Ubiquiti Unifi home network setup - thoughts?

[5678]

I'm looking into a home setup using the Unifi range of products. I'm tired of flaky connectivity and patch coverage so want to do it properly.
Phone point is in the hall, I need a wireless connection to the tv cabinet where I have 7 devices, I also want to ensure good coverage at the other side of the house and in the garage/garden (currently the area that struggles for connectivity.)

Current setup is a mess of
- Open reach modem
- Plusnet supplied modem/router
- ASUS AC router
- ASUS AC AP for tv cabinet.

Plan is to use:
- Draytek Vigor 130 modem
- Unifi ASG Router (This will also have my Tado heating contoller plugged in)
- Unifi UAP-AC-Pro (in hall, run by PoE from the ASG Router)
- Unifi UAP-AC-M Mesh (in sitting room, run by PoE)
- Unifi US-8 Gigabit/PoE switch (in TV cabinet powering the AC-M)
- Unifi UAP-AC-M Mesh (in utility room to support current area of poor coverage, powered from mains.)

The two AC-M units will run wireless uplinks from the AC-Pro.

I know "a little" about networking and setup so I'm concerned this may put me into the dangerous territory of thinking I know what I'm doing! I do have a friend who is very much expert in this area to turn to for help though if I need.

Does this setup sound sensible? Does anyone have experience of the products and opinions on what they are like to work with/setup?

[buggalugs]

They've been doing some good marketing recently and by all accounts their stuff is good. 7 devices in a cabinet does not scream use wifi to me though.

[5678]

buggalugs said:

They've been doing some good marketing recently and by all accounts their stuff is good. 7 devices in a cabinet does not scream use wifi to me though.

Devices are:
- Sky box
- TV
- NAS
- Mac Mini
- Apple TV
- Sonos Bridge
- I miscounted, it's 6 not 7!

I don't have a cable run to the TV cabinet that is possible (read allowable by SWMBO) that's my problem. Everything in the cabinet is wired to a switch and most of the traffic is the Apple TV to the Mac and the Mac to the NAS. Backups to the NAS run over night.

I'm trying to think of a way to get a cable from the hall to the loft so I can run a proper cabinet up there with everything in. Just can't figure out a way due to house layout.

[Accelebrate]

I've been using their stuff for a few years. I had some issues with their previous generation of access points (standard model had low throughput, switched to the pro models and they were good but would randomly drop). Upgraded to the latest pro models about 6 months ago and they've been brilliantly stable (3 installed in an office which peaks at ~100 wireless clients).

I've got a couple of their Edgerouters (one at work, one at home), they've been great, although can require some knowledge to configure.

The AC lite access points look like good value, I'm working up to replacing the aging Apple access points I have at home with a couple.

[5678]

Accelebrate said:

I've been using their stuff for a few years. I had some issues with their previous generation of access points (standard model had low throughput, switched to the pro models and they were good but would randomly drop). Upgraded to the latest pro models about 6 months ago and they've been brilliantly stable (3 installed in an office which peaks at ~100 wireless clients).

I've got a couple of their Edgerouters (one at work, one at home), they've been great, although can require some knowledge to configure.

The AC lite access points look like good value, I'm working up to replacing the aging Apple access points I have at home with a couple.

It's the need for knowledge on router/switch setup that I'm concerned on. I don't do anything particularly advanced at home in terms of setup or usage, so not sure quite how detailed the setup will be.

[megaphone]

I've used quite a bit of Unifi kit over the years, although most of it has been the older 'standard' kit. I assume you're using the new 'mesh' products because you don't have LAN cables installed? The current 'mesh' APs are really designed for outdoor use, I suspect they will launch an 'indoor' version, based on the other AC range, so may be worth waiting.

Also have a look at this from UBNT https://www.amplifi.com It's not launched in the UK yet, but I'm told it will be coming.

Have you looked at power line adaptors to connect the router to the switch in the cabinet?

The UBNT routers can be a bit daunting unless you are networking savvy, I struggled with the first one I used. I would stick with a standard router and turn the wireless off, keep your Openreach modem, the Vigor is not a whole lot better. You don't really need the PoE switches for the few APs you are proposing. Just use a standard switch and the in-line PoE adaptors that come with the APs.

Edited by megaphone on Saturday 21st January 12:01

[Vixpy1]

just installed a unifi at home, its bloody awesome

[mikef]

I installed a UAP-AC-Pro outdoors (under eave, as recommended) last year. Compared with my previous outdoor wifi router, line of sight range has more than doubled to around 120ft. Lovely bit of kit

[George111]

5678 said:

buggalugs said:

They've been doing some good marketing recently and by all accounts their stuff is good. 7 devices in a cabinet does not scream use wifi to me though.

Devices are:
- Sky box
- TV
- NAS
- Mac Mini
- Apple TV
- Sonos Bridge
- I miscounted, it's 6 not 7!

