Ubiquiti Unifi set up for new home

[Frippe]

I am currently renovating my house and hence looking for decent network / Internet set up. Must admit i am no expert and find it all a abit confusing but after some research i think the best route is the Ubiquiti Unifi. Its probably somewhat of an overkill for our relatively modest home use but at the same time there is nothing more frustrating than bad internet connection...

Our house is 3 floors (300sqm) + a garden house 30m from the main house. I was loosely planning for 4 Unifi APs (1 per floor + 1 in garden room) and will run ethernet cable to each

I have few specific questions but also keen for general feedback

1. Which AP should i buy? I was recommended the NanoHD but its double the price vs the AC lite so i am not sure thats warranted
2. I was planning to use the BT (or virgin) hub as the router and hence only buy an (unmanaged) PoE switch to connect all the APs with the router - i think i only need an 8 port one - can anyone recommend one at decent price? If i have done my research correct i dont need to go with Ubiquiti but can do netgear or others? Looking for something not too expensive...

[PrinceRupert]

We have two AC Lites in our average 1200m sq 3 bed end terrace. It's overkill tbh, one would likely have sufficed. We get 80mbps download speeds on the street in front of our house.

We are using a fairly cheap netgear unmanaged poe switch.

[MM]

I have 3 ac lites, 3500sqft 1920 house. Originally I had an ap per floor with a 3rd in the extension. However I found I was able to get far better coverage by moving them into the roof space. It was easier to get WiFi signal through 2 Ceilings than through a 2ft thick wall. Just my experience but work thing thinking about.

I found Tenda poe hubs to be the cheapest, I bought 3 of them. Watch out though a a good few Poe hubs are only 100mb as they are aimed for the cctv market.

[xeny]

When you say 300sqm is that per floor, or 100sqm/floor, i.e. roughly 30 foot x 30 foot?

I'd suggest looking at the AC Lite or 7 Lite for the AP.

Start by buying one or two and do some informal testing to see how many you actually need. Depending on what the floor/ceiling material is you may not need one per floor.

I"m currently powering a 7 Lite from a D-Link DGS-1100-08P , which before Christmas Amazon had in stock for about £60.

Stock of many things IT related is all over the place at present though, so getting one may be tricky.

[underwhelmist]

Frippe said:

2. I was planning to use the BT (or virgin) hub as the router

I don't know anything about Ubiquity but in my experience the Virgin Media hub is pretty poor, I've had far fewer problems since putting the VM hub into modem mode and using a known brand router.

[xeny]

underwhelmist said:

I don't know anything about Ubiquity but in my experience the Virgin Media hub is pretty poor, I've had far fewer problems since putting the VM hub into modem mode and using a known brand router.

My experience (FWIW obviously) is that they're OK at routing, but the WiFi is rubbish. It's easy enough to add a router to the set up if they're unhappy with the routing down the road.

[BigTZ4M]

I’d spend the extra on the nanoHD. It’s an excellent AP and being 4x4 won’t restrict faster clients when slower clients also connect. I’d also echo the advice of maybe trying a couple first and see how your coverage goes then adding as required. My home is just under 300sqm and three gives me plenty of coverage, albeit only over two floors. As mentioned ceilings seem to provide less resistance than walls (depending on construction) and you may find one up top covers the top two floors, needing less overall.

[colin79666]

Consider the flex hd if you don’t want to ceiling mount. The disc style APs are quite directional. The 8 port Poe switch is good but their routing is a let down. I went all unifi but if I was doing it again I’d probably forget the usg and stick a pfsense box in instead.

[Rojibo]

Have you considered the UDM in place of the BT router? You’ll get the controller in this which allows you to automatically provision the APs as well as much more control over the network.

Create the WiFi network on the UDM, adopt the APs and let them auto configure. You get an AP in the UDM too.

[cb31]

The wifi6 APs are out in the USA and should be here shortly, if you don't need them immediately I would wait. <£100 and seemingly more powerful than the current ones. Having said that my ac lite and ac-lr work absolutely fine.

[In the sticks]

Have a look at Ruckus. A little more in cost but may be worth it.
Irrespective: thick walls, metal, etc. Will hinder so you are bang on with suggesting wired cabling to the various locations

Edited by In the sticks on Thursday 11th February 23:11

[Alucidnation]

Unifi is all show and no go with flaky, dog slow firmware, recent security issues etc etc.

