Little WiFi System

[fiedbaam]

Hi,
we bought an older house and i want to install some WiFi. Not really much WiFi in the air now.
I worked with WiFi-networks with TP-Link Omada and Ubiquiti, booth are working well.
My requirements are:
- Controller and gateway in one device with VPN-Server, some switch-ports (PoE if possible)
- AP as extra device (no all-in-one)
- solid and future-proof (speed ist not that important)
Options:
1: ASUS EBG19P + EBA63 (don't know this, but EBG19P has PoE)
2: Omada ER7212PC + EAP772 (the ER7212PC has no good start, is the firmware stable now?)
3: Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Ultra + U7 Pro

I don't need WiFi 7 imho, may better buy AX-devices?
What is your opinion or do you have other suggestions?

Cheers!
Markus

 

[degrub]

The physical environment - walls, floors (1 or 2 or ?) would be helpful.
What are the ISP down/up available ? ISP protocol / physical (coax, fiber, dsl, etc)
What country ?
AX seems to be the sweet spot performance/price. Wifi 7 is still in beta and for most residential little if any help.
IOTs ?
Use case - how many devices, type, usage, etc ?
POE switches are readily available and reasonable cost. Level 2.5 or 3 if you need VLANS.

#3, #2, CISCO SMB, #1 would be my order today.

 

[fiedbaam]

The physical environment - walls, floors (1 or 2 or ?) would be helpful.
What are the ISP down/up available ? ISP protocol / physical (coax, fiber, dsl, etc)
What country ?
AX seems to be the sweet spot performance/price. Wifi 7 is still in beta and for most residential little if any help.
IOTs ?
Use case - how many devices, type, usage, etc ?
POE switches are readily available and reasonable cost. Level 2.5 or 3 if you need VLANS.

#3, #2, CISCO SMB, #1 would be my order today.

Okay
2 floors, each ~80m².
WAN comes from coax modem as cooper with max. 250/50 for now. Maybe we get fiber (1000/250) next few years, but no reason for SFP(+) for now.
Germany
Thought so about wifi 7 too, thx.
Some plugs, bulbs, radiator valves and a camera (mostly Tapo/Kasa/TP-Link so far) for now. But there will be more probably
Well 15 IoTs, 3 Smartphones and 4 Laptops/PCs + 1 Printer, 1 NAS, some HiFi-Streamer,...
I don't thing to need vlans or managed switches. I have a TP-Link TL-SG1005P (5Port/4PoE/unmanaged), works fine for me. But the ASUS with PoE right on board sounds nice for me.
Cisco SMB sounds expensive . I worked with Meraki already, don't like it ^^
Are there experiences with the ExpertWifi series?
Want to have as few single devices as possible.
Thank you!

 

[degrub]

Does the residence have ethernet wall terminations in each/most rooms with common termination in a wiring closet or panel ?
Can you have cable run if needed ?

The construction of the floor/ceiling will affect the ability to use just one AP, particularly for 5 GHz bands. Most SMB APs are intended for lower TX power and spaced closer together to ensure good coverage. The area you quote is relatively small and if the floor plan is open and you can mount the AP on the ceiling then 1 AP per floor can work. If the floor is light construction, possibly only one AP in total if the floor area is close to square. If there are 2 or more walls, particularly if plaster or concrete block, then you may have to get creative with placement on walls and ceiling. If the area is elongated, then perhaps 2 APs each on opposite walls and separate floors would provide enough coverage.

Any idea about the floor plan for each level ?

ASUS has been working on breaking into the SMB market. i have no idea how their gear compares with Ubiquity, Omada, or CISCO SMB gear which are well established. i would hope they have a better firmware QA program in place than what they have for consumer gear. Having a controller, either in the router, a separate device, or the APs is very useful to manage roaming clients to provide more seamless roaming for time sensitive clients/applications. The CISCO SMB APs ( old AC 371s i have) - current 150 series AP, has the AP controller built in and is redundant if one AP fails ie another picks up acting as master controller, which is nice.

 

[fiedbaam]

No ethernet cables right now. I have to lay cables myself. The plan was exactly to mount one AP on the ceiling of the 1st floor (solid), short test with smartphone hotspot seems good. But i will prepare a cable if second AP on 2nd floor (light construction) is necessary.
Another AP will be in the garage, which is a stand-alone building but i will lay cable to this. This will cover the garden area too.
And maybe, just maybe, one more simple AP for IoT in the basement.

