Want to move away from Asus routers, Ubiquiti? advice needed

[degrub]

APs will give you all kinds of grief if the injector does not hold the spec voltage and supply enough current. Partial inadequacy in either will cause issues with the radios resulting in bandwidth and overheating (lifespan shortening). If you are only needing a couple, i would go with the OEM version even if you have to wait.

 

[tgl]

A different angle on that: maybe you should think about a PoE-capable switch. It's probably more money up front, but it will be a neater and more compact solution than several injectors (assuming you'd be putting all the injectors in the same place). It's not even that the injectors themselves are that big, it's that their power cables and the extra ethernet patch cables take up more space than you expect and turn the equipment shelf into a rat's nest in no time.

 

[user1234567890]

Thanks for all the help, I ordered the gateway Max and a U7 Pro Wall to try. Should be here tomorrow.

Edit: Some kind of delay with the gateway max, stating 6th May. So looks like the Fiber then.

 

[Tech9]

In case you like the results Ubiquiti has table stand option for U7 Pro Wall:

U7 Pro Wall Table Stand - Ubiquiti Store

Lightweight, aluminum table stand for the U7 Pro Wall.

store.ui.com

 

[user1234567890]

In case you like the results Ubiquiti has table stand option for U7 Pro Wall:

U7 Pro Wall Table Stand - Ubiquiti Store

Lightweight, aluminum table stand for the U7 Pro Wall.

store.ui.com

Thanks, yes, that was what turned me towards the U7 Pro Wall instead of the U7 Pro. Looks quite Apple in its design. Mrs Liked it. The order should be here today.

 

[user1234567890]

The only thing left that I may need is the injector. The 2.5g ones are out of stock worldwide as far as I can see. There's just one place that is showing them in stock, but they ship from Poland, so will take forever. The branded ones like TP-Link are available but cost around £37 here on Amazon, £30 elsewhere. So can I use the Unifi 60w poe++ adapter? Would that draw 60w constantly or do they ramp down when idle? And do they just pull what is required if using with, say a poe+ device? These are also £37 and readily available. I haven't ordered U7 Pro Wall number 2 yet, as I wanted to see how it works with just one, and the Cloud Gateway fiber supports one poe+ device, so we are all good for setting up today with just one U7 Pro Wall.

 

[tgl]

The quoted power is just the unit's maximum output. It will do fine loafing along at half or quarter power.

 

[Tech9]

The 1G PoE+ Adapter will work just fine at 2.5GbE speeds with common household cable runs.

 

[Tech9]

Just for you @user1234567890 Ubiquiti made an update of Network Application and seems like they are aggressively targeting the consumer market with UniFi series products. Options unexpected and never seen before popped up all of a sudden.

QoS from manual configuration to Presets:

Wi-Fi with new Presets option, system-wide:

The new Zone-Based Firewall came recently:

With Intrusion Prevention broken down per Category:

Have fun with your new Gateway... it has now easier than TP-Link Archer home router settings.

 

[user1234567890]

Thanks! After being delivered to the wrong address, I have it all set up and working. As expected, we need at least another one AP upstairs. The setup was fairly straightforward, some parts of it didn't go as expected because of external factors (My internet provider not updating for the new router etc), but I got there in the end. I was also wondering, as it is looking like at least one more AP, is it OK to mix and match APs from the Unifi range? We don't need 6Ghz upstairs particularly, so I was thinking, I could maybe get a couple of the U7 lite for the price of another U7 Pro Wall?

Yes, I did the update, it seems like a nice, well thought out eco system, and I can see why people like it. The only odd things that I've encountered so far, are that some of my devices are significantly, wrongly identified, for example, I have a Lyngdorf streaming amp, that is coming up as a TP-Link camera in some areas of the software and in other's, it comes up as a NAIM powered speaker. I can't see anywhere to change this (the vendor and picture), other than the name of it. Aside from that, though, it's quite intuitive. I wasn't sure about having all wifi 3 bands on the same SSID, but it seems to work well for most devices, but there are some older devices that don't seem to like the more modern settings. I was also wondering, as you can create extra wifi networks, is it possible to create a new 5Ghz band for these older devices that are struggling with the more modern settings (it's an old 2017 iMac with wifi 4), and just have those on it? Would this reduce the strength of the main wifi network?

 

[Tech9]

is it OK to mix and match APs from the Unifi range?

Yes and you can still tune your system properly since UniFi has power control per radio. In the UK try DFS Ch.100 at 80MHz wide for 5GHz and if this channel is available and stable it will give you better range since it allows higher power. Multi-AP system in non-DFS range and low power works much better though. If you have 3x APs it may take you some time to tune them properly.

Yes, I did the update

The update yesterday 9.1.119 apparently was a preparation for the major update today 9.1.120. It has 4 pages long changelog with the fixes, changes and new features listed. The full set of features will become available after UniFi OS update to 4.2.8 or newer.

devices are significantly, wrongly identified

Don't worry about this, device recognition is an attempt based on MAC, click on the client and select whatever Icon matches your device better with a Name you want for it. I don't have Panasonic TV.