As above, Ruckus.

Non of this controller bks.

[dxg]

I have a udm hooked to a virgin router in modem mode and it's rock solid. No complaints, although don't block a client and then hide it...

[megaphone]

Alucidnation said:

Unifi is all show and no go with flaky, dog slow firmware, recent security issues etc etc.

As above, Ruckus.

Non of this controller bks.

None of this bks.

Edited by megaphone on Friday 12th February 08:25

[megaphone]

As above, the new U6 Lites are out, stock is low at the moment but they will come. I fitted some last week in a house, just two and they are very good. Used the EE broadband router with WiFi off, all ok. Have also used BT hubs with wifi off on many occasions, it is a good router for consumer/ domestic use.

Most important thing on a new build is get the cables in place, one centrally mounted ceiling AP per floor is ideal. You may not need them all, but at least you'll have the option.

Personally I'd send the extra few £ on a Unifi switch, again there are newer ones on their way.

As a side, don't forget to run ethernet to other points, anything that doesn't move should ideally have a cable, TVs, Sky boxes etc, computers, door bell, boiler controls, etc. Alarm control. What about CCTV?

Edited by megaphone on Friday 12th February 08:29

[Alucidnation]

megaphone said:

Alucidnation said:

Unifi is all show and no go with flaky, dog slow firmware, recent security issues etc etc.

As above, Ruckus.

Non of this controller bks.

None of this bks.

Edited by megaphone on Friday 12th February 08:25

So, this is bks is it?

https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/94336-ub...


And this?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37Bl4yvIwqA

[megaphone]

Alucidnation said:

megaphone said:

Alucidnation said:

Unifi is all show and no go with flaky, dog slow firmware, recent security issues etc etc.

As above, Ruckus.

Non of this controller bks.

None of this bks.

Edited by megaphone on Friday 12th February 08:25

So, this is bks is it?

https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/94336-ub...


And this?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37Bl4yvIwqA

Yes.

[Alucidnation]

megaphone said:

Alucidnation said:

megaphone said:

Alucidnation said:

Unifi is all show and no go with flaky, dog slow firmware, recent security issues etc etc.

As above, Ruckus.

Non of this controller bks.

None of this bks.

Edited by megaphone on Friday 12th February 08:25

So, this is bks is it?

https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/94336-ub...


And this?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37Bl4yvIwqA

Yes.

[Frippe]

thanks all for the comments and advise. Must admit some of these abbreviations are all flying above my head but anyhow...since cost is still a factor and the household is not a huge user of data / internet ( we will only have 1 TV and that will have a separate ethernet cable) i think what i am hearing is:

Buy the AP wifi 6 - i saw they are available on Ubiquiti's web page. I could potentially get away with less than 4 but since my builders are doing all the work now, incl holes in ceiling etc i think i still go with 4 and appreciate that might be slight overkill.

Buy an unmanaged Poe switch and use BT/virgin hub for now as router - i can always upgrade to a new router in future if desired. I am still a bit confused how i know which poe switch works (or can i buy any)? are these 2 ok for example? I'm working under the assumpption this is a "commodity" item and should try to get as cheap as possible?

https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/24559-netg...

https://www.comms-express.com/products/d-link-dgs-...

[Alucidnation]

Frippe said:

thanks all for the comments and advise. Must admit some of these abbreviations are all flying above my head but anyhow...since cost is still a factor and the household is not a huge user of data / internet ( we will only have 1 TV and that will have a separate ethernet cable) i think what i am hearing is:

Buy the AP wifi 6 - i saw they are available on Ubiquiti's web page. I could potentially get away with less than 4 but since my builders are doing all the work now, incl holes in ceiling etc i think i still go with 4 and appreciate that might be slight overkill.

Buy an unmanaged Poe switch and use BT/virgin hub for now as router - i can always upgrade to a new router in future if desired. I am still a bit confused how i know which poe switch works (or can i buy any)? are these 2 ok for example? I'm working under the assumpption this is a "commodity" item and should try to get as cheap as possible?

https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/24559-netg...

https://www.comms-express.com/products/d-link-dgs-...

As i have mentioned, i have given up with Unifi, but if you decide to go ahead, be careful with regards to the POE requirements of the AP's as some are not poe+.

Mind you, i think most of their Ap's come with a power injector anyway.