Unifi AP

[crisscross]

I have a Buffalo WHR-N300 which has really flaky wifi it tends to go down often and I need to reboot it. It's running better now with DD-WRT but I still have the occasional problems. I also have an older WHR-HPG54 which has always been rock solid but only does g and does not have Gigabit LAN.

I need to get a new router now and I noticed that Unifi is highly recommend. What makes it so special? am I better off using my old HPG54 and hook it up with the Unifi or just get a Linksys E3200 or a Netgear 3700?

Thank you for your help.

 

[kevnich2]

It depends on what features and things you're looking for. The ubiquiti unifi is just an Access point for wireless. It has the same features as other business/corporate AP's but at a price point in the consumer range. It also is a centrally managed AP. For home use, this probably isn't much of a selling point but in a business with several that need the same configuration, it's pretty much a requirement. Their also rock solid.

For typical home use, you don't really need a unifi unit but the price point is very nice.

For your needs, do you need only 2.4ghz or do you also need simultaneous 2.4 and 5ghz for wireless? How many computers do you plan having connected, how many wireless systems and how fast is your internet connection? Do you do alot of internal LAN transfers of like movies, videos, and large files?

 

[crisscross]

Thank you for your reply Kevnich. I am likely to have 3 laptops 1 desktop, 2 ipads and 3 phones connected to it. I will be streaming HD videos and most of it would be on wifi as i don't have the option for ethernet connectivity.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I have one and it's been great. If you only need one AP, you can run it standalone after you configured it. If you want to run more than one (with hand over, etc) you need to run a central server. Fairly easy to setup, and the server could even be in a VM.

 

[Eug]

Can I use these with my 802.11n Airport Extreme as the router?

I'd get two or three, and leave my Airport Extreme's 802.11n guest network active, but have the UniFi as the primary (802.11ac / 802.11n) network.

Or must the central server be some sort of computer?

The Airport Extreme has stronger signal than my previous WiFi routers, but it's still not strong enough to stream HD video reliably in the far corners of my house. I'm thinking of putting one of the UniFi units in the living room, one in my home office, and one in another room.

I have used other access points with the same SSID to expand the network, but there isn't a correct handoff. The client device usually tries to hang onto the signal with the first access point as long as possible, even if there's a much stronger access point in the same room. The other option I've used is to have the secondary access points have their own SSIDs, but it's a pain to switch back and forth. Furthermore, there are sometimes compatibility issues if you buy cheap 3rd party access points. For example, my TRENDnet 802.11g WiFi routers work fine with my Macs and iPhone, but can't maintain a reliable connection with my Nexus 7 for some unknown reason.

The access points would be used with Mac and Windows laptops, as well as various iOS and Android devices.

 

[kevnich2]

Pick up a 3 pack of ubiquiti's and use them as your wireless. You can setup guest wireless on the ubiquit's. The central computer does need to be a computer but you can install the software on a desktop computer. It's not resource intensive at all. If you run a virtual environment you can put it on a VM as well. It does not need to be on and active 24/7. Use it to get your wireless AP's configured and working then you can turn it off if you want to and only need to turn it back on to configure additional ones. I just leave mine on all the time on a server I have at my house. It is pretty slick management interface though.

But turn off wireless on yoru apple router, it won't be needed. You could probably get by with just one but the three pack isn't that bad for price so that's what I went with. As far as hand off's, mine hand off from AP to AP without any issue at all and all AP's have one ssid so the devices only see one network.

 

[Mushkins]

Keep in mind there is *NO* web interface for Unifi APs, it's all done strictly through the controller software, which has a hell of a time playing nice with firewalls.

If you just want a dumb AP on a different network (for guest wireless or something), you pretty much get one shot at configuring it or you have to do a factory reset and start from scratch. The controller software just does not like playing with multiple networks and subnets, even if they're configured to talk to each other properly through a router. Kind of odd behavior for a device marketed as an enterprise solution for enterprise level network architectures.

 

[Eug]

Hmmm... Sounds a bit complex.

It seems the 802.11ac UniFi units aren't available yet locally. Plus 802.11ac isn't officially ratified anyway, and cost is high (judging by the high cost of their "Pro" 802.11n model), so maybe it's not a good time to upgrade to that just yet. It's not as if I have any 802.11ac devices yet anyway.

As for the 802.11n indoor UniFi units, would it make any sense to get a single long range unit? Or is that pointless with low power devices like tablets and phones? The base model 2.4 GHz-only Microcom UniFi UAP is under $85 for the imported US model. Microcom is a distributor for Ubiquiti AFAIK, hence the name. So, three of them is under $250. I'll look for the 3-pack too.

