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

[Jbennett360]

I can see ~800Mbps on an iPhone, but in reality it doesn't matter and mobile devices have power saving features we can't control.

Yep, it's weird. The WiFi Man app can easily hit 800 on the speed test, but I believe that local speed and not an actual speed test using external internet?

Which means, the internal setup is correct and working as intended, I guess!

 

[Tech9]

My advice - don't pay too much attention on speed test numbers over Wi-Fi. It's a best effort shared technology. If you don't have any devices regularly moving large amounts of data over Wi-Fi and plan more than single AP - drop the channel bandwidth to 40MHz. Interference will be reduced, wireless range will be improved, network latency will be better.

I run 40MHz on my 4x APs system in last 2 weeks and family members using mobile devices for online meetings say the "connection and responsiveness" is better. Since different devices connect to different APs - in my case the aggregate wireless throughput is about the same and devices don't wait for each other. I have it setup currently as 2x APs on Ch.38 and 2x APs on Ch.46. Average reported signal -56dBm around the house, PHY rate 574Mbps, throughput ~430Mbps or >50MB/s steady.

What we invest money in - happy family or speed test numbers?

 

[Jbennett360]

My advice - don't pay too much attention on speed test numbers over Wi-Fi. It's a best effort shared technology. If you don't have any devices regularly moving large amounts of data over Wi-Fi and plan more than single AP - drop the channel bandwidth to 40MHz. Interference will be reduced, wireless range will be improved, network latency will be better.

I run 40MHz on my 4x APs system in last 2 weeks and family members using mobile devices for online meetings say the "connection and responsiveness" is better. Since different devices connect to different APs - in my case the aggregate wireless throughput is about the same and devices don't wait for each other. I have it setup currently as 2x APs on Ch.38 and 2x APs on Ch.46. Average reported signal -56dBm around the house, PHY rate 574Mbps, throughput ~430Mbps or >50MB/s steady.

What we invest money in - happy family or speed test numbers?

I had been looking at dropping the 5Ghz down to 40MHz actually, seen a few comments on reddit etc where they advise to do this. Which has led me to....

Grab a U6+ to for the upstairs!

This will effectively replace the RP-AX58 and sit in the same spot. I can just about get a 5Ghz coverage in certain areas, but it struggles, 79-84dBM and I'd rather have everything on the 5Ghz channels too tbh.

2.4Ghz coverage is okay up there, but throughput varies depending on the device and there's a scary amount of other 2.4GHz networks nearby!

Total cost for everything is roughly £350

 

[Tech9]

Get yourself another U6-Pro, it’s a better AP with 4-stream 5GHz radio.

 

[Jbennett360]

Get yourself another U6-Pro, it’s a better AP with 4-stream 5GHz radio.

It'd be overkill I think.

The RP-AX58 was a 2x2 on both bands, it worked fine for what it needed to do.

The U6-Pro is £65 more expensive too - and a lot bigger!

 

[Tech9]

and a lot bigger

Understood. The local ruling party approved certain type of APs for home use and I have to adhere to the set regulations. The previous industrial design Ruckus APs were removed and the new ones have to look like light fixtures and emit certain colour light. Part of "keep the family happy" thing. The colour is actually bright white, came bluish from distance and camera zoom.

This is how I got to 7x U6-Mesh for all home installations... Now I expect wall discoloration over time because they work >50C hot, but will deal with this issue somewhere in the future.

 

[rudoyeugene]

Hello. I moved from Asus ZenWiFi Pro ET12 to UDR7. Maybe I can answer some questions.

 

[Jbennett360]

Well what I will say is that with all the logging and detail that the Unifi system shows, I think I've managed to find a phone that has some sort of WIFI defect. Every other device seems to roam fine between the two points, this one likes to hang on to -86dBm. WIFI Speeds on it are all over the place (a 10 year old tablet with the same WIFI 5 setup has better consistent results.)

Might be one that goes in for repair, failing that, gets replaced in the near future!

 

[Tech9]

Quite possible. When you see more things pinpointing the issue is easier. Otherwise are you happy with the new Ubiquiti setup?

 

[Jbennett360]

Quite possible. When you see more things pinpointing the issue is easier. Otherwise are you happy with the new Ubiquiti setup?

Erm. I think so yeah. I like

• Being able to easily add/remove access points as and when needed is handy
• The amount of information available - but at the same time I can see it being overwhelming and feeling the need to chase 'perfection'
• The general flexibility of it all in terms of features etc
• Big userbase, so if issues do arise, you can pretty much find an answer, or someone will be able to help.
• Being able to see upcoming features, in BETA releases

So far so good!

 

[Jbennett360]

What I will say is that the 2.4ghz on the U6 Pro doesn't seem as good as it did on the Asus AX86S.

We've got a small camera in the shed and with the U6 Pro set to 20mhz and low. It struggles to maintain a connection even though it's usually in the 70-75dbm-ish range. Tried changing to medium and high and it doesn't really make a difference.

Previously this was connected to the Asus fine and never had any connection issues etc.

The workaround at the minute is that I've re-enabled 2.4ghz on the AP that's closer (U6+) and it's connected to that.

Not a huge issue, but it would have been nice to not have 2.4 broadcasting on the U6+

 

[degrub]

Both were in the same location and orientation ?

 

[Jbennett360]

Both were in the same location and orientation ?

The U6 Pro is probably 6/7 feet closer to the camera/shed than the Asus was

 

[degrub]

Any geometry change in relationship to blocking (walls, cabinet, stuff) from that relocation ?

Wifi settings equivalent ?

Otherwise, probably just RF design difference, including radio chipset, based on intended customer usage ( more APs, lower power approach) rather than blast out to regulatory limits with just one unit.

 

[Jbennett360]

Any geometry change in relationship to blocking (walls, cabinet, stuff) from that relocation ?

Wifi settings equivalent ?

Otherwise, probably just RF design difference, including radio chipset, based on intended customer usage ( more APs, lower power approach) rather than blast out to regulatory limits with just one unit.

Nope. Nothings really changed, except the weather!

 

[Tech9]

except the weather

I know in theory it's unlikely to happen to local Wi-Fi communications, but in reality two of my UniFi systems logged decreased User Experience in days with solar storms in April and May. You may also experience decreased Wi-Fi performance in days with above average heat and air humidity. So you may be up to something with the weather when multiple external and internal factors come into play.

The radiation pattern of antennas is not exactly a circle around the AP, it has stronger and weaker areas. Sometimes rotating the AP helps as well as removing the metal back plate of ceiling mount type APs. They become more omnidirectional this way, closer to how home AIO routers work. Many folks find ceiling mount type APs work quite well placed on top of a shelf without the mounting hardware.

 

[Jbennett360]

I know in theory it's unlikely to happen to local Wi-Fi communications, but in reality two of my UniFi systems logged decreased User Experience in days with solar storms in April and May. You may also experience decreased Wi-Fi performance in days with above average heat and air humidity. So you may be up to something with the weather when multiple external and internal factors come into play.

The radiation pattern of antennas is not exactly a circle around the AP, it has stronger and weaker areas. Sometimes rotating the AP helps as well as removing the metal back plate of ceiling mount type APs. They become more omnidirectional this way, closer to how home AIO routers work. Many folks find ceiling mount type APs work quite well placed on top of a shelf without the mounting hardware.

The weather here in the last week or so has been warm, warmer than usual. Low 30c's, humid etc, so it could well be that .

I have the Pro sat on a stand that roughly 4 foot high, no metal mounting backplate.

Not sure which way the it should face, as in, which part of the U6 Pro is stronger than the other parts? I did try to take a look at the patterns on the Unifi site but it all went a bit over my head!

Edit: So the higher bands of 5GHZ work better if the top left of the U6-Pro is pointing in the direction of the clients? (It's darker red than the rest of the unit)

 

[Tech9]

If the client is not in line of sight you have to take into account walls and other objects refractions. Or just don't bother because you have a 2nd AP closer. Both APs with 2.4GHz radios enabled is not an issue. Just reduce the Tx power a bit for each. What matters is how much airtime they use and with the same number of clients split between the two it will be about the same.

I currently have all 4x APs with both radios enabled, 2.4GHz at 16dBm (40mW) and 5GHz at 22dBm (160mW). They work 2x2 on different channels on both sides of the house, usual 20MHz for 2.4GHz band and lately 40MHz for 5GHz band.

 

[Jbennett360]

If the client is not in line of sight you have to take into account walls and other objects refractions. Or just don't bother because you have a 2nd AP closer. Both APs with 2.4GHz radios enabled is not an issue. Just reduce the Tx power a bit for each. What matters is how much airtime they use and with the same number of clients split between the two it will be about the same.

I currently have all 4x APs with both radios enabled, 2.4GHz at 16dBm (40mW) and 5GHz at 22dBm (160mW). They work 2x2 on different channels on both sides of the house, usual 20MHz for 2.4GHz band and lately 40MHz for 5GHz band.

Pretty much how I'm setup. One AP at each side of the house. 2.4/low/20. 5/high/80. Different channels on each AP.

 

[Tech9]

You perhaps know, but Custom is also available with 1dBm step per radio. May help with fine tuning for someone with OCD.