Alternatives to Unifi for demanding home use

[msh]

Hi

I need a new wireless access point that I can connect to my ubnt edgerouter x. I was considering unifi nanoHD but I really don't want to mess with the unifi controller for just one access point. So are there any alternatives in the same price range?

My requirements would be great speed (I have gigabit fiber and want as much speed as I can get) and good coverage (the house is not so big that mesh would make sense). I would like a reputable vendor that will provide security updates (not like dlink and tplink).

Its for a home with a couple of demanding internet users.

 

[umarmung]

> So are there any alternatives in the same price range?

No, that's kind of the point, especially when the chipset is 4x4 MediaTek. They are clearly targeting price-performance at any cost with that product.

To get reliable updates you have to go SOHO or enterprise. Ruling out Ubiquiti, the most reputable APs are from Ruckus, Aruba, Aerohive and Cisco.

Enterprise APs are not designed as drop-in replacements for SOHO or consumer APs. They are designed for different purposes, namely extremely high device density and balance towards airtime fairness and reliability rather than raw throughput performance.

You may also struggle further to find APs that have no additional costs such as controller and subscription licenses.

Good luck!

 

[sfx2000]

I used to recommend Airports - as AP's they were pretty decent, and there were a couple of tricks that made them really useful, and they also passed the spousal approval (e.g. not ugly). Since Apple has basically sunsetted that line, it's hard to recommend them moving forward.

That they were a 3*3:3 AP with a dedicated VLAN that one could use for guest networks or inter department VLANs, was a nice touch touch there. Not having a WebGUI and being BSD based was a plus for security...

Netgear has some small business oriented dedicated AP's that are very well priced... their WAC-7xx line - might be worth a check if one doesn't want to go down the Ubiquiti path (nothing wrong with them, but some might want an alternate solution)...

https://www.netgear.com/business/products/wireless/premium-wireless/

Alternately, one can take most consumer Router/AP's and turn them into dedicated AP's - there's a couple of articles on the Smallnetbuilder Main Web Site that discusses that option.

 

[coxhaus]

The Cisco small business wireless access points seem to work well for me. They are simple to setup and cluster. I have had 2 sets over the past 4 or 5 years.

 

[System Error Message]

Considering the most common clients, 2x2 isnt even gigabit with practical speeds. You could theoratically reach gigabit speeds with 3x3. Its better to have either a 4x4 with 2 2x2 MU-MIMO clients or 2 separate 2x2 APs but you could make do with a single 3x3 AC wifi AP for your speed needs to max out a gigabit ethernet on a single wifi.
Since you only need an AP, go with the best AP, qualcomm actually has better wifi than broadcom though. There are other brands though but i'd place them above broadcom. I've maxed out broadcom wifi before it can have a high throughput but what i did to get that high throughput was run a very CPU intensive stress test to the point where packets were dropping but i utilised 90% of the rated wifi link (practically you will see 50-60% of the link speed in bandwidth utilisation in terms of max practical speeds). For practical use i recommend qualcomm wifi chips because their throughput isnt so bad the further you go.

 

[sfx2000]

The Cisco small business wireless access points seem to work well for me. They are simple to setup and cluster. I have had 2 sets over the past 4 or 5 years.

Forgot to mention them - some folks do have issues with the Ci$co$phere - but their small business AP's are quite capable...

For AP's, I do tend to favor the 3 stream units, but 2-stream AP's from Cisco, Netgear, and Ubiquiti are all generally fine - and I would go as far to suggest the small business variants from Zyxel, TP-Link, and surprising enough, Linksys...

They're all fairly capable...

Keep in mind - as @System Error Message mentions, most 802.11ac clients are 2 stream, there is a slight advantage with going with a 3*3:3 AP, with MIMO and Tx/Rx radio diversity - won't get longer range (because physics), but better performance at a given range within coverage - 1 and 2 stream clients do benefit from an 3 or 4 stream AP - because of MIMO and RF diversity...

 

[coxhaus]

Keep in mind - as @System Error Message mentions, most 802.11ac clients are 2 stream, there is a slight advantage with going with a 3*3:3 AP, with MIMO and Tx/Rx radio diversity - won't get longer range (because physics), but better performance at a given range within coverage - 1 and 2 stream clients do benefit from an 3 or 4 stream AP - because of MIMO and RF diversity...

What level of Intel AC wireless card does it take for 3 streams. I have an AC72xx Intel wireless card which I think is AC only.

 

[coxhaus]

Considering the most common clients, 2x2 isnt even gigabit with practical speeds. You could theoratically reach gigabit speeds with 3x3. Its better to have either a 4x4 with 2 2x2 MU-MIMO clients or 2 separate 2x2 APs but you could make do with a single 3x3 AC wifi AP for your speed needs to max out a gigabit ethernet on a single wifi.
Since you only need an AP, go with the best AP, qualcomm actually has better wifi than broadcom though. There are other brands though but i'd place them above broadcom. I've maxed out broadcom wifi before it can have a high throughput but what i did to get that high throughput was run a very CPU intensive stress test to the point where packets were dropping but i utilised 90% of the rated wifi link (practically you will see 50-60% of the link speed in bandwidth utilisation in terms of max practical speeds). For practical use i recommend qualcomm wifi chips because their throughput isnt so bad the further you go.