 

[dawks]

Can I use these with my 802.11n Airport Extreme as the router?

I'd get two or three, and leave my Airport Extreme's 802.11n guest network active, but have the UniFi as the primary (802.11ac / 802.11n) network.

Or must the central server be some sort of computer?

The Airport Extreme has stronger signal than my previous WiFi routers, but it's still not strong enough to stream HD video reliably in the far corners of my house. I'm thinking of putting one of the UniFi units in the living room, one in my home office, and one in another room.

I have used other access points with the same SSID to expand the network, but there isn't a correct handoff. The client device usually tries to hang onto the signal with the first access point as long as possible, even if there's a much stronger access point in the same room. The other option I've used is to have the secondary access points have their own SSIDs, but it's a pain to switch back and forth. Furthermore, there are sometimes compatibility issues if you buy cheap 3rd party access points. For example, my TRENDnet 802.11g WiFi routers work fine with my Macs and iPhone, but can't maintain a reliable connection with my Nexus 7 for some unknown reason.

The access points would be used with Mac and Windows laptops, as well as various iOS and Android devices.

The server for Unifi AP's is a basic Windows/Java (mac and linux capable too) application that doesnt need to be on all the time. Technically you just need to run it to configure the AP's. Beyond that, the 'server' is good for stats/monitoring.

The basic Unifi AP's are 2.4Ghz only. You need the Pro AP's if you want 5Ghz.

For home wireless, I'd highly recommend the Airport express. Its a fantastic AP. I have about 15 devices connecting to it daily, and I've never had any issues with it yet. I use a normal cisco/linksys for our router, then have an airport express wired in to a central location for the best signal distribution. Airport Express does 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz simultaneously and it works really nicely.

 

[Eug]

I have the 802.11n Airport Extreme and it's been reliable. However, 5 GHz's is range is too short for my house, so in my home office I get better speeds on 2.4 GHz, despite the fact there are competing 2.4 GHz networks in my neighbourhood.

I also have the 802.11n Airport Express and 802.11g Airport Express... but I found them to be unstable. I had to power cycle them every few days when in active use for WiFi. So finally I just turned their wireless off completely, and strictly use them for their optical audio port, streaming audio over Ethernet. I'll admit that most of my WiFi testing was a couple of years ago with these, but I just noticed my 802.11n Airport Express crashed again a couple months ago, despite the fact it was doing nothing at all for weeks, and the WiFi was off. Ironically, my 802.11g Airport Express seems less crashy, and will always stay up if I don't have WiFi active.

The Airport Extreme is rock stable with WiFi on however.

---

P.S. I found the 3-pack UniFi at a few places, but it's not in stock and actually costs more than getting 3 of the 1-pack UniFi devices (which are in stock).

 

[crisscross]

Thank you all just one question. Does a Unifi AP give better range and performance than a Wifi Router in the same price range?

 

[stlcardinals]

NVM, just see you posted about express' above

 

[JoeMcJoe]

Thank you all just one question. Does a Unifi AP give better range and performance than a Wifi Router in the same price range?

I have found the wifi signal to be great, much better range than any router I have ever used.

I have two Ubiquiti access points with unifi, one indoor and one outdoor.

 

[kevnich2]

Hmmm... Sounds a bit complex.

It seems the 802.11ac UniFi units aren't available yet locally. Plus 802.11ac isn't officially ratified anyway, and cost is high (judging by the high cost of their "Pro" 802.11n model), so maybe it's not a good time to upgrade to that just yet. It's not as if I have any 802.11ac devices yet anyway.

As for the 802.11n indoor UniFi units, would it make any sense to get a single long range unit? Or is that pointless with low power devices like tablets and phones? The base model 2.4 GHz-only Microcom UniFi UAP is under $85 for the imported US model. Microcom is a distributor for Ubiquiti AFAIK, hence the name. So, three of them is under $250. I'll look for the 3-pack too.

Not at all. Upon initially installing the controller software, it runs through a quick step by step configuration then your good to go. Since the AP's do talk to the controller through your computer, yes, you need some ports opened or need to disable your computer's firewall. That doesn't sound complex to me. Once the AP's are all plugged in, they immediately call out to the controller software, download the latest firwmare, configure themselves, reboot and that's it. You're golden. After their configured, you could not even have the software running and the AP's still work just fine. But keep in mind if you add any, you'll need to have the controller software running again to configure additional units.

To me, their easier and less time consuming to configure than regular home based AP's with web admins.