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Help Creating Reliable WIFI Network in my home.

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tkeracer619

New Around Here
Hello, found you guys while searching for router options and figured I would ask some questions to get a better feel for what I need to do.

A few details
- 2800sf tri-level split with finished basement
- Cable modem and primary router is in the top corner of the house (not ideal)
- Not power users
- More concerned about reliability than bandwidth
- Not wired for ethernet
- Need single SSID for walking around between the router and AP without dropped calls
Current setup
- Asus rt-n66u (primary)
- Asus rt-ac1200 (AP)
- They are linked with a pair of ZyXEL 1200Mbps Powerline Adapters (PLA5405kit)

I have tried several setups over the last few years and all of them have had their own set of issues, the current setup has worked the best so far, but has recently started to degrade. Cell phones don't work inside our home so we have to use WIFI calling but the current setup is losing connectivity randomly. It drops out internet connection and recovers within 30seconds about 3 times an hour. During the drop outs we actually never lose wifi connection, just access to the internet.

I'm not against trying to snake a cable to the AP to get rid of the powerline adaptor however I am not sure that would stop the drop outs as the adapters seem pretty reliable and the dropouts seem to originate from the n66u. Still, I would like to rid myself of them in an effort to increase reliability. We have our office in the basement and need reliable wireless down there, unfortunately that is the exact opposite of the home as the primary router so I don't see a single router option working (the TV down there and the fiance's gadgets have terrible reception).

Can you folks give me some recommendations for a route I may go in an effort to get a more reliable network? Tired of hearing complaints about buffering tv and dropped calls...

I'm sure this is a repetitive question so a big thank you in advance for any suggestions! :)
 
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#1 - You must troubleshoot down better the connectivity issue, otherwise any solution we throw at you will be a shot in the dark
-- Best test is confirm if a wired client to the N66U has similar issues
-- If a wired client has issues, swap the N66U and AC1200 to see if issues still persist (this is how to verify it is the N66U or your cable modem)

#2 - Look to get improved hardware to service the clients within your house
-- I personally am a fan of the Ubiquiti UAP products to provide WiFi services within my house (two UAP-AC-LR)
-- Either of your ASUS routers should be fine providing basic routing services (assuming the N66U isn't failing)...just disable the radios on them
-- My in-laws use a N66U as a router and a pair of UAP-AC-LR for WiFi and they couldn't be happier

#3 - Look to get a hard wire from the router to the additional APs
-- Powerline works, but will never be anywhere near as stable and fast as a true Ethernet drop
-- I used the Zyxel PLA5205 kit for a year or so and while it mostly worked, it wasn't fast, particularly stable, nor low latency
-- I have since moved on to a Wireless Media bridge using a N66U connected to the Ubiquiti APs (I will eventually pull cable....maybe...yeah, no really, I will...)
 
More notes...I hit submit way too soon apparently....

Is it a tri-level PLUS a finished basement? So technically four floors? If so, two APs are highly unlikely to be enough to properly cover all areas reliably. Depending on the actual floor plan and the materials in play, it may need one AP per floor to get "great" coverage.

You also didn't give any details on the number and types of clients and how they are spread between the two existing APs. If you have a concentration of clients on one AP and all are trying to stream at the same time...well....

What speed is your Internet connection?

To note, your description of WiFi not dropping but Internet just randomly "pausing" is exactly what my in-laws were complaining about to me constantly. I grew tired of the calls trying to walk them through testing and troubleshooting from across the state (I live in KC, they live in St Louis) as well as they grew tired of calling me and fighting with it....we ended up scrapping their old APs, powerline adapters, and router for all new gear. It has been solid ever since with no support calls.
-- N66U for routing duties (this is a hand me down from me since I went the Unifi route)
-- two UAP-AC-LR for WiFi duties (they need a third one to cover their 3000sqft+ home that has some plaster walls but still waaaaaay better than before)
-- paid to have someone run Ethernet cables to the upstairs AP so we didn't need the PowerLine adapters anymore
 
Thanks for your reply!

I don't believe the wired clients see this problem. I can run some tests this weekend to see the uptime but I've never seen an issue, just on wireless.

At a quick glance the Ubiquiti stuff looks cool. I'll dig in deeper over the weekend when I have some real time to devote to it.

Connection is a 130Mbit and I am getting advertised speeds on wired clients.

Yup 4 actual levels, I am not opposed to buying many AP to cover all of the areas. Right now I do get great wifi coverage with just two but adding more if that's what it takes isn't an issue. There are usually around 4 or 5 clients running. The TV pulls the highest bandwidth but it's just Hulu, youtube, and neflix ect.

At this point I am willing to crawl around in the attic to run cables if it helps not getting the complaints. Every time I am tempted to just say "call a repair service, I'm done" ;)

Thanks for your help, will post some results of tests.
 