I don't have a Gig connection. I also have to share my wireless with other people. So in my mind gig on wireless is not important. Seems to me 300 meg is good on wireless.

Also I don't change my laptop every year to keep on wireless. Actually looking very few laptops have the latest Intel wireless cards.

 

[System Error Message]

What level of Intel AC wireless card does it take for 3 streams. I have an AC72xx Intel wireless card which I think is AC only.

intel doesnt make them, but other brands even broadcom have 3x3 cards. Macbooks also come with 3x3 too. However most laptops will just come with 2x2 instead due to commonality (many wifi APs are 2x2 too) but i've seen some ISPs provide 3x3 or better hubs.

I don't have a Gig connection. I also have to share my wireless with other people. So in my mind gig on wireless is not important. Seems to me 300 meg is good on wireless.

Also I don't change my laptop every year to keep on wireless. Actually looking very few laptops have the latest Intel wireless cards.

OP has gigabit internet.

 

[coxhaus]

I only mentioned gig connection based on hogging vs sharing wireless. Most devices on this forum max out at a gig connection. If you have several people with gig wireless you are going to have a hard time sharing. I would think you would have lots of time outs on the wireless network. More than likely you hoping they are not running full speed so you can share you resources.

 

[ozgurcnbyz]

I used to recommend Airports - as AP's they were pretty decent, and there were a couple of tricks that made them really useful, and they also passed the spousal approval (e.g. not ugly). Since Apple has basically sunsetted that line, it's hard to recommend them moving forward.

That they were a 3*3:3 AP with a dedicated VLAN that one could use for guest networks or inter department VLANs, was a nice touch touch there. Not having a WebGUI and being BSD based was a plus for security...

Netgear has some small business oriented dedicated AP's that are very well priced... their WAC-7xx line - might be worth a check if one doesn't want to go down the Ubiquiti path (nothing wrong with them, but some might want an alternate solution)...

https://www.netgear.com/business/products/wireless/premium-wireless/

Alternately, one can take most consumer Router/AP's and turn them into dedicated AP's - there's a couple of articles on the Smallnetbuilder Main Web Site that discusses that option.

Can you please elaborate on the tricks you mentioned above ? I have decided to pull the trigger on an Airport extreme to use as an AP regardless of Apples decision to shut down the unit.

 

[coxhaus]

I noticed the latest Cisco small business AP the WAP581 does support 4x4 and 3x3 streams I think. I read the following under the specs for the 581
802.11n/ac
4 x 4 MU-MIMO at 5 GHz and 3 x 3 MIMO on 2.4 GHz


It seems to me it does support the latest multi-streams. What I also noticed is Cisco included 2 switch ports a 2.5 and 1 POE. I guess if you have multiple high end streams running you need faster than one 1 gig Ethernet port otherwise your switch uplink will be a bottle neck. It seems like to me 1 gig Ethernet port is not going to cut it for these higher speed streams. When you have multiple people streaming a gig on wireless a one gig connection is not going to be fast enough.

I am not sure how you connect the WAP581 with a 2.5 E port when you need POE?

 

[Easy Rhino]

I thought the Unifi controller didn't have to run all the time unless you wanted a hotspot or something. Couldn't you just install their control on a desktop/laptop and spool it up only when you need to configure things?

 

[Trip]

@Easy Rhino and @msh - The UniFi controller only needs to be run for setup and whenever you need to make topology or config changes. Yes potentially a PITA, but another way around that is to use a CloudKey (or the forthcoming CloudKey Gen2); the small piece of hardware with an embedded controller. Works great for server-less SOHO installs and/or small offices.

If you really do want to replace UniFi with something truly enterprise-class and supported, I would look at Aruba IAP or Ruckus Unleashed. Ruckus for the better range/throughput/interference mitigation, Aruba for the slicker ecosystem, but both are a step up from UniFi in their given use-cases (in my humble opinion). You can roll with just one AP to start, but if you ever want to expand to a mesh, the controller is *embedded*, making your original AP the "Master" and any new AP(s) the Slave(s). Adoption and config is automatic and both systems work incredibly well.

If you just want a single strong wireless AP that will be updated for some time, I would do a well-proven consumer AIO, set as an AP, like a Netgear R7800, or one of the small-biz class standalone APs that review well, like an EnGenius EAP1300EXT. If it were me, though, and I had the budget, I would still probably grab a Ruckus (R510 or up), or even just a sub-$100 working pull 7982 off eBay. Now that I've had the pleasure of using their radios compared to everything else for most indoor environments, I'm personally never going back, at least for legacy N and pre-wave 2 AC. (The tables may turn with more mature wave 2 AC or 802.11ax products, but only time will tell. And to each their own.

 

[sfx2000]

Macbooks also come with 3x3 too

Correction - MacBook Pro's come with 3*3 radios - the Air's two stream...