Ubiquiti AC long range vs lite vs pro
Discussion
Initial verdict on the AC-LR is that it's no better than the original UAP-LR. At least in terms of it resolving the issue I have.
I'm getting a signal, but the client device is reporting it as "poor". Which is what it did with the old unit (so not 100% empirical, but the end result is everything
).
I'm going to have a go at re positioning it to see if that makes a difference - it didn't on the old unit. I'm doubtful it will do what I need it to with the new one either.
For reference, what I'm aiming to do is to get a Ring Video Doorbell working. it's probably around 30m from my house. I tried the old unit on the ground, first and second floors. All positioned to the outside wall nearest where the doorbell is going. House construction is timber framed with no modern materials interfering (all sheep wool, oak lathes and lime plaster). Doorbell is actually around 2m lower than the ground floor and there is a brick wall/railing between it and the house running at an angle. The rest is soil/grass in the way. So not the easiest problem to resolve and may simply be asking too much - running a cable and having an outdoor AP would do it, but as this would have little/no additional benefit to my network coverage it's in the "ball ache too far" category at present.
On the AP itself, it's quite a different shape to the old one. Smaller diameter but deeper/more bulbous. The light's also blue now rather than green. They will only run on an updated controller so I had to upgrade mine, which I haven't touched in a couple of years. Process went very smoothly, restoring config from a back up of the current config. Firmware update of the other APs was also straightforward and trouble free.
I'm getting a signal, but the client device is reporting it as "poor". Which is what it did with the old unit (so not 100% empirical, but the end result is everything
).I'm going to have a go at re positioning it to see if that makes a difference - it didn't on the old unit. I'm doubtful it will do what I need it to with the new one either.
For reference, what I'm aiming to do is to get a Ring Video Doorbell working. it's probably around 30m from my house. I tried the old unit on the ground, first and second floors. All positioned to the outside wall nearest where the doorbell is going. House construction is timber framed with no modern materials interfering (all sheep wool, oak lathes and lime plaster). Doorbell is actually around 2m lower than the ground floor and there is a brick wall/railing between it and the house running at an angle. The rest is soil/grass in the way. So not the easiest problem to resolve and may simply be asking too much - running a cable and having an outdoor AP would do it, but as this would have little/no additional benefit to my network coverage it's in the "ball ache too far" category at present.
On the AP itself, it's quite a different shape to the old one. Smaller diameter but deeper/more bulbous. The light's also blue now rather than green. They will only run on an updated controller so I had to upgrade mine, which I haven't touched in a couple of years. Process went very smoothly, restoring config from a back up of the current config. Firmware update of the other APs was also straightforward and trouble free.
Mattt said:
Murph, not that I'd recommend it but set the device location as Taiwan then set the power to high....
I'd seen that on my trawls but not done it on the old one as my suspicion is it's not so much the AP but the client that's the issue.I may give it a go on the new one. Need to find some time to have a proper play - this weekend wasn't the right opportunity
Looks like I was a bit hasty.
Re-positioning where the AP was seems to have achieved a connection. Signal fluctuates between "good" and "poor", but the connection is maintained which is all that matters for what I want.
I need to have a bit more of a play with it, not least to site the doorbell so that it can be pushed I'll also have a play and see if I can get a stronger signal using other locations in the house. And will redo a check with the old AP just to ensure I wasn't imagining things.
That little lot may take a little longer to sort as time available for "playing" is limited.
Re-positioning where the AP was seems to have achieved a connection. Signal fluctuates between "good" and "poor", but the connection is maintained which is all that matters for what I want.
I need to have a bit more of a play with it, not least to site the doorbell so that it can be pushed
I'll also have a play and see if I can get a stronger signal using other locations in the house. And will redo a check with the old AP just to ensure I wasn't imagining things.That little lot may take a little longer to sort as time available for "playing" is limited.
Murph7355 said:
Looks like I was a bit hasty.
Re-positioning where the AP was seems to have achieved a connection. Signal fluctuates between "good" and "poor", but the connection is maintained which is all that matters for what I want.
I need to have a bit more of a play with it, not least to site the doorbell so that it can be pushed I'll also have a play and see if I can get a stronger signal using other locations in the house. And will redo a check with the old AP just to ensure I wasn't imagining things.
That little lot may take a little longer to sort as time available for "playing" is limited.
You'd probably be better of with a different device, a Nanostation loco mounted externally would be worth a try, aim it at the doorbell. Re-positioning where the AP was seems to have achieved a connection. Signal fluctuates between "good" and "poor", but the connection is maintained which is all that matters for what I want.
