Done with Consumer WiFi solutions...

[indes]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

So... the UDM Pro is on sale right now for $379. A UDM SE is still $667.

The lack of PoE on the Pro isn't that big a deal for me - I need an additional switch and can get the 3 or so PoE ports I need that way. But the 2.5GB WAN port on the SE is appealing from a future proofing perspective (and 2.5GB is a big part of justifying this purchase). I know I can use a 10G SFP module on the UDM-Pro WAN SFP if it comes to that, but the RJ45 would be easier. I likely wont run cameras on this system.

Should I just go UDM-Pro? Or am I missing any other reasons to go with a SE?

Those are the two big draws for the SE - the 2.5g and the PoE. If you're not using them the pro seems like the way to go for that price difference, can deal with the SFP upgrade when the time comes.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

So... the UDM Pro is on sale right now for $379. A UDM SE is still $667.

The lack of PoE on the Pro isn't that big a deal for me - I need an additional switch and can get the 3 or so PoE ports I need that way. But the 2.5GB WAN port on the SE is appealing from a future proofing perspective (and 2.5GB is a big part of justifying this purchase). I know I can use a 10G SFP module on the UDM-Pro WAN SFP if it comes to that, but the RJ45 would be easier. I likely wont run cameras on this system.

Should I just go UDM-Pro? Or am I missing any other reasons to go with a SE?

The decision is probably closer than you think. The costs of the extra stuff you need to bridge the SE and Pro features is pretty dang close to that price difference. And then you pay a premium to have less bulk. Hard to say.

Check how much more it might cost to get your POE switch(es) and see how far the difference in final price might be. That $288 difference might erode quickly with the features built into the SE. If you're particular about things being neat and tidy, the SE will be significantly superior to the Pro in accomplishing that if it has a POE built in. IMO, the primary reason to choose SE over Pro is the bulk. After factoring in the POE and switch difference, is paying the remaining difference on a neater looking set up worth it to you?

But let's get back down to brass tacks. A UDM pro is overkill and a UDM SE is the next level up. You'll probably use that thing for like 10 years though vs other consumer grade #### that you'd have to replace every 18-36 months.

I have a UDM Pro. I had it before the SE was announced. Knowing what I know now, not having extra POE adapters makes it look so much cleaner. Same as not having extra switches with extra power cords etc. (Switches that are powered by POE) Not to mention each individual POE adapter is like $40-60, so if you do around 2 AP (assume same cost for either unit), that's $100 right there in difference and perhaps $10-20 patch cables and extra cables and a ton of extra bulk to organize or hide. Good switches with POE are harder to find/decide on than you'd think and cost more than expected. I think I paid $70 for a switch made with metal that has 4 ports one of which is POE. For what you're looking for, are those switches $100-150 each to have multiple POE and switches with POE that aren't enterprise level + seem to be more prone to failure since some are not well designed to disperse heat. But man, if the POE was built into the UDM and then I could also use switches at the upstairs ports that could be powered by POE, oh boy, that would be so slick to have less cables and power cords all over the place.

The remaining difference to future proof via the WAN isn't bad, but I honestly have no idea what to do with it.

[taxbuster]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

The decision is probably closer than you think. The costs of the extra stuff you need to bridge the SE and Pro features is pretty dang close to that price difference. And then you pay a premium to have less bulk. Hard to say.

Check how much more it might cost to get your POE switch(es) and see how far the difference in final price might be. That $288 difference might erode quickly with the features built into the SE. If you're particular about things being neat and tidy, the SE will be significantly superior to the Pro in accomplishing that if it has a POE built in. IMO, the primary reason to choose SE over Pro is the bulk. After factoring in the POE and switch difference, is paying the remaining difference on a neater looking set up worth it to you?

But let's get back down to brass tacks. A UDM pro is overkill and a UDM SE is the next level up. You'll probably use that thing for like 10 years though vs other consumer grade #### that you'd have to replace every 18-36 months.

I have a UDM Pro. I had it before the SE was announced. Knowing what I know now, not having extra POE adapters makes it look so much cleaner. Same as not having extra switches with extra power cords etc. (Switches that are powered by POE) Not to mention each individual POE adapter is like $40-60, so if you do around 2 AP (assume same cost for either unit), that's $100 right there in difference and perhaps $10-20 patch cables and extra cables and a ton of extra bulk to organize or hide. Good switches with POE are harder to find/decide on than you'd think and cost more than expected. I think I paid $70 for a switch made with metal that has 4 ports one of which is POE. For what you're looking for, are those switches $100-150 each to have multiple POE and switches with POE that aren't enterprise level + seem to be more prone to failure since some are not well designed to disperse heat. But man, if the POE was built into the UDM and then I could also use switches at the upstairs ports that could be powered by POE, oh boy, that would be so slick to have less cables and power cords all over the place.

The remaining difference to future proof via the WAN isn't bad, but I honestly have no idea what to do with it.