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Confirm if it is wireless on the AC1900 or the N66 as well. If it is both...then it isn't your WiFi that has issues, it is either the N66 or the cable modem....however this is why we need to understand if wired directly to the N66 has issues. If it is only the AC1900, then I would blame the PowerLine adapters. If it is only the N66, I would blame failing hardware (my 5GHz radio failed on one of my N66 which is why it was demoted to only being a router).
 
Interesting you say the 5GHZ radio failed on the N66... I turned my 5GHZ off a few moons ago because it was difficult to connect to and when it was on made the router hot to touch. Turning it off resolved any connectivity issues for over a year and dropped temp considerably.

The connectivity is an issue regardless of which router we're connected to. It sounds like the n66 may be failing. I'll swap them around for sure to see if that is it.
 
So I have been able to narrow it down to the Asus n66u router. Seems that it is randomly restarting.

Instead of just replacing the router I'm going to go the UAP-AC-LR route. I just got a nice Axis Network Camera for streaming my 600gal saltwater fish tank and need to run a POE ethernet to it so I might as well run Ethernet to each room and an AP on each floor.

Since the Ubnt access points are POE as well as the Camera I'm thinking it would be best to get a POE switch instead of having a bunch of injectors. Here is what I am planning, please let me know if this is ideal....

-Arris Surfboard SB6141 Modem
-Asus AC1900 for routing duties w/ WiFi turned off. (5 gigabit ports)
-Ubqn Unifi 8-Port 150W Switch (8 gigabit/POE ports)
-(4x) Ubqn UAP-AC-LR
-Ubqn Unify Cloud Key (this is required right??)

These would be my connected devices...
APs - 4POE
Axis Cam - 1POE
Cloud Key- 1POE
Security Cams - 1 Ethernet
Rokus - 2 Ethernet
TV - 1 Ethernet
Desktop - 1 Ethernet

1 Spare POE

See any issues? Thanks for the help!
 
make sure your lan switching,AP, and router devices support vlans if you let the cameras or IoT devices out into the internet. You will want to isolate it from other devices and be able to lock it down.
 
oy I didn't even think about that, thanks for the advice! That led me to check and the router I have is actually an AC-1200, for some reason I thought it was a 1900... It does not support VLAN and I can only assume the switch I was planning on doesn't support it since it is unmanaged.

I'm planning on streaming through youtube. I assume this doesn't change anything regarding using a vlan. Any suggestions for hardware? I don't mind ditching the Asus stuff all together.

I'm essentially wanting to duplicate this stream's setup.
 
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Make sure your PoE flavors match across the board. Ubiquity uses 24V and 48V for various devices. "Most" of the newer UAP-AC-LR "should" be able to support either, but if you get some of the older stock, they are 24V only.

As long as you are ordering the single UAP devices, they include a power injector just in case you get a 24V version. If you order the 5 pack, no injector.

And a Cloud Key is not "required", just recommended. You only "need" a controller 24x7 if you are doing the guest portal stuff or want stats. Otherwise you can manage via the phone apps if needed. If you are building new and have the budget, I would vote for a Cloud Key. I am currently running mine off of a dedicated Ubuntu VM.
 
I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to PoE and honestly most things regarding networking but am willing to research for hours on end, stay up late, and try to ask the right questions if it means I can learn something new. I'd really like for this system to be reliable and not waste any money in the process from trial and error. So thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.

The spec for the camera is...
"Power over Ethernet (PoE) IEEE 802.3af/802.3at Type 1 Class 3, max. 7.9 W, typical 3.6 W"

Am I correct that this is the 48v Version? And does that also mean that I need to go with a different access point like the UAP-AC-PRO. On their website it shows the -LR models as being 24v.
 
OK so this is a little more than I was hoping to spend on this... so if anyone has suggestions here please speak up.

What do you guys think of this setup? I looked at this link https://help.ubnt.com/hc/en-us/arti...UniFi-Wireless-Routing-Switching-Hardware#USG and it seems both the gateway and the switch has the capabilities to do what I want. As soon as our phone company runs the fiber the node for gigabit internet is in my backyard so I do want to go gigabit just in case they get their ducks in a row :)

-Arris Surfboard SB6141 Modem
-Ubqn Unifi Security Gateway
-Ubqn Unifi 16 Port 150W Switch (supports 48&24v PoE)
-Ubqn Unifi Cloud Key (this is required right??)
-(4x) Ubqn UAP-AC-PRO (or -LR)

These would be my connected devices...
APs - 4POE
Axis Cam - 1POE
Cloud Key- 1POE
Security Cams - 1 Ethernet
Rokus - 2 Ethernet
TV - 1 Ethernet
Desktop - 1 Ethernet

5 Spare POE

See any issues? Thanks for the help!
 

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