I need to have a bit more of a play with it, not least to site the doorbell so that it can be pushed
I'll also have a play and see if I can get a stronger signal using other locations in the house. And will redo a check with the old AP just to ensure I wasn't imagining things.That little lot may take a little longer to sort as time available for "playing" is limited.
megaphone said:
You'd probably be better of with a different device, a Nanostation loco mounted externally would be worth a try, aim it at the doorbell.
The problem is getting power to the nanostation. The AP in the house is useful for other things (either for more solid coverage or to replace one of my current APs). A nanostation pointed at the doorbell wouldn't be.
I may man maths it yet
(But I think I'd rather save that for a 48 port PoE Ubiquiti switch)Murph7355 said:
megaphone said:
You'd probably be better of with a different device, a Nanostation loco mounted externally would be worth a try, aim it at the doorbell.
The problem is getting power to the nanostation. The AP in the house is useful for other things (either for more solid coverage or to replace one of my current APs). A nanostation pointed at the doorbell wouldn't be.
I may man maths it yet
(But I think I'd rather save that for a 48 port PoE Ubiquiti switch)megaphone said:
Nanostation is PoE, so you power it the same as the Unifi AP, it just needs a CAT5.. Understood if you want to use the AP for other devices.
I was thinking you meant putting the nanostation outside nearer/line of sight to the bell...Slightly off topic, but does anyone know of decent Ubiquiti resellers with aggressive pricing? This thread has made me look at 48 port PoE switches again
Murph7355 said:
megaphone said:
Nanostation is PoE, so you power it the same as the Unifi AP, it just needs a CAT5.. Understood if you want to use the AP for other devices.
I was thinking you meant putting the nanostation outside nearer/line of sight to the bell...Slightly off topic, but does anyone know of decent Ubiquiti resellers with aggressive pricing? This thread has made me look at 48 port PoE switches again
Thought I'd revisit this after a bit more playing.
I'm back to thinking there's no conclusive gain from the new version to the old.
I actually found that instead of connecting up to the new AP, the doorbell was connecting up to an old one that on the face of it is in a "worse" position. And was doing so consistently.
So I decided to try the new AP in that same position. The doorbell now connects to it and there is some signal improvement but it's marginal.
What this demonstrates is that, just like with TV aerials, getting decent wifi signal coverage is witchcraft and should not be attempted by sane people as they will go insane. What I probably need to do now is either...
1) Get my shovel out and go down megaphone's route or
2) Spend even more time with a signal meter and running back and forth to the house to try and get the signals working optimally
Neither are going to happen any time soon I suspect Option (2) would be wisest over all as one thing I have found is that I could almost certainly use less APs by tweaking positions, channels and radio strengths. But cracking nuts with sledgehammers has always been a favourite pastime of mine.
What would be really, really nice is if UniFi's Zero Handoff worked properly. This is meant to treat multiple APs as one and for the APs to talk to each other about the topography/connections/etc to keep everything optimal. But it doesn't work and causes bigger problems (I found that out when I first bought into Unifi APs 2yrs ago).
Oh, and if anyone is fancying a Ring Video Doorbell, if you can get a wifi signal to/from them then they work really nicely. Just a little sporadically for me at the moment. But I will not be defeated
I'm back to thinking there's no conclusive gain from the new version to the old.
I actually found that instead of connecting up to the new AP, the doorbell was connecting up to an old one that on the face of it is in a "worse" position. And was doing so consistently.
So I decided to try the new AP in that same position. The doorbell now connects to it and there is some signal improvement but it's marginal.
What this demonstrates is that, just like with TV aerials, getting decent wifi signal coverage is witchcraft and should not be attempted by sane people as they will go insane. What I probably need to do now is either...
1) Get my shovel out and go down megaphone's route or
2) Spend even more time with a signal meter and running back and forth to the house to try and get the signals working optimally
Neither are going to happen any time soon I suspect
Option (2) would be wisest over all as one thing I have found is that I could almost certainly use less APs by tweaking positions, channels and radio strengths. But cracking nuts with sledgehammers has always been a favourite pastime of mine.What would be really, really nice is if UniFi's Zero Handoff worked properly. This is meant to treat multiple APs as one and for the APs to talk to each other about the topography/connections/etc to keep everything optimal. But it doesn't work and causes bigger problems (I found that out when I first bought into Unifi APs 2yrs ago).
Oh, and if anyone is fancying a Ring Video Doorbell, if you can get a wifi signal to/from them then they work really nicely. Just a little sporadically for me at the moment. But I will not be defeated
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