Is Unifi worth the upgrade?

[chrismsales]

Really appreciate all the wisdom here. Been looking at the various gateways and it does appear that the UCG-Fiber may be the way to go, especially since we have a 2Gig connection through AT&T, and if I am understanding everything correctly will allow me to run the (3) Wi-Fi access points via PoE?

The switches are where I am unsure of as I currently have 16 lines between 2 switches and router running from the main network closet to various spots in the house and outdoor areas. Are the USW-24-POE (95W) or USW-16-POE (42W) the best options or would a Lite 16 PoE and maybe a Flex Mini 2.5G be better? I do not have a rat k or anything in the closet where everything is located, so just looking for the simplest that gives me the passive speeds and ability to power a few lines PoE but unless I upgrade my Arlo cameras down the road, I really only need three PoE lines now.

And since I cannot mount the access points in the ceiling, I'm looking at the U7-Pro Wall model for upstairs and downstairs inside, and then the U6 Mesh for outside pool area.

Starts adding up pretty quickly for sure.

 

[degrub]

You don't have to use the switch for POE allocation. You can buy power injectors as needed and of the required power delivery. Does add 1 wall wart power brick per injector so plan on a plug bar at least.

And don't forget a UPS to filter surges/noise as well as provide some extended network time.

AND verify you have adequate venting for the wiring "closet" - exhaust area 2x inlet area is a good start for passive.

 

[Tech9]

Starts adding up pretty quickly

UCG-Fiber has one PoE+ port with 30W power budget - good for one U7-Pro AP. This port is there for something like small home installation with single AP, for convenience. Similar port is available on UDR7 for same reasons. If you don't plan >2Gbps ISP plan upgrade - UCG-Max is perhaps good enough Gateway. If nothing else than the APs will be using PoE - use PoE injectors instead, PoE switches are expensive. You may want 2.5GbE switch for the U7 APs, perhaps the rest wired devices are good with GbE switch.

Take into consideration your future needs, but don't overpay for hardware.

 

[Tech9]

I'm looking at the U7-Pro Wall model

I see people using more often UX7 for Gateway and AP. For a home setup it's the cheaper and better looking device than U7-Pro Wall + Stand. The specs are very similar. Two UX7 in your case, the needed switches and one U6-Mesh outdoors (comes with PoE injector). Will reduce the number of devices and the total cost of the project. May leave room for better switches. Take a look.

If you want Cameras with Protect sometime in the future - take a look at this new Ubiquiti device (or complete kit):

Network Video Recorder Instant - Ubiquiti Store

Compact UniFi Protect NVR with 3.5" HDD support, featuring an integrated 6-port PoE switch, integrated HDMI View Port, and a capacity for (6) 4K camera or (15) Full HD cameras.

store.ui.com

 

[chrismsales]

UCG-Fiber has one PoE+ port with 30W power budget - good for one U7-Pro AP. This port is there for something like small home installation with single AP, for convenience. Similar port is available on UDR7 for same reasons. If you don't plan >2Gbps ISP plan upgrade - UCG-Max is perhaps good enough Gateway. If nothing else than the APs will be using PoE - use PoE injectors instead, PoE switches are expensive. You may want 2.5GbE switch for the U7 APs, perhaps the rest wired devices are good with GbE switch.

Take into consideration your future needs, but don't overpay for hardware.

Gotcha. So I could basically do the Fiber Gateway and (2) PoE injectors to handle the (3) wifi AP's and then (3)of the Flex Mini 2.5G switches to handle the ethernet lines I currently have in place?

Stupid question here, the gateways do not have any type of Wi-Fi capability, correct?

 

[chrismsales]

Gotcha. So I could basically do the Fiber Gateway and (2) PoE injectors to handle the (3) wifi AP's and then (3)of the Flex Mini 2.5G switches to handle the ethernet lines I currently have in place?

Stupid question here, the gateways do not have any type of Wi-Fi capability, correct?

Never mind, I saw your next post about the UX7's. So (2) of those and then (1) U6-Mesh for outside and then just (3) of the Flex Minis. That definitely makes the cost of everything less.

 

[Tech9]

I have posted one UX7 system example in another thread, it works very well. I don't have 24/7 eye on this particular one since it's not mine, but the owner is very happy. Part of the happiness comes from the fact UX7 is very small size with high wife acceptance factor. I can't predict how similar system will work in different environment though, some Design Center play may be needed.

Perhaps @vibroverbus can share more experience with UX7.

