* Official Ubiquiti Discussion Thread *

michty_me · 26 Mar 2020 at 14:27

I've currently got an AC-Lite in my loft covering my house but thinking of adding an additional AP and spacing them across the house for greater coverage.
Would you say a Nano-HD would be a better purchase over the AC-Lite? I guess further down the line I could update the AC-Lite with another Nano in time.

b0rn2sk8 · 26 Mar 2020 at 14:30

It’s a better AP that’s for sure it also comes with a bigger price.

Mikey · 26 Mar 2020 at 14:59

Wired in I assume, nice.

I need to get my house wired up, AP put in the loft (Flex-HD or Pro). Got FlexHD at mo with a Lite and Pro meshed to the Flex, far from ideal.

Excluding UI products I'd like to get a 16 port POE Gen 2 in the loft with patch panel, but do wonder about heat.

If I was to get a repeater installed for a device and connect it to it's own SSID, does it impact the other SSIDs broadcasting?

ChrisD. · 26 Mar 2020 at 15:01

Am I better off with the AP in the loft or on the ceiling upstairs? I can do both options.

michty_me · 26 Mar 2020 at 15:08

b0rn2sk8 said:
It’s a better AP that’s for sure it also comes with a bigger price.

I'm in no rush so can hold out for a deal or a second hand unit.

WJA96 · 26 Mar 2020 at 16:36

ChrisD. said:
Am I better off with the AP in the loft or on the ceiling upstairs? I can do both options.

Ceiling.

Mikey · 26 Mar 2020 at 19:52

WJA96 said:
Ceiling.

Interesting, I would have thought the loft would be better for a wider broadcast.

WJA96 · 26 Mar 2020 at 20:20

Mikey said:
Interesting, I would have thought the loft would be better for a wider broadcast.

The general rule of thumb is to have not more than one barrier between the access point and the user. The ceiling gives those upstairs (assuming you have an upstairs) a direct line of sight to the access point and those downstairs are blocked by just one thin barrier (floor) and possibly a wall.

If you site the access point in the loft the transmissions have to penetrate through not just the ceiling/floor of the loft but also the fine fiberglass insulation most lofts are lined with. That’s a signal penetration disaster.

Your WLAN experience will 100% be better if you fit the access point to the ceiling rather than the loft.

Mikey · 26 Mar 2020 at 21:35

WJA96 said:
The general rule of thumb is to have not more than one barrier between the access point and the user. The ceiling gives those upstairs (assuming you have an upstairs) a direct line of sight to the access point and those downstairs are blocked by just one thin barrier (floor) and possibly a wall.

If you site the access point in the loft the transmissions have to penetrate through not just the ceiling/floor of the loft but also the fine fiberglass insulation most lofts are lined with. That’s a signal penetration disaster.

Your WLAN experience will 100% be better if you fit the access point to the ceiling rather than the loft.

Makes sense.

Did a Meraki install in corporate in 2013, but nothing since.

michty_me · 26 Mar 2020 at 21:57

My one is in the loft. It's set to low power on the 2.4Ghz channel and medium on 5Ghz. It was that long ago I set it up, I've forgot what else I had done.

I guess putting it on the ceiling it would give a better signal but it seems fairly good strength as is. Try in the loft first and if it's poor, pop it through. No harm.

Edit: am I right in saying the NanoHD can be powered by the 24v passive PoE on the edgerouter X?

WJA96 · 27 Mar 2020 at 03:33

michty_me said:
My one is in the loft. It's set to low power on the 2.4Ghz channel and medium on 5Ghz. It was that long ago I set it up, I've forgot what else I had done.

I guess putting it on the ceiling it would give a better signal but it seems fairly good strength as is. Try in the loft first and if it's poor, pop it through. No harm.

Edit: am I right in saying the NanoHD can be powered by the 24v passive PoE on the edgerouter X?

The NanoHD needs 48V PoE+ and don’t confuse signal strength with signal quality. If the devices are constantly asking each other to repeat the last transmission it slows things down quite a bit. The loft space is usually full of beams and other interesting reflectors. Why would you put another beam-blocker between you and the access point?

michty_me · 27 Mar 2020 at 06:52

WJA96 said:
The NanoHD needs 48V PoE+ and don’t confuse signal strength with signal quality. If the devices are constantly asking each other to repeat the last transmission it slows things down quite a bit. The loft space is usually full of beams and other interesting reflectors. Why would you put another beam-blocker between you and the access point?

Ok thanks, I must have missed this half asleep. I just had a look again and it states it clearly. I'm unsure how I missed that.
I probably should have said that where my AP is situated, It sits just above the fiberglass of the loft which then has to penetrate the plasterboard, Once through that, It is a big open space to the ground floor. I agree that it is an extra obstacle in its place but it works for me without attaching things to ceilings.

WJA96 · 27 Mar 2020 at 07:32

I think there is generally huge misunderstanding of how WLAN works because people don’t associate wireless internet with radio, and that’s the thing, Wireless LAN is just two-way radio. The ceiling mounted access points actually get a lot of performance from being placed on a big, flat, surface. Anything radiating out the flat (back) of the access point is reflected back downwards in a way that boosts the signal going out the front of the access point and fills in the otherwise coverage free gap directly under the access point. If you don’t have that flat surface, all that WLAN is just broadcast off to the universe somewhere.

And the insulation is terrible for messing with the beam of the device because all those fibres scatter the radio waves in all directions and significantly reduce efficiency. It works, but you’re not getting optimal performance either in range or speed.

michty_me · 27 Mar 2020 at 07:52

Fair point, I'll look at moving my existing unit and go from there too. Perhaps I won't then need a secondary unit.

Erm yeah that’s hard to pick one · 27 Mar 2020 at 13:25

Is it possible to setup a vlan that I can put my son on. Both Wi-Fi and wired.
Limit the speed
Time period for access

WJA96 · 28 Mar 2020 at 10:20

212.159.5.208 said:
Is it possible to setup a vlan that I can put my son on. Both Wi-Fi and wired.
Limit the speed
Time period for access

As far as I’m aware you can only set data and access time limits for WLAN (enable WLAN schedule) not for wired LAN ports. You can use Set Egress Limits on the wired port to limit the data speed through the wired port though.

RSR · 29 Mar 2020 at 02:00

1.6.6 stable firmware has gone live for the UDM Pro > https://community.ui.com/releases/U...re-1-6-6/4cf67f6d-d63f-4058-bf61-16690b2ebe72

So just in the process of updating mine, even though it has its quirks I do like the UDM Pro.

iMacMart · 29 Mar 2020 at 07:04

Morning all

what’s the best way to restart all my Poe switch + 3 x LR APs just power cycle the Poe switch via the iPhone app? SkyQ broadband was playing up last night so want to restart it all fresh this morning

WJA96 · 29 Mar 2020 at 08:59

iMacMart said:
Morning all

what’s the best way to restart all my Poe switch + 3 x LR APs just power cycle the Poe switch via the iPhone app? SkyQ broadband was playing up last night so want to restart it all fresh this morning

The best way is to restart everything one at a time. With the PoE switch last. The APs have a BIG capacitor inside them to protect them when PoE restarts.

iMacMart · 29 Mar 2020 at 09:37

WJA96 said:
The best way is to restart everything one at a time. With the PoE switch last. The APs have a BIG capacitor inside them to protect them when PoE restarts.

Right will do

ta

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