*** Official Ubiquiti Discussion Thread ***

[Pug]

Thanks I do switch off router wi-fi, but only have the first mesh point connected with to the router. The rest use wifi.

HOWEVER access points, in my experience (again maybe cheapies), struggled handing off a connection when it got weak when another AP is stronger. Do these manage that better? This was the only mesh feature i cared about.

 

[ChrisD.]

Unless you have a massive house with thick stone walls, a well placed UniFi AP should cover the entire house.

 

[Pug]

It's not massive (4 bed) but was built in the 1920s so does have "proper" brick walls that seem to suck up 5ghz... (but again based upon consumer gear standards).

Any noise on the future success and support of UniFi stuff linked to the threads i read? Support staff leaving, customers beta testing etc

I also have some non-wifi devices that need to access the web, and i liked the BT disks as they could act as a wireless access point AND wifi "adapter" (not sure of the technical term, but all devices plugged into a switch, and the bt disk plugs into the switch connecting the switch to the LAN/WAN). How do i overcome this issue with one AP? Don't say hardwire them as i would have started there if i could easily!).

 

[ChrisD.]

but again based upon consumer gear standards

UniFi are still bound by the same legal WiFi constraints that consumer gear has. It's not going to magically 'work' when others don't. However the shape of the discs and locating them properly can have massive benefits versus mesh systems and ISP supplied routers stuck in a corner.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Unless you have a massive house with thick stone walls, a well placed UniFi AP should cover the entire house.

A single access point mounted on the landing ceiling (centrally) should cover the vast majority of houses. The easiest way of doing that is to put a hole in the wall where your internet comes in and run external network cable up the side of the house and in through a soffit.

The range on a unifi access point. Will not be any better than a consumer router, there are legal maximums everyone operates within. It’s all about the placement and the robustness of the hardware/network itself. The handoff works reasonable well but you don’t want to be handed off in certain situations. If your on a video call and you are handed off the call will drop.

Mesh systems can be ok but they have to be placed very carefully you need to have the next node in a very strong signal area for the first node. You also have to consider that half of the speed of the AP will be used to communicate with the base station. A mesh system with a 2x2 antenna set up will effectively only be 1x1 which is very slow. You really need 4x4 access points which are much more expensive, Ubiquiti ones are £150 a piece.

If your spending that sort of money you might as well hardwire and have a decent experience. Running cables externally is very easy.

I’d suggest by starting with a single quality AP mounted centrally and start from there. You can always add more as needed on a unifi set up. They have just released some WiFi 6 access points so I would start there. Seems wrong to buy their WiFi 5 APs at this point in the WiFi lifecycle.

 

[Pug]

Ok thanks. Wiring externally isn't difficult, I just don't want to externally show cables as the house is somewhat period in nature. Its a preference to not as opposed to a requirement.

I am ok chucking money at it, internet (so wifi) is a utility nowadays, and if the frustration goes away it's worth it, but so far i'm not hearing of the benefits?

Over wifi i currently get ~160mbps on my S10 throughout the entire house, on a 200mbps line. I have a the main node in the upstairs bedroom, a node directly below it in the lounge, and the third node through a wall in the kitchen. The front room is the only room we don't have a node in, but it's quick enough without one thanks to the lounge and bedroom ones. The coverage and speed is 100% ok, my question is whether these disks will be more reliable, or is a daily dip (not disconnection, but significant speed drop for a few mins) still likely (assuming it is currently 100% down to the wifi i have).

Reading between the lines i could achieve similar with a centrally located, high quality, wifi router?

 

[ChrisD.]

I don't ever get any drops in speed.

 

[Armageus]

but so far i'm not hearing of the benefits?

A lot of the benefits to Unifi etc are in the centralised management of multiple access points - not normally an issue with the 1 or 2 access points most people need at home, but very useful to see signal strengths and utilisation with 10+ access points, to help assist with choosing appropriate locations for them.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

160mb isn’t the best. Speed drops may be caused by a few things, dodgy hardware is one but external factors are another. If it’s external it may still effect another system.

With external cables you can be clever, for example run it behind a soil stack or gutter down pipe. You can’t see hardly any of mine.

There are a few types of Ubiquiti access points that you need to bear in mind. The disks are designed to be mounted on a ceiling and they output their signal downwards in a much room shape. Other access points are omnidirectional like the flexHD.