I was also wondering, as you can create extra wifi networks

You create the Networks first and then assign a Radio with whatever you want SSID on whatever you want AP. If you run with WPA2-Personal you can have more than one Network on the same SSID with Pre-Shared Keys. Take a look around the UI and you'll find out quickly it allows you to do whatever you want with your APs and SSIDs. 8x SSIDs per radio should be more than enough.

Would this reduce the strength of the main wifi network?

You can't create a physical band, but you can create multiple SSIDs with different settings using the same or different radios on the same or different APs. It's still the same devices connected to the same radios just virtually separated and this won't impact the performance the radio is capable of. My advice - don't go with crazy amount of SSIDs, just create a few with more compatible to your specific devices settings. For IoT devices use Enhanced IoT Connectivity setting, it works well.

 

[user1234567890]

Thanks! The update I did yesterday which said it was the latest one, was 9.0.114. today, the 9.1.120 is showing now, so will do that when everyone has gone to bed. I think I have got my head around the Web UI now, it is much preferable to the Asus set up. They seem to have simplified everything, but kept all the details under the surface if you need them, which is much less daunting than I thought it would be. Very impressed so far. And, after a few tweaks to the wifi, most devices are now running smoothly, it just needs that extra AP and we will be fully up and running, and that will be here Monday. I went for the U7 Lite. Hope it's a good choice, it was price vs performance that swung it. Another thing that I hadn't realised is that they do CCTV camera, and we had been looking at getting some later in the year, so this has worked out nicely.

I made an IoT network with the enhanced setting, so will be adding stuff to it in the next few days. We may not need any more extra SSIDs once this second AP is installed, as it will be in the same room as the device that was struggling.

 

[degrub]

Suggest running camera lines to NVR and putting only NVR on LAN. This isolates needless traffic and helps contains an IOT security threat to just the NVR. BTW, wifi based cameras are easily jammed/disabled from what i have read here and other forums.

 

[user1234567890]

Suggest running camera lines to NVR and putting only NVR on LAN. This isolates needless traffic and helps contains an IOT security threat to just the NVR. BTW, wifi based cameras are easily jammed/disabled from what i have read here and other forums.

Thanks, yes that makes sense. Would that still be a thing if all the IoT stuff is on it’s own network? What kind of threats are we talking about from IoT devices? It would just be 2 or maybe 3 cameras max, and they would be wired.

 

[Tech9]

the 9.1.120 is showing now, so will do that when everyone has gone to bed

Your gateway will reboot only on UniFi OS updates. The update is usually close to 700MB file, the base OS is Debian Linux, this needs reboot. Network Application is your UI, updating it may create 20-30sec service interruption only. Application updates are fast. Unrelated to Network applications like InnerSpace you can update live without disturbing anyone.

I went for the U7 Lite.

Did I mention InnerSpace application, available on your gateway? It's a network planning tool. Take a look and use it before you buy more hardware. It will tell you what you need and what to expect from it as coverage. Just draw your place as accurate as possible.

Thanks, yes that makes sense.

Not in your case. You have a built-in NVR and can easily integrate surveillance cameras into your network. They will show up on your dashboard in Protect application. How many cameras your gateway can manage - see specifications. With 2.5GbE network don't worry about the traffic. Ubiquiti cameras are top quality, but expensive. If this integration fits your budget - best option.

What kind of threats are we talking about from IoT devices?

You can create camera network isolated from your main network if you want to.

 

[user1234567890]

Thanks, No, I don’t think we have spoken about inner space, but I will have a look. I did try the link that you left in the first or second reply to my post, but I couldn’t get it to work for a home setting. I may have been doing it wrong, though
So the NVR side of things. It is on an nvme ssd that plugs in the side with a little caddy thing, and I think the limit is 2TB. a quick Look at their calculator shows that a 1TB lasts 6 days with 2x 4K cameras. So 12 days or so. I wonder why they have a 2TB limit on an NVR?

 

[Tech9]

I wonder why they have a 2TB limit on an NVR?

The gateway is quite small device with passive cooling - perhaps heat related limit. This option is for convenience. Good enough for a small setup and saves some money for stand alone NVR. Plus dashboard integration is nice. If you add Access devices you can control your entire home from a single screen. Your gateway can also integrate Talk and Connect devices.

 

[Tech9]

I don’t think we have spoken about inner space, but I will have a look.

It can create Wi-Fi coverage heat map for you for different APs before you buy hardware:

Upload the floor plan and draw the walls on top with materials close to actually used. It's pretty accurate.

 

[user1234567890]

I like the sound of that.

That’s a fair point about heat. I would have thought they’d have scaled back the number of pcie lanes used to help with that too, maybe even gone gen 3. Can’t see any info about that, though.

 

[Tech9]

What you can have is only limited by how deep your pocket is.

Lawrence Systems also uploaded a video about new features in 9.1.xxx, may be interesting for you: