*** Official Ubiquiti Discussion Thread ***

Mr Plow

Mr Plow

Mr Plow

Associate
Joined
29 Aug 2007
Posts
424
Location
Leigh-On-Sea, Essex
platypus said:
Does anyone have any knowledge of what routers Vodafone Gigafast ships? I'm looking at the 500mbps package, and would really rather hook it up to my ubiquiti stuff.
Click to expand...

Unless they've released a newer model recently you can find specs on the router here (just scroll down the article a bit) -

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.p...-uk-prices-for-1gbps-ftth-home-broadband.html

People have been running their own equipment according to the VF forum so shouldn't be a problem if you want to keep using your Ubiquiti stuff.

https://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Oth...ter-on-Gigafast-in-Milton-Keynes/td-p/2614887
 

memyselfandi

memyselfandi

memyselfandi

Soldato
Joined
10 Oct 2005
Posts
8,706
Location
Nottingham
Well placement definitely does matter ...

Been running a nanoHD since the start of the year but its just been sitting on top of my rack in the back bedroom. Whilst it was working fine (most of the time) I wasn't getting a great signal in the front of the house (not only because the access point was effectively upside down but also, looking at the angles, the pipes in the airing cupboard were all between it and that area).

So bit the bullet today and mounted it on the ceiling on the landing and ran a cable back to the rack. Signal strength is like night and day. Everything is getting 95%+ signal strength according to the controller and looks a lot healthier.
 

Furion

Furion

Furion

Associate
Joined
25 Oct 2019
Posts
4
Hi all,

Longtime lurker, first-time poster! I'm in the process of buying a new house and having it fully re-wired. I'm taking this opportunity to have network points put in every room - multiple cables / multiple locations. Of course, there's also the opportunity to put in ceiling mounted wireless AP's at this stage - which is where my question to the forum comes in - what do you think the best wireless AP layout might be?

I've done my research and think i've settled on using Ubiquiti gear - i was wondering about several POE powered AP UAC Lite's? I was wondering about 3 or 4 AP UAC Lite's - one in the ground floor hallway, one in the outbuilding / lean to, one on the 1st floor landing, and 1 on the 2nd floor landing. Is that overkill? I wasn't sure if the ground floor AP might cover the 1st floor as the floor is just wood (same goes for the 1st floor AP covering the loft)?

Obviously i can supplement this set up further down the line with wall mounted AP's if i have any spare network sockets in any rooms - but this is likely the only time i'm going to be accessing the floor / ceiling spaces in the next 5-10+ years, so keen to get some ceiling points in now while i can.

Some additional info: This house is in the UK, standard brick and plaster construction, wooden floors. I'm going to be terminating all the cables in the cupboard under the stairs, where i'll have patch panel, switch, etc. etc. House is currently got Virgin Media broadband - i'll be carrying this on and will be extending the cable from the Virgin Media point located in the bottom left corner of the sitting room with co-ax so that the virgin modem can be located under the stairs with everything else.

Floor plan is here shared on google drive - i think i've set it up so you can leave comments if you want!

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to help me out!

Sidebar - is there a way of running the ubiquiti management software without any kit connected - i know it has the feature where you can put a floor plan in and see potential signal strength, but i wasn't sure if it'd let me draft a set up with gear that wasn't connected....
 

bremen1874

bremen1874

bremen1874

Soldato
Joined
20 Oct 2008
Posts
12,096
Try it before installing any cables. Buy the minimum number of access points you think you'll get away with and some long Ethernet cables and try them in different positions. Buy additional APs if they prove necessary.

FWIW a single AC-Lite covers my medium-sized 2 storey, 3 bed, detached well enough for my needs. It's located as near as possible to the middle of the house on the ground floor ceiling. I don't use wireless for any high bandwidth devices, they're all wired.
 

Furion

Furion

Furion

Associate
Joined
25 Oct 2019
Posts
4
Thanks Bremen - Good to know about the coverage you experience with just a single AC-Lite.

Slightly tricky as i won't be in a position to really trial any set up before the electrical works start (we're having work done between exchange and completion - long story!). The house is empty just now, but fear the vendor might take an ill view of me trailing cables around the house to try it out before i properly own the place! We want to get everything sorted so when we do move in there's no disruption (our 2 year old is too inquisitive to leave floorboards up for any length of time!)

Same for me on item connection - all the high bandwidth items will be wired as well. Just trying to set myself up well for the future!
 

DIABLO

DIABLO

DIABLO

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
5,978
Location
N.Devon
I would say you could get away with 2, one in the nice central stairs especially with a modern build with plasterboard internal walls and 1 in the Utility area.

And if i was only going for 2 i'd probably opt for something a little newer as the AP that will deal with the most traffic like a Nano HD and have a Lite for the Utility area.

Unifi controller software demo https://demo.ui.com
 
Last edited:

BigT

BigT

BigT

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
3,515
Location
UK
I cover a house 50% more floorspace than yours with 3x AC-LR more than adequately. I think I'd agree with @DIABLO - two would be enough. One on your second floor landing will probably cover all the first and second floors and then one nearer the back of the house to cover the lean-to/outbuilding, probably in the utility.

My only concern is how strong the Wifi will be at the very front of the house in the lounge/sitting rooms. The one on the top floor has got to punch through two floors to get there and the one in the utility would be going through a few walls. tbh I think I'd probably just do the two initially and if the front ground floor rooms are suffering you could always and an in-wall ubiquiti which isn't going to be a problem post wiring because it'd just go where your faceplates are being installed - it's an easy swap/install. I'd probably also go for Nano HD as the 4x4 will be beneficial if you've got lots of WiFi devices of mixed ability. The slower ones won't drag down the overall speed for those that can do faster.
 

b0rn2sk8

b0rn2sk8

b0rn2sk8

Soldato
Joined
9 Mar 2003
Posts
14,236
bremen1874 said:
If you aren't sure then install cabling for your worst-case. The cable is cheap and you don't need to connect APs to them all if it doesn't prove necessary.
Click to expand...

This, if it turns out it isn’t needed pop the cable back into the hole, fill and paint over.

You can always get it out again if you change your mind. Just document there the cable hole is meant to be.
 

Nutty_Death

Nutty_Death

Nutty_Death

Associate
Joined
5 Apr 2004
Posts
1,197
bremen1874 said:
If you aren't sure then install cabling for your worst-case. The cable is cheap and you don't need to connect APs to them all if it doesn't prove necessary.
Click to expand...

Cable is cheap but chasing walls and running lots of cable is a nightmare! Worth it but a nightmare. If you need to chase walls I suggest you get someone used to doing it like an electrician to help out.
 

Furion

Furion

Furion

Associate
Joined
25 Oct 2019
Posts
4
Deaths Calling - Agreed! We've got a proper sparky in to do the re-wire and he'll be doing all the chases for the new plugs and network points. He's got a proper chasing tool so should make quick work of it. When we first started talking about it he did suggest powerline adapters and i quickly told him that wasn't going to happen!
 

Mark M

Mark M

Mark M

Soldato
Joined
6 Jan 2006
Posts
3,372
Location
Newcastle upon Tyne
Ive got an odd issue with the wifi in my office and hoping someone can give me some pointers. The office is similar to a 2 story terrace house with a concrete floor on the first floor so I tried one AP-LR upstairs which didnt seem to get through the concrete floor particularly well so I added another AP-LR down stairs and get great coverage throughout. On the unifi controller my network is 96% good however 2 devices keep dropping out despite having full wifi signal, both are MS Surface laptops but may just be a conincidence as I dont have anything else to try it with. One Macbook connects no problem and appears to stay connected (although is going to get smashed over the users head if he says "should have bought a Mac" one more time :mad:).

Is there anything that I can check or change? Could the 2 AP's be conflicting with each other perhaps as its probably not big enough for 2 but I have the issue with the floor. Any pointers greatly appreciated.
 

Erm yeah that’s hard to pick one

Erm yeah that’s hard to pick one

Erm yeah that’s hard to pick one

Associate
Joined
20 Aug 2019
Posts
356
Mark M said:
Ive got an odd issue with the wifi in my office and hoping someone can give me some pointers. The office is similar to a 2 story terrace house with a concrete floor on the first floor so I tried one AP-LR upstairs which didnt seem to get through the concrete floor particularly well so I added another AP-LR down stairs and get great coverage throughout. On the unifi controller my network is 96% good however 2 devices keep dropping out despite having full wifi signal, both are MS Surface laptops but may just be a conincidence as I dont have anything else to try it with. One Macbook connects no problem and appears to stay connected (although is going to get smashed over the users head if he says "should have bought a Mac" one more time :mad:).

Is there anything that I can check or change? Could the 2 AP's be conflicting with each other perhaps as its probably not big enough for 2 but I have the issue with the floor. Any pointers greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

Can the devices connecting only use 5Ghz?
If so turn 2.4 off.

Set the channels and bandwidth so they don’t overlap.

Set power to medium.

Disable meshing
 

memyselfandi

memyselfandi

memyselfandi

Soldato
Joined
10 Oct 2005
Posts
8,706
Location
Nottingham
Like I say it would be maybe 6 inches away from a wall so pretty pointless for me.

It's good that they have apparently made them quieter but it's not as is my, non-poe, switches actually make any noise anyway ...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom