’ll never get more than 100Mbps into that system or out of it. That’s why you’re stuck at 100Mbps maximum.

Why you’re only getting 60Mbps from your AC devices is another question. Which is why I asked about how much bandwidth you have opened up for them? Is it VT20, VT40 or VT80?

Ok but can you please help me understand, if they are rated at 500mbit why would they just have a maximum of 100mpbs connection to the outside world? (is it the ethernet port that is limited to mbit instead of gbit?)

Bandwidth is now set to maximum for both the 2G and 5G. I have disabled the 2G temporarily.

I am getting 200mbit now, but obviously not through the plugs.
Still perplexed that I get only 60% of the theoretical 100mbit throughput even though the devolo software is reporting full 500mbit.

 

[Mariusz]

@Cavallino basically you have been mislead by the marketing of the homeplugs, yes technically they maybe able to communicate with each other over your mains electric at 500mbit but the ethernet ports on either homeplug are handicapped to 100mbits. So that becomes your bottleneck. I'm currently using TP-LINK AV2000, these have gigabyte ports so I see the full 350 that my Virgin connection can provide.

 

[Cavallino]

@Cavallino basically you have been mislead by the marketing of the homeplugs, yes technically they maybe able to communicate with each other over your mains electric at 500mbit but the ethernet ports on either homeplug are handicapped to 100mbits. So that becomes your bottleneck. I'm currently using TP-LINK AV2000, these have gigabyte ports so I see the full 350 that my Virgin connection can provide.

Thanks M. No I get what you are saying, but what is puzzling to me is why I don't see 90 or 100mbit assuming the devolo software is saying that both homeplugs are communicating at maximum speed (at least according to the devolo software).

So theoretically if I get a pair of the AV2000, the I should be able to see my hole 200mbit since they are gigabit ethernet correct?

(these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-PA9020P...ie=UTF8&qid=1529163723&sr=8-1&keywords=av2000 ) ?

 

[WJA96]

You’re not getting 100Mbps because you’ll never see 100Mbps on a 100Mbps System. There will always be errors and dropped packets. As has been stated earlier, the best you’ll ever see is about 80Mbps. So you’re missing about 20Mbps under ideal conditions.

So we need to find that 20Mbps.

You say you have set everything to VT80 or HT40, yes?

Did you try an Arcylic scan as I suggested earlier?

What software are you using to measure the WiFi throughput?

 

[Cavallino]

In fairness when I say 30-60mbit from other rooms, if I get close to the AP (i.e. right next to it) it does give me 80mbit...

I did try the Acrylic software, but ill be honest Im not sure what Im looking for when using it?

Im using speedtest to test the wifi throughput, I find it reasonably accurate as I am getting 210mbit when I have the AP connected directly to the router.

(Yes Ive set VY80 and HT40 correct).

Im thinking to get the same Homeplugs as Mariusz above... that should surely solve the problem?

 

[WJA96]

OK, so it sounds like the system is working about where it should be and it may be that you have a cover or something, or some background RF interference that is stopping you get the better speed all the time.

If you REALLY want to use homeplugs then yes, the TP-Link 2000Mbps units with 1GbE ports should give you the full throughput. Is a cable to the access point really impossible?

 

[Cavallino]

OK, so it sounds like the system is working about where it should be and it may be that you have a cover or something, or some background RF interference that is stopping you get the better speed all the time.

If you REALLY want to use homeplugs then yes, the TP-Link 2000Mbps units with 1GbE ports should give you the full throughput. Is a cable to the access point really impossible?

Cheers WJA for your responses. I do appreciate it.

Can I just clarify...
1. The H80/40 thing... is it best to keep them as you explained above?

2. And in regards to the Acrylic software, what am I supposed to do with this? Just select a channel which is unoccupied in both 2.4G and 5G?

3. I do need the 2.4G as my printer only works on 2.4G... would it help if I hardwired it and disabled the 2.4G band and only keep 5G?)

4. The power levels of the AC pro, am I best to keep these at high? somone mentioned to take them off auto and put them to medium... not sure what the impact is....

E: To answer your question... cable is possible but it will be exposed and not very tidy Im afraid :\