I don't have a cable run to the TV cabinet that is possible (read allowable by SWMBO) that's my problem. Everything in the cabinet is wired to a switch and most of the traffic is the Apple TV to the Mac and the Mac to the NAS. Backups to the NAS run over night.

I'm trying to think of a way to get a cable from the hall to the loft so I can run a proper cabinet up there with everything in. Just can't figure out a way due to house layout.

I'm an advocate of wifi rather than cabled connections but even I wouldn't run that lot over wifi. I'd stop for the minute before you do anything else and try to work out a way to cable all of that to the router.

If it's a modern house, you can drop a cable down between the two brick walls from the loft space to the floor on the ground floor.

[5678]

George111 said:

I'm an advocate of wifi rather than cabled connections but even I wouldn't run that lot over wifi. I'd stop for the minute before you do anything else and try to work out a way to cable all of that to the router.

If it's a modern house, you can drop a cable down between the two brick walls from the loft space to the floor on the ground floor.

I don't tend to struggle too much at the moment. There is normally only ever one or two of those devices pulling traffic at any one point e.g. Sky box recording, Apple TV streaming.

We will be building an extension this year or next and I will factor in proper cable runs at that time.

It's and oldish house so brick walls with plaster. It makes it far more work to do anything like that.

[The Moose]

Have you tried a power line adapter with switch?

[Bikerjon]

Interested in the "mesh" aspect of this as that's one thing I've yet to do on Unifi as there's no obvious product that does this for indoor use? Installed plenty of AC Pro's recently and they're proving to be robust although firmware releases can be a bit variable - I've left them on a stable release and set to "do not update".

[megaphone]

From my post above. This looks interesting for a home indoor deployment where no CATx cables are installed. https://www.amplifi.com/

[Durzel]

5678 said:

Devices are:
- Sky box
- TV
- NAS
- Mac Mini
- Apple TV
- Sonos Bridge
- I miscounted, it's 6 not 7!

I don't have a cable run to the TV cabinet that is possible (read allowable by SWMBO) that's my problem. Everything in the cabinet is wired to a switch and most of the traffic is the Apple TV to the Mac and the Mac to the NAS. Backups to the NAS run over night.

I'm trying to think of a way to get a cable from the hall to the loft so I can run a proper cabinet up there with everything in. Just can't figure out a way due to house layout.

Chase a wire when she's out.

With that many things in one place and already having a switch there - it's a no brainer.

That being said UniFi stuff is excellent. We use several UAP-Pros at work (18k+ sqft two floor building) and it works seamlessly, people just walk around and they automatically move to whichever AP has the best signal. The web interface for it all is a delight too.

[Alucidnation]

Don't forget its the client that decides on where/when to roam, especially when configuring the controller, although a lot of the Ubiquiti gear is being steered towards the home user so set up is almost non existent now.

Also, anything that can be plugged in, is plugged in and leave the wifi to the devices that can only use it.

Tricky in your situation though.

[Bikerjon]

megaphone said:

From my post above. This looks interesting for a home indoor deployment where no CATx cables are installed. https://www.amplifi.com/

Definitely interested in trying that out if it arrives in the UK.

[randlemarcus]

Couple of points - where's your controller going, and where do you think you are plugging the Tado into? USG has one port from the DSL Router, and one port to the LAN side. Tado will go into a switch inside that.

Not tried the mesh stuff, have a mix of Pro and LR kicking aorund. And do Powerline to the TV stuff, its just easier.

[5678]

To update, been speaking to my friend/ex-colleague who has set up similar for several people now.

I'm going to go for the setup listed initially with him doing the initial config for me. He has an AWS setup for the controller and will set it all up and test it, then I'll install at home. I've then got the safety net of him knowing what he's doing and I can switch to a CloudKey or have it running on my Mac server if I want/when I'm more confident.

re: running a cable to my TV point. I will do it, just far easier for me if I do it when I have builders/decorators coming in anyway. I want to factor in a proper comms cabinet with the extension so channeling cables in now when they may be redundant in 6 months isn't worth it. Plus, the current AP setup copes with my demands on the whole.

[Fastdruid]

I have an older Unifi AP and the difference between a dedicated AP and a "wifi router" is night and day.
Obviously they are only AP's so you need a proper router as well. While you can just plug one into a "normal" home-router that just opens up your wired network to the wifi.

I get a good signal thoughout the house whereas it used to be flaky and no chance in some rooms. One of the reasons I got the Unifi AP was because of the (claimed) seamless hand-off between AP's but it turned out I only needed one!

The only downside is mine is only 2.4GHz (the AC-LITE /AC-PRO are 5GHz) but that likely just means I get better reception "through the walls".

The management software I'm running on my NAS (docker container running on my Synology DS716+).

Edited by Fastdruid on Saturday 21st January 17:03

[wombleh]

Decided to cough up for a couple of unify access points to sort out patchy signal and they are awesome. Meshed together very easily, good connectivity and there are no funny little problems that always seem to crop up with one device or another. Expensive but well worth it.