But in the main mesh systems are just not as good as having a wired backhaul.

 

[Pug]

Thanks gents, not the magic bullet i was hoping it seems - the management aspect is nice for fiddling, but i want to set and forget.

The 160mbps is pretty ok for our needs - the biggest stresser is throwing 4k UHD rips around, and as my OLED tv has a stupid 100mbps port we're good! Rest is Xbox live, works VPN and mobile devices (and the 60 or so smart home devices).

I may try an AP (though possibly a Mikrotek cAP AC), and see. But i am not super hopeful, and i'll look at possible hardwire options for the devices which are not wifi (there's 2, maybe 3 locations)

 

[ChrisD.]

i want to set and forget.

I set up my UniFi AP Pro in 2015 and I haven't touched any settings since. I replaced it with a nanoHD earlier this year and it was a straight swap, again, I haven't touched any settings. I don't recall any WiFi related issues since I installed the original AP.

 

[Pug]

so following a quick site recce i could easily get ethernet to the roof of my landing, and could probably get an ethernet to the location that needs it, so it's feasible, just need to figure out if it's worth the aggro for more stability and at least as good coverage and speed. Honestly I'm skeptical I'd get the coverage with one, I guess i could add another later if needed, but would require more ethernet shenanigans.
Over the years i have had expensive (Asus, Linksys) routers (placement not ideal) and all of them have failed to offer the coverage i want, only the BT Wholehome has managed it thus far, but now i see dropouts...

 

[BigT]

If it helps my house is in three distinct chunks of 100sqm a piece. One UAP on the 1st floor roof reasonably centrally in each of those chunks provides adequate (for me that's >50Mbps) and stable coverage in that chunk upstairs and down (at most one brick internal wall and ceiling between client and UAP). All my IoT and statically placed devices latch on to the strongest signal when they start and stay there and roaming devices never seem to give me bother moving around the house. I don't think I've touched the config for years and can't remember a dropout or performance problem so once setup set-and-forget is a realistic aspiration.

As said, they won't break the laws of physics. It's placement and wired backhaul to your router that sees the biggest stability/performance gains. The ease of centralised management is a nice bonus I guess.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

60+ IoT devices will putting a strain on consumer kit too. The commercial/prosumer kit is at least built to have 200 devices hanging off one AP.

Id say it’s well worth it, if you can get ethernet up to the loft it gives you so much more flexibility on placement. You could install APs on each side of the house if you are concerned with coverage (2 total). You only need to get on cable up there assuming you have power (for a switch).

If you have a big garden you could also mount an outdoor AP on the soffit and have great coverage outside. There is also more opportunities for things like CCTV etc.

 

[Pug]

Ordered a Unifi Long Range, which I'll lob on the landing ceiling and will see how it works.

Do you think the superhub 3 can route ok, or would I better using an old RT-AC66u for routing purposes with the superhub in modem mode? (WiFi off in both instances).

Fingers crossed

Edit: follow-up question, when it's properly installed I'll want to use PoE to run the AP. Can I buy any PoE enabled switch, or do I need to buy something special?

 

[WJA96]

The access point comes with a PoE injector. And I would see what the routing is like with the SuperHub before spending more money.

 

[Pug]

The access point comes with a PoE injector. And I would see what the routing is like with the SuperHub before spending more money.

To be clear I already own the AC66u. I retired it when I got the bt wholehome mesh.

 

[Pug]

So the device is setup and coverage is pretty good.

However I have a really annoying issue.

If I factory reset I can discover the unifi, and modify the ssid and WiFi settings.

Once the unifi reboots all my devices reconnect and and everything is good.

Except now i can't login to the AP. "login invalid" so I try to login using the ubnt/ubnt combo or my unifi account (app is logged in) and all are invalid.

Am I unable to login in to the AP once the initial setup is complete without a controller?

 

[the-evaluator]

Am I unable to login in to the AP once the initial setup is complete without a controller?

Using SSH? Yes.

Use the username and password that's specified in the controller. Settings -> Device Authentication in the classic (aka, good) settings or Settings -> Controller Configuration -> Device SSH authentiction in the new (aka, crap) settings.

 

[Pug]

I've sorted it though appreciate the response!

I needed to create a uname/pass this then got saved and I can now access

No I'm using the unifi app as recommended by the quick start install guide.