 

[Tech9]

That definitely makes the cost of everything less.

I strongly recommend going after user experience and not specs. You have to look at the entire new system as a whole and not at single device capabilities. I run 40MHz wide channel on 5GHz band for some time, client devices are connected to different APs most of the time on different channels. Throughput from each AP is about 440Mbps, but aggregate throughput may reach 1.7Gbps. My family members are happy with lower latency, stronger signal and the form of hardware MU-MIMO the above setup creates. If I replace the gateway and the switches with more expensive 2.5GbE options - the user experience will remain about the same. The reason I don't do it.

 

[New2This]

Well made the switch over, everything is up and running. Very happy so far with the results- more configurable and robust

 

[Tech9]

Share your hardware choice information as an example for other folks with similar questions. There are quite a bit of combinations between gateways, switches and access points from Network products alone. Thank you.

 

[jberry]

I do have the Cloud Gateway Fiber and Unifi Access Point U7 Pro XG, for my condo. You can actually just lay the AP U7 Pro XG flat on a high bookshelf no need to mount it on the ceiling works fine.

Just wanted to give my experience, I do love the UI and the information it gives me, I did use all the ports at the back, one PoE+ for the AP U7 Pro XG, and the rest for like mac studio, apple tv game systems etc, I did get a SPF+ for I believe port 7 to open up one more port for my 1gbps internet connection (I know this set up is overkill but wanted to future proof as my ISP has 5gbps fiber internet).

After it having an uptime of over 20 days, I noticed my internet being spotty, like slow at times, sometimes websites can go through and sometimes not. I wanted to put back my Netgear R9000 with voxel firmware and kamoj add on to see if it was the router, when removing the Unifi Cloud Gateway Fiber, it was very hot! the SPF+ was too hot to touch, so that kinda freaked me out, didnt know it can get that hot, replaced with R9000 and all was good, internet is fine, so haven't put it back up, not sure if others have experienced this...

 

[New2This]

Share your hardware choice information as an example for other folks with similar questions. There are quite a bit of combinations between gateways, switches and access points from Network products alone. Thank you.

I ended up going with a UCG-Max since I have 2G WAN speed it has 2.3 Gbps IPS,along with 2-U6Mesh ,one which is outside near the back patio also have a pi-hole being used. I do have a 16 port switch ,seems to be working -GbE speed.
I will be adding two cameras later

 

[degrub]

I do have the Cloud Gateway Fiber and Unifi Access Point U7 Pro XG, for my condo. You can actually just lay the AP U7 Pro XG flat on a high bookshelf no need to mount it on the ceiling works fine.

Just wanted to give my experience, I do love the UI and the information it gives me, I did use all the ports at the back, one PoE+ for the AP U7 Pro XG, and the rest for like mac studio, apple tv game systems etc, I did get a SPF+ for I believe port 7 to open up one more port for my 1gbps internet connection (I know this set up is overkill but wanted to future proof as my ISP has 5gbps fiber internet).

After it having an uptime of over 20 days, I noticed my internet being spotty, like slow at times, sometimes websites can go through and sometimes not. I wanted to put back my Netgear R9000 with voxel firmware and kamoj add on to see if it was the router, when removing the Unifi Cloud Gateway Fiber, it was very hot! the SPF+ was too hot to touch, so that kinda freaked me out, didnt know it can get that hot, replaced with R9000 and all was good, internet is fine, so haven't put it back up, not sure if others have experie

May well still be within operating temperature range. A small USB fan can help cool if concerned.

 

[jberry]

May well still be within operating temperature range. A small USB fan can help cool if concerned.

Thanks will look into it!

 

[Tech9]

Your UCG-Fiber has built-in cooling fan. If you don't hear it running - perhaps the SPF module itself is overheating and causing issues.

 

[tgl]

SFP-to-RJ45 modules are essentially full-on ethernet switches crammed into an unreasonably small amount of space with typically a very poor heat-dissipation situation, since the SFP cage standard is meant for fiber-optic modules that have very low power requirements. In consequence, they will run somewhere between hot and baking hot. Newer/more expensive modules tend to draw less power, so they might be merely hot.

I'd avoid using the things if you don't absolutely have to.

 

[tgl]

BTW, SPF refers to suntan lotion ...

 

[Clark Griswald]

BTW, SPF refers to suntan lotion ...

He did say it was hot

 

[degrub]

He did say it was hot

Better use 50+ then....

 

[Tech9]

I'll feed you both fibre very soon...