Looking for opinions re. Ubiquiti or something else

[Tech9]

The same here, I have 2x UX units used as wireless bridges to wired devices. Current firmware has no screen control options, hours on/off or brightness. They follow default night time schedule 10pm-7am on 100% brightness. Not a deal breaker, I saw it reported on Ubiquiti Community forums, perhaps will be fixed at some point. Otherwise UX units work well, hold steady 1.2Gbps links (I use 80MHz wide channel), wired devices get >900Mbps throughput... no complaints. Limitation - LAN ports are on the main VLAN, no option to change at the moment.

 

[Mitt]

Is going with a Ubiquiti a better option over Asus at this point?

Wifi 7 pro wall AP x2 without a controller, and only a POE switch - will this be a superior solution vs asus?

 

[tgl]

Is going with a Ubiquiti a better option over Asus at this point?

Depends a lot on what you're looking for. Asus is targeting maybe a slightly-savvier-than-average consumer. UniFi is targeting small-business type setups (and trying to move into larger businesses). This shows up for example in the minimal documentation and hand-holding that you get with UniFi ... they tend to assume you already know something about networking. Another example is that UniFi doesn't sell all-in-one router+wireless-AP units, except for a couple of bottom-of-the-line models that I wouldn't recommend. They sell separate routers and APs, with the expectation that you want more than one AP. For that matter, the APs are really designed to be wired. There's some support for wireless backhaul a/k/a mesh, but if that's what you need I'd have to recommend buying something else.

Mind you, I like UniFi's gear and use it myself. But it's not for everybody.

Wifi 7 pro wall AP x2 without a controller, and only a POE switch - will this be a superior solution vs asus?

Don't buy UniFi's U7 (or E7) series yet. They are still getting the bugs out of it. Anything currently sold in the U6 series is recommendable. If you must have wifi 6E support, the U6-Enterprise APs are very solid kit (I own several) but are a tad pricey. (I think the U6-Ent-IW units are the same chipset in a different form factor, if you want an in-wall unit. No personal experience with them though.)

UniFi APs do not have a built-in web control GUI. You need something else to control/configure them. If you just intend to run some of their APs and not buy into a whole UniFi-based network, the most plausible option is to run UniFi Network Server on your own PC; it's a free download for Windows, macOS, or Linux. The Linux version seems to be a bit of a management headache (dependency problems, mostly) but I've not read complaints about the others.

PoE switch feeding all the APs is definitely the neatest, fewest-wires solution. Pay attention to total power budget, otherwise it doesn't have to be fancy --- unless you want an isolated guest SSID, and then you need VLAN support.

 

[Tech9]

Is going with a Ubiquiti a better option over Asus at this point?

Without use case description there is no answer to this question.

UniFi APs do not have a built-in web control GUI.

There is an App for individual setup option, but with no controller - limited features.

Don't buy UniFi's U7

My own plan is to skip Wi-Fi 7 entirely, but seems like new U7 series APs have hardware level changes and the number of complaints (mostly about IoT devices compatibility) is down. Early adopters - try again. A new U7 may not be the same as early U7.

 

[Mitt]

Using a U6 Enterprise In-Wall centred in the basement provide a coverage in AP mode, replacing the standard ISP wifi 6 modem and asus devices.

 

[Tech9]

If you want UniFi or very similar Omada - wires first and replace the entire system. If you mix and match - the price you pay for the APs/switches is not justified because the features you can use will be limited. Why expensive U6 Enterprise AP with 300+ clients capacity, 10+ SSIDs, and PoE+ switch with full VLAN per port control when you have no need or access to the features? Better get a cheap RT-AX55 home router for $70 and put it in AP Mode if you need just extra coverage.

 

[Tech9]

A case where Ubiquiti system may do better:

ASUS XT8 issues

Is the mesh backhaul over wireless or over wired ethernet ? If wireless backhaul over a radio shared with clients, then you will loose significant bandwidth, usually about half in each direction. It looks like you have a couple nodes too close to each other or at too high TX power at that...

www.snbforums.com

...but without proper assessment and planning - not guaranteed. Trial and error with UniFi gear is expensive.

 

[Mitt]

If you want UniFi or very similar Omada - wires first and replace the entire system. If you mix and match - the price you pay for the APs/switches is not justified because the features you can use will be limited. Why expensive U6 Enterprise AP with 300+ clients capacity, 10+ SSIDs, and PoE+ switch with full VLAN per port control when you have no need or access to the features? Better get a cheap RT-AX55 home router for $70 and put it in AP Mode if you need just extra coverage.

Im hoping for something stable, fast and reliable to cover the entire home, wouldnt the enterprise have further reach to cover the home in AP mode?
I already spent $1000s on asus gear thats only been problematic for years.

Would Omada be suitable? Do they have any 6E gear for the additional band?

Using POE, i dont mind running 2 APs at both ends of the house, or a really powerful one, issue is all the IT gear is stuck in the basement with no real way to get it upstairs without major line routing, so ideally APs that can do the basement and into the upper floor.

Unifi seems like an ideal solution but the controller and all the extras arnt really needed when i assumed a single AP would suffice.
Im aware unifi doesnt allow DOH or TLS dns encryption either, which is a bit of a loss for security - does Omada support this?

I'm stuck in an area where i believe consumer grade gear has let me down for years and i would like a solution that fixes this.
I've wasted 100s of hours on Asus trouble shooting over the years, and the malware for me was a step to look for alternative solutions.

 

[Tech9]

Im hoping for something stable, fast and reliable to cover the entire home, wouldnt the enterprise have further reach to cover the home in AP mode?

If you want single AP to cover an entire home - consumer AIO routers attempt doing exactly this. Business class multi-AP systems don't work this way. You liked the link to another thread I posted above, but seems like didn't read it and still going in totally wrong direction. Read this one:

So Long, Thanks For All The Help

It's why I went with the U7s instead. Working a treat for me by the way. Aren't they buggy though?

www.snbforums.com

This 10-stream 3-band 600+ client support U6-Enterprise flying sorcerer is perhaps good for a open space conference hall, 2x units high on the ceiling with single SSID on 6x different channels sending few Gbps over Wi-Fi to multiple Wi-Fi 4/5/6/6E clients simultaneously. In your basement and shooting through floors and walls? - No.

 

[degrub]

Transmit power is controlled by regulations. Country specific.

SMB and enterprise networks generally use lower power APs and a few more for an area. That way you avoid most dead spots. These are wired back to a switch or controller. Rarely, if ever use "mesh" approach if you want stable, fast, and reliable WIFI and network in general.

 

[tgl]

Transmit power is controlled by regulations. Country specific.

Yeah, that. You can't normally improve wifi range by turning up the power or buying a "better" AP. Tx power is limited by regulations, and what's actually more important in most cases is that you can't increase the client devices' Tx power. So how far away they can be while the AP can still hear them is not easy to change.

So if you have wifi coverage problems, the answer that actually works is multiple APs spread around the premises (and probably set at a good deal less than max Tx power). Not a more expensive AP. Cheaper APs that you can afford more of will normally beat fewer top-of-the-line APs for coverage.

As to how to get there --- if you can manage to run ethernet cables to most or all of the places you want to put APs, then SMB gear like UniFi or Omada is a good match. If you have to rely on wireless backhaul, then consumer "mesh" systems available from Asus, Netgear, TP-Link, etc are probably what you should be looking at. (UniFi can do wireless backhaul, but their heart's not in it and the performance is typically going to be inferior to mesh-first designs. I think the same is true of Omada.)