Similar. I have a UDMPro....great machine and I looked (greedily!) at the SE. But the reality is that Gig Fibre provides more than enough capacity for our rural home with multiple cams, a large variety of IoT devices (mostly on POE switches), 3 APs and multiple additional switches in weird locations to cover our 2.5 ac.


While it would provide some reduction in wire count, and some degree of future-proofing, my guess is that, by the time the future-proofing is required...the "UDM Pro-Future" will not be the SE, but something much, much better.


My approach: buy for now and the very near future. Update when required.

[photon]

My ASUS router might be entering its "reboot every so often" phase which is usually a precursor to the router dying (been to this dance before).

So have been thinking if I want to do something more robust. House is not huge (2800 square feet) and I currently have the router in my office on the main floor as when it was in the basement it didn't work so well upstairs, but I like the idea of some kind of mesh or multiple access points so I can remove that from my office and just have it permanent in the house. I do have Cat5e in various places so I should be pretty flexible (though if I wanted to mount something on the ceiling that might be more complicated).

Add into this I've been thinking about getting some security cameras but don't really like the idea of a cloud subscription, so the UniFi stuff looks interesting.

That said, it seems like a pretty big commitment for everything I'd need for the UniFi? What would I need to get that going? The cloud gateway, 2-3 access points (1 per floor?), and whatever I wanted/needed for cameras and recording?

I do have a Synology NAS, so I guess the other option would be to look at the AmpliFi stuff and look at cameras that are compatible with my Synology?

Any other potential paths I'm missing?

[Diemenz]

Where is your modem?
And wired requirements do you have in the house? (Things that need to be hardwired)

[Diemenz]

Dream router : $266
U6 LR :239
This Unifi Ubiquiti Compatible Horizontal Wall Mount for UAP-AC-PRO, HD, SHD, U6-PRO https://a.co/d/8FTvqAY (or any other wall mount you would like): $29

Put the dream router in the basement, feeding the rest of the house. Use that mount and put the U6 LR high up a wall on the top floor hopefully some where central. If you need to buy some cabling cover you can get that on Amazon as well for under $30. You will have more than enough coverage for the entire house and the dream router will power the LR as well as give you great coverage mixed with with LR.

The new UniFi setup almost does everything for you so it’s much less technical then it used to be. A few settings need to be optimized but beyond that you will be good to go and not have to worry about it for another 6 years or so.

I’m still on my gear I bought 6 years ago (minus a DReam machine pro I got 3 years ago) and everything runs amazing.

[photon]

Originally Posted by Diemenz

Where is your modem?
And wired requirements do you have in the house? (Things that need to be hardwired)

Modem is currently in my office but I can have it downstairs where all the Ethernet wiring comes together too. Currently I have the modem and wifi in my office and then run one cable down to a switch to feed the rest of the house, but it's easy to change it around.

There isn't much that NEEDS to be hard wired though I do hard wire whatever I possibly can.

Thanks for the suggestion, that does seem very reasonable.

[photon]

Is there a good app to use on iPhone to test signal strength and such?

EDIT: Thinking about it Apple probably doesn't give apps that kind of access to the hardware, I'd probably be better off with something for my laptop.

[Diemenz]

Originally Posted by photon

Is there a good app to use on iPhone to test signal strength and such?

EDIT: Thinking about it Apple probably doesn't give apps that kind of access to the hardware, I'd probably be better off with something for my laptop.

UniFi has an app called WiFiman which works with their hardware to manage signal strength and speed throughout the house an access points.

[DoubleF]

If you don't do the Unifi route, the Amplifi route is good too. Buy a single Amplifi HD router and see if it's enough. If no, add one more and you're likely done. It depends what you want.

I have had both and amplifi was fantastic. The only reason why I'm using a Unifi setup was pandemic boredom. Same company but Amplifi the non tech savvy version and Unifi the nerd version.

https://ca.store.ui.com/ca/en/pro/pr...h-wi-fi-system

This one you can set up within 10-20 minutes in the easiest UI I've ever seen and it's basically good to go for a long. Unifi you may have to tweak more, but not too hard to follow guides.

My parents use a single Amplifi HD router in a 2000 Sq ft house and coverage and speeds are superior to a deco p3 mesh system. One router and at least one more node should be plenty for 2800 Sq ft. Amplifi was plenty fast but not max my internet plan. My Unifi setup is like 1.5-2.5x more expensive than the amplifi HD setup, still noticeably faster and closer to max, but way more tweaking.

[photon]

With the Amplifi stuff does the 2nd one need to be on a wired connection? Or I guess should/can it be?

EDIT: Rebooted my router after updating the firmware and wifi speeds seem a bit better, but I can't pull up the wifi UI webpage now. Guess I might need to replace it sooner rather than later.

EDIT2: Hm the Amplifi Alien one has Wifi 6, but it has a fan, which I don't want if I put it in my office where the current router is.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by photon

With the Amplifi stuff does the 2nd one need to be on a wired connection? Or I guess should/can it be?