How about a gateway (with firewall, router, VPN-Server,...) with the Cisco gear?
Maybe there will be someone with experiences with the ExpertWifi gear, i like the coop with Trend Micro as well. On the other hand only one type of AP is crap.
At this point i tend the most to the Omada solution...

 

[degrub]

Does the garage have its own power interrupter panel that is earthed at the garage or is it a sub panel from the house main panel and earthed at the house ?

Depending on soil characteristics, moisture levels, and distance - this can create a ground loop ( earthing points at different potentials connected by a wire) and burn out electronic equipment. i do not know the electric code in Germany, but in the US, the earthing rods would require a solid conductor connection between the two to mitigate the issue. Alternatively, you could use fiber with transceivers or point to point wireless to eliminate the issue.

i would select a router of choice as the entry gateway. CISCO would be too expensive compared to equally viable alternatives. Stay within one vendor for ease of configuration and use.

 

[fiedbaam]

I thought of a power cable (L1-3,N,PE) with 3-phase current and a pair of CAT.7 cables, each in a corrugated pipe should do the job. The CAT.7 comes with PoE so imho there should be no groundloop?
"Stay within one vendor for ease of configuration and use." -> In any case!

 

[degrub]

If the power for the networking gear is provided through a PoE path, then there is no connection to earth from the device in the garage and no possible ground loop. Do maintain at least minimum separation distance between the AC and CAT7 cables. CAT7 can be sensitive to termination quality and shield faults. Receptacles need to support CAT7.

 

[Tech9]

3: Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Ultra + U7 Pro

I run 3x networks with UCG-Ultra and 1x, 2x, 4x U6-Mesh* APs. This model AP is the same hardware as U6-Pro, but can be placed anywhere including outdoors. Can’t recommend the best APs for your application (play with UniFi Design Center, available online), but UCG-Ultra is feature rich and super reliable little device.

One of my networks is in Europe (the 2x APs setup) and what you need to know is the APs will be limited to 20dBm on 2.4GHz band and 23dBm on 5GHz band non-DFS. For optimal performance you need -60dBm signal or better to clients so plan your network accordingly. More APs on low power work generally better.

* - PoE injector + desktop/wall/pole mounting kit included in the box

 

[fiedbaam]

I run 3x networks with UCG-Ultra and 1x, 2x, 4x U6-Mesh* APs. This model AP is the same hardware as U6-Pro, but can be placed anywhere including outdoors. Can’t recommend the best APs for your application (play with UniFi Design Center, available online), but UCG-Ultra is feature rich and super reliable little device.

One of my networks is in Europe (the 2x APs setup) and what you need to know is the APs will be limited to 20dBm on 2.4GHz band and 23dBm on 5GHz band non-DFS. For optimal performance you need -60dBm signal or better to clients so plan your network accordingly. More APs on low power work generally better.

* - PoE injector + desktop/wall/pole mounting kit included in the box

I run a network with UCG-Ultra, 1x UK Ultra and 10 U7 Pro in the company i am working. No doubt, it is a nice and solid network with many features. I want a gateway with PoE-Ports, but the UCG-Fiber is quiet a bit expensive. More APs are better, but especially in my privat home there is an optical aspect and the cable laying which fight against perfect WiFi-coverage and function. On the other hand (as you mentioned) the power of the antennas could be reduced.
In the last company i run an network with Omada, so i knew this gear too. Once correct configured, it works like it should.

 

[Tech9]

Omada is also very capable system and usually comes cheaper for similar specs, but the new UniFi gateways have more usable for home setup features (QoS, content filtering, ad-blocking, etc.) and more configurable firewall (DNS security, IDS, geo-blocking, etc.).

You won't go wrong with either UniFi or Omada though. Just proper planning and you have good reliable Wi-Fi.

 

[degrub]

Wired backhaul for the APs will be the most reliable if you can get the LAN there. Flat CAT6 is available if you need to hide or surface mount. Just avoid folds or crimps.

 

[Tech9]

Wired is definitely much better, but I also have 2x wirelessly uplinked UniFi devices (the UX in my signature) and they never failed once since installed. I had to reboot them twice after firmware update. If they have good signal - stay connected forever.

 

[fiedbaam]

I have really good experiences with meshing Omada gear too. But with a cable i have more of this "i know what it does" feeling - you know what i mean? ^^
I have to found out, even the UCG Fiber has only one PoE-Port. I think it will be Omada, but have to wait until the ER7212PC V2 is available in Germany. I will keep you up to date!