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Originally Posted by Meelapo
Okay. First thank you for another detailed post!
It’s a brand new build so we have Cat6 drops on the main floor and second floor and basement (finished) as well as in the utility room (unfinished). But the drops are on the wall at the electrical outlet level.
But maybe I can do the following….
- UDM Pro SE in the basement
- Express 7 as an AP on the main floor
Should that provide wireless throughout the house? Our basement is my WFH office which will need a decent wifi connection. We’ll have a TV + console but I can power those with a hardwire + cheap switch if wireless is not great. The main and second floor will have a TV and will need connectivity for mobile devices really. I’ll have a gaming PC on the main floor but I can connect it to the LAN port on the Express 7 which will be located in the same room. I imagine the WAN port could connect to the UDM Pro SE.
If wireless is an issue I can put a ceiling U7 Pro AP in the utility room as it’s unfinished so a ceiling mount would be manageable with a wire kind of hanging. That should be good for the basement + second floor and then I can move the express 7 to the third floor.
I feel like the UDM Pro SE might be overkill for me and maybe the UDM Pro would be a better fit. I’m planning on going with ReoLink cameras x 2 (wide angle cameras), doorbell and getting the ReoLink NVR which has a built in PoE switch. I’m thinking if I go with a U7 Pro I can just get the PoE adapter which would just plug into the UDM Pro. But the WAN is only 1 Gb vs 2.5 Gb. Almost a $200 difference.
Would this be a better middle ground than just the Express 7?
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Ubiquiti says 1500 sq ft, but a single strategically centrally placed AP or node can potentially do a reasonably good job in covering an entire 2200 sq ft home with slow zones and no dead zones in important areas. A single Amplifi HD was almost good enough for a 1400 sq ft townhouse broadcasting from the basement (just barely not good enough for me). Needing more than 2 nodes or AP is unlikely unless you have like a 4000+ sq ft house and first world problems of reasons of wanting to get the speed you paid for everywhere in your home, no matter the situation. A $139 U6+ on wifi 6 isn't going to be woefully bad vs a $239 U7 pro vs a $285 Express 7, but sometimes that incremental increase in performance is noticeable. The nice part is that an upgrade from wifi 6 to wifi 7 is "just" $239 and keeping the U6+ means you're backwards compatible in case some device is being weird about wifi 7 (which no all devices can take advantage of).
Keep in mind I believe you said you're going from TP link to a Ubiquiti product. There may not be as big of a need for as many nodes. That's what I noticed when I changed from TP link mesh stuff.
I'm not understanding the attempt to combine the Pro SE and Express 7 from a budget POV. That's $1000 in equipment. Express 7 is more expensive than an AP and is unnecessary if you have a gateway like the UDM Pro regular or SE. The moment you get a UDM, you go AP. I think some of the confusion is how you're using this based on what you were going to buy and the switch lite 8 is throwing off the numbers because it's a $139 switch. That's why the SE was recommended because it's $160 more than the base Pro with the nicer integrated form factor and you theoretically don't need POE switches if you get the SE vs base/mesh.
POE injectors are like $15 for POE, $20 for POE+ and $30 for POE++. For $100 you can buy something like a 8 port gigabit with 8x POE+) Individual injectors seem kinda silly unless specific situations. The one linked below should be enough, unless you need more than one area for POE?
https://www.amazon.ca/NETGEAR-Gigabi...4&sr=8-12&th=1
Without knowing more... IMO:
Original plan: 2x Express 7 with Switch lite 8 = $719
"Slimmed down approach/limited future proofing" $285 + $100-200 = $385-485: 1x Express 7 in central location on main floor + POE switch(es) in utility room feeding ethernet elsewhere.
Use the ethernet drop from main floor to utility room. The drop from the main floor goes to a POE switch in the utility room, which then goes from there to the board to offer hard wired ethernet to the rest of the house such as the original switch lite 8 idea or more ($100-200)? Cat6 does 1 Gbps up to 328 feet. Going from main floor to basement to top floor shouldn't exceed that limitation? Just make sure you don't accidentally buy a POE switch that isn't gigabit+ (I've made this mistake). I don't know the size/layout and materials in the house. In theory, you shouldn't have any dead zones, just perhaps some slow zones. The question is if the basement and upstairs are too slow for your situation. When I lived in a townhouse, an Amplifi HD in the basement with a 500 Mbps plan was giving 15-55 Mbps speed test results on the top floor, but with occasional lag and drops lasting up to 10-30 seconds. Putting the HD on the main floor would have worked fine, but didn't work for me because somehow I didn't have coax connection up there, basement only. I also assume the Express 7 is more powerful than a 10 year old AmpliFi HD increasing the odds you're fine with a slimmed down approach. Wifi speed failure merely means you revert back to the original $719 plan.
"Revised approach/full future proofing" ($585 + 100 + 129 + 129/239(?) = $814-1053): Basically, UDM Pro + POE switch in utility room feeding ethernet and power where it needs to be. Inexpensive U6+ AP in a strategic location(s) on main floor to stay lower on budget. Add an AP later on when the budget affords (U6+ or U7 for $129-239) if the strategically placed U6+ 1500 sq ft rating is inadequate. Keep in mind you can reposition your single AP between the day and night for work vs personal with relative ease unlike the Express 7 which would be more cumbersome because node 1 has to be tethered to the modem. This means because the UDM doesn't have to move, you could in theory move the AP from East/West or North/South on the main floor during the day/night with ease to maximize where the wifi is being used in the house. If all went well, you'd potentially only be buying a second AP for $129-239 at a later time for convenience purposes a want of wifi 7, not true need. This path might cost an extra bucks for cables and a few more steps on the step counter though.