EDIT: Rebooted my router after updating the firmware and wifi speeds seem a bit better, but I can't pull up the wifi UI webpage now. Guess I might need to replace it sooner rather than later.

EDIT2: Hm the Amplifi Alien one has Wifi 6, but it has a fan, which I don't want if I put it in my office where the current router is.

Sorry, I never used the mesh points. I used two routers and set the second router as a mesh point (with additional features) but I think it's the same.

AFAIK, with the mesh points, you cannot hard wire them (ethernet backhaul), it's wifi only. The AmpliFi mesh system is plenty fast and blows away old systems and low end mesh systems without a second thought.

It's your call whether to try and wait it out and go with 2x AmpliFi HD routers at $199 x 2 = 398 (but out of stock) or whether at $453 for the HD mesh kit (currently available) which is a single router and two wifi mesh points, would suffice for your purposes. The absolute worst case scenario if you go with the mesh kit is that you can always buy another Amplifi (not Unifi) router to add to the mesh system as an ethernet backbone mesh point. You also retain the options to sell a mesh point or two to pay for that router.

The AmpliFi routers are also much stronger broadcasting vs other lower end routers I've previously used. It's possible you might be able to put it elsewhere and still get strong wifi, thus rendering the fan inside the unit issue a non-issue if you can move it out of your office and still be satisfied.

[photon]

Yeah sorry meant for using 2 Amplifi HD routers can you use an ethernet backhaul and that answers my question. They do seem hard to find now, and the Alien one is quite a bit more expensive.

I see a few used Amplifi HD routers on Facebook, maybe will check those out.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by photon

Yeah sorry meant for using 2 Amplifi HD routers can you use an ethernet backhaul and that answers my question. They do seem hard to find now, and the Alien one is quite a bit more expensive.

I see a few used Amplifi HD routers on Facebook, maybe will check those out.

The nice thing about the AmpliFi ecosystem is that you can buy one, test it out and then add as needed to address slow and dead zones in your home using Wifiman app. No need to wait for the whole kit like other systems. A single 5 year old AmpliFi HD blew away a 2 year old Deco P3 system with 3 nodes at my parents place and the Deco P3 blew away basic $150 ASUS routers of yore.

Good luck! I hope you find a solution you like.

[photon]

$100 for a used HD with the mesh extenders and the guy selling said he's selling because he updated to a full Unifi system so pretty cheap place to start.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by photon

$100 for a used HD with the mesh extenders and the guy selling said he's selling because he updated to a full Unifi system so pretty cheap place to start.

That's a heck of a good deal if all components are working to spec.

[photon]

The guy says he's selling as he updated to a full Unifi setup so hoping it's in good shape.

[wireframe]

Can I get some wifi advice from all the experts in this thread? I want to improve my wifi speeds in a 950 sqft 50s bungalow. The modem is in the corner of the basement and an old Telus router reaches everywhere in my small house but can be spotty in the opposite corner upstairs. I work from home, stream some movies, and play Nintendo online.


Can anyone recommend a good single router or mesh setup without breaking my bank open?

[keratosis]

Originally Posted by wireframe

Can I get some wifi advice from all the experts in this thread? I want to improve my wifi speeds in a 950 sqft 50s bungalow. The modem is in the corner of the basement and an old Telus router reaches everywhere in my small house but can be spotty in the opposite corner upstairs. I work from home, stream some movies, and play Nintendo online.


Can anyone recommend a good single router or mesh setup without breaking my bank open?

TP-link makes some really good mesh systems.
Depending on the speeds you're looking for, something like this ?
https://www.amazon.ca/TP-Link-WiFi-A...dp&th=1&psc=1#
I've been rocking my deco 9+ for a couple of years now in a 2800sq ft house.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by wireframe

Can I get some wifi advice from all the experts in this thread? I want to improve my wifi speeds in a 950 sqft 50s bungalow. The modem is in the corner of the basement and an old Telus router reaches everywhere in my small house but can be spotty in the opposite corner upstairs. I work from home, stream some movies, and play Nintendo online.


Can anyone recommend a good single router or mesh setup without breaking my bank open?

My parents have a 2000 sq ft house and while the Deco P9 I got them was good and inexpensive, a single, 5 year old Amplifi HD router blew that system away (and they still have the option to add units to mesh, but it doesn't seem necessary). That router is now 8-9 years old and still going strong without a single issue at all. The Deco nodes started getting finicky after around a year of use and one failed by 18 months.

Deco are good options for inexpensive entry level mesh systems IMO, but if I had a tight budget, I'd look into used Amplifi mesh units like Photon did than put another Deco system into my parents place. Deco was good, but Amplifi was and still is amazing.

Amplifi UI also had the most ridiculously easy set up I've ever experienced and an easy to use app. Amplifi also has more features and looks sleeker than the Deco units. The Deco app was inexplicably confusing and hard to navigate for an app/device with relatively little settings to tweak.