*** Official Ubiquiti Discussion Thread ***

[Ev0]

What is the Unifi stuff like when acting as a Mesh setup?

I have a garage that I need to extend coverage to, cable isn’t an option sadly.

I picked up a couple Deco units to test out and it works really well, wired unit inside the house which in turn is connected to a unit in the garage wirelessly about 17ft away (through one external brick wall and garage door).

On one hand the Deco seems to be working flawlessly, stable, and simple, but I’m not a fan of app based/‘publicly’ managed stuff.

So was thinking as I’m using a UDR as my router as the main AP at home would it be any good picking up a couple of U6 mesh units and doing the same with them instead?

But from the couple of little things I’d read people had said that the Unifi meshing isn’t great.

Any experiences here?

Or alternatives that can be managed ‘internally’ and don’t require public access to manage? Thanks!

 

[Armageus]

Or alternatives that can be managed ‘internally’ and don’t require public access to manage? Thanks!

Tplink omada is similar to unifi and can be self hosted

 

[b0rn2sk8]

If you already have a UDR, if the new AP is in range of the UDR, you don’t need the second access point.

The better option would be to mount a wired access point outside on the side of the house and bin off the mesh entirely.

 

[Ev0]

If you already have a UDR, if the new AP is in range of the UDR, you don’t need the second access point.

The better option would be to mount a wired access point outside on the side of the house and bin off the mesh entirely.

Yup it would, but not an option at this time, possibly in future but just want something to get me by.

Future plan would be to try and get a cable from the loft to an existing network port I have on the upstairs landing to allow me to then have something in the loft to work with which would make sticking something on the rear of the house easier.

Using the UDR + Mesh U6 in the garage may work, but there's another 2 brick/concrete walls in the way compared to having a second wired Mesh U6 in my study.

Plus that would have the nice side effect of boosting signal in the study and the room directly above

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Have you tried just sticking a single wired node in the study and checking coverage outside? If you are getting good enough wireless coverage to wirelessly mesh another AP in the garage, you are probably getting good enough wireless coverage anyway.

You could also mound the outside AP at study level rather than at loft level.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for multi AP setups where it makes sense but I’m also tight and do not like spending money unnecessarily and if I can use less hardware to achieve a good enough result, I definitely will!

 

[Ev0]

Hah yeah I did try that just using one in the study, it's not quite enough though.

The stuff we need to get connected is in the garden on the other side of the garage (so through yet another brick wall), and think that just about finishes off any signal from the study.

But having a unit in the garage means one less wall, a bit closer, plus has the benefit of then extending coverage across the whole garden.

I should've thought to just have a network point stuck in the garage when the house was built, doh.

 

[ChrisD.]

Where is the garage in relation to the house? I have a FlexHD on the rear soffit covering the garden, and it also covers the garage.

 

[pcfarrar]

Had really good warranty service from Ubiquiti, after completing the online form on rma.ui.com I had a response in less than an hour and 24 hours later I have a new AP that was delivered via Parcelforce. UPS collecting the faulty one in the next few days.

 

[Ev0]

Where is the garage in relation to the house? I have a FlexHD on the rear soffit covering the garden, and it also covers the garage.

That's what I was thinking of doing longer term as I remember your install posted up here, garage is to one side corner to corner to the house (well, with the garden gate in between).

 

[Ev0]

I caved and ordered two U6 Mesh, will try them out tomorrow and see how it goes

 

[Kill_Phil]

I've moved an AC pro to the garden (sheltered) but seem to get getting terrible coverage. Getting around 10mbs approx 15m away on a 900mbs connection. Is that normal?

 

[ChrisD.]

No, that's not normal.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

I've moved an AC pro to the garden (sheltered) but seem to get getting terrible coverage. Getting around 10mbs approx 15m away on a 900mbs connection. Is that normal?

I wouldn’t say normal but there is some key questions to ask, the first being: meshed or wired?

If it’s meshed, it may well reflect the terrible connection between the AC pro and whatever AP it’s connected to. Don’t forget when you run APs in mesh mode, it effectively halves their speed. If the AC pro is hanging off the edge of the 2.4ghz frequency, 10mb could be about right.

 

[Kill_Phil]

I wouldn’t say normal but there is some key questions to ask, the first being: meshed or wired?

If it’s meshed, it may well reflect the terrible connection between the AC pro and whatever AP it’s connected to. Don’t forget when you run APs in mesh mode, it effectively halves their speed. If the AC pro is hanging off the edge of the 2.4ghz frequency, 10mb could be about right.

It's wired. Got it mounted downwards as I did in the hallway.

Have always left off overnight optimisation but wondering whether to give it a whirl

 

[b0rn2sk8]

If it’s wired you should be getting the same speed as any other AC pro. Are you sure the link speed back to the switch is 1000mb?

 

[Ev0]

Had a quick go with the two U6 Mesh units that turned up today.

Same as with the Decos I tried, one inside, one in garage connected wirelessly.

It works, but the one in the garage doesn’t seem to quite have as good range as the Deco units.

Top of the garden the signal is a bit flakey, but still pulls 40/50meg.

Will have a play this weekend with them and see if I keep it send back.

All my bloomin robot mowers fault this palaver is, wanting to give it a wifi connection so I can do stuff from inside the house

 

[robj20]

Had a quick go with the two U6 Mesh units that turned up today.

Same as with the Decos I tried, one inside, one in garage connected wirelessly.

It works, but the one in the garage doesn’t seem to quite have as good range as the Deco units.

Top of the garden the signal is a bit flakey, but still pulls 40/50meg.

Will have a play this weekend with them and see if I keep it send back.

All my bloomin robot mowers fault this palaver is, wanting to give it a wifi connection so I can do stuff from inside the house

Mount one outside then.

 

[Kill_Phil]

If it’s wired you should be getting the same speed as any other AC pro. Are you sure the link speed back to the switch is 1000mb?

Umm may need to explain that to me in layman terms ha! I think the signal strength is the main issue, just doesn't seem to as a far reach

 

[Ev0]

Mount one outside then.

If it was that straight forward it’d be done already

 

[robj20]

If it was that straight forward it’d be done already

How is it not, drill a couple of holes, and your done.
I fitted a G5 Turret camera the other day, extremely easy.