Done with Consumer WiFi solutions...

[Hemi-Cuda]

Yea that long range AP would be good enough for the entire property, especially if you aren't "concerned about speeds". If you are worried about speeds on some of your devices (TV, game systems, etc), then I'd recommend setting up a hidden wifi network that's only broadcasted on the nearest AP, so that you don't have important devices constantly hopping between all 3

[bossy22]

I have an older Amplifi HD router with two meshpoints. I like it because the meshpoints just plug into the wall and are kind of out of sight. The router is in the basement. I'm looking at upgrading now because I need to plug a printer in, that's in my wife's office on the mainfloor, and my son has a gaming PC in his room upstairs. Should I just add couple of Amplifi HD router's and make them meshpoints? Or go with this dream machine and something else?

[indes]

I'm at 3500 including the basement then hoping to get some reliability in the garage and on the back deck.

I went with the in wall because I have all my Cat6 outlets behind my tvs - so I can keep those hardwired with the ports on the in walls.. Even being hardwired I was having issues with the nighthawk and my tvs.

Ironically the only things not hardwired are our work laptops and phones - the most used ones.

Excited to get it all set up! The questions will be flowing I'm sure lol.

[EldrickOnIce]

When we are talking sq ft, are we talking main or all floors included (2 story plus basement)?
I currently have TP link deco mesh, one hardwired and 4 extenders and am so tired of wifi drops, extender disconnects, etc.

[indes]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

When we are talking sq ft, are we talking main or all floors included (2 story plus basement)?
I currently have TP link deco mesh, one hardwired and 4 extenders and am so tired of wifi drops, extender disconnects, etc.

Ya I'm 1100 main floor, 1400 top floor and 1000 basement.

The disconnects and "smart" devices dropping constantly has been driving me absolutely insane! I'll let you know if this ridiculous amount of money on networking fixes my issues haha

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by indes

Ya I'm 1100 main floor, 1400 top floor and 1000 basement.

The disconnects and "smart" devices dropping constantly has been driving me absolutely insane! I'll let you know if this ridiculous amount of money on networking fixes my issues haha

I will wait for your results!
I've got a bit of a challenging setup I think. And I'm not sure I'm smart enough to do this myself.
Hope it works for great for you!

[taxbuster]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

I will wait for your results!
I've got a bit of a challenging setup I think. And I'm not sure I'm smart enough to do this myself.
Hope it works for great for you!

Oh...a challenge....! Do tell!! That's why we're here isn't it?

[Diemenz]

There is a few specific things to setup that aren’t immediately obvious that can really impact performance.

For example if all the devices are hardwired (which I’m assuming they are based on POE+ wireless meshing should be disabled. Auto power is a bad idea. My suggestion is high for 5 medium for 2.4 (again you have overkill on your APs so you might get away with medium 5 and low 2.4). For channels believe it or not but the new console is actually decent at adjusting this based on performance so I leave mine on auto now. Never in a million years would I have done that but the nightly performance check and adjustment works very well.
I created 2 networks, one just for my IOT devices and the other for my high speed devices. My IOT network broadcasts 2.4 only and has things like band steering disabled (obviously).

I enable minimum RSSI to allow devices to transition to the APs. I use 88 to 85 but with 3 APs you could probably go 80-85.
2.4 channel width 20 to make sure all those crap IOTs stay connected. Speed doesn’t matter.
5 channel width 80 / 160 if you want more speed and have less walls. 80 works fine for me to pull 800 down and up reliably.

Make sure multicast DNS is disabled or streaming apps will hate you especially sportsnet now.

[taxbuster]

Originally Posted by Diemenz

There is a few specific things to setup that aren’t immediately obvious that can really impact performance.

For example if all the devices are hardwired (which I’m assuming they are based on POE+ wireless meshing should be disabled. Auto power is a bad idea. My suggestion is high for 5 medium for 2.4 (again you have overkill on your APs so you might get away with medium 5 and low 2.4). For channels believe it or not but the new console is actually decent at adjusting this based on performance so I leave mine on auto now. Never in a million years would I have done that but the nightly performance check and adjustment works very well.
I created 2 networks, one just for my IOT devices and the other for my high speed devices. My IOT network broadcasts 2.4 only and has things like band steering disabled (obviously).

I enable minimum RSSI to allow devices to transition to the APs. I use 88 to 85 but with 3 APs you could probably go 80-85.
2.4 channel width 20 to make sure all those crap IOTs stay connected. Speed doesn’t matter.
5 channel width 80 / 160 if you want more speed and have less walls. 80 works fine for me to pull 800 down and up reliably.

Make sure multicast DNS is disabled or streaming apps will hate you especially sportsnet now.

Good suggestions all!

The only two noteworthy items for me are the minimum RSSI which never seems to work well with iPhones...dunno why...maybe they hang on to their signal well past their best before date? But I and others have had trouble with this enabled. May depend on phone...something to watch though.

Agree on Auto Power OFF...but I'd start at medium on both to avoid interference. If signals drop or seem inadequate then increase. Again, one of those "site specific" variables.

I think the biggest issue for most people is that they pump too many APs into a space so have all kinds of overlap/interference problems that are often hard to resolve. Start small and add...use WiFiMan to map signals and fill in where needed.

[Diemenz]

Fix the iPhone issue by changing the 802.11 DTIM period to 3 in your network settings.
No more issues.
Also enabling BSS Transition will stop them hanging on to weak signals

[indes]

If I make a separate VLan for my IoT devices will they still all work from my wifi or just over the internet? Also if I do that do I have to make a new ssid for another VLan?

[taxbuster]

Originally Posted by Diemenz

Fix the iPhone issue by changing the 802.11 DTIM period to 3 in your network settings.
No more issues.
Also enabling BSS Transition will stop them hanging on to weak signals

Thanks -- will give that a shot!! Hadn't seen those suggestions anywhere!

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by bossy22

I have an older Amplifi HD router with two meshpoints. I like it because the meshpoints just plug into the wall and are kind of out of sight. The router is in the basement. I'm looking at upgrading now because I need to plug a printer in, that's in my wife's office on the mainfloor, and my son has a gaming PC in his room upstairs. Should I just add couple of Amplifi HD router's and make them meshpoints? Or go with this dream machine and something else?

Keep the HDs if you like them. For basic Wifi, the Amplifi are easier to deal with than the Dream machine. But if you will pair up the dream machine with extra stuff, then you go that direction.

I have no issues with the dream machine. But my in-laws keep having weird issues that I cannot replicate because their devices hate wifi6. I had to buy an extra AP that doesn't use wifi6 so that they could connect that way without issues.

[indes]

Wow. I just started playing around with the UDM SE tonight along with the wifi 6 LR and one In Wall 6.

I managed to create a couple networks and tinker with some settings which was fun. I'm very impressed with how user friendly the UI is for someone who isn't an IT Professional.

The speeds are unreal so far. With the LR I was able to get 600mbps in the basement, 400 on the main floor and 220 in the farthest corner on the top floor. Then once I hooked up the IW-6 on the main floor I was able to get 800+ on the main and top floor.

3 APs was probably overkill but hopefully with the right strengths I'll have a rock solid system and can put downtime behind me!

[taxbuster]

Originally Posted by indes

Wow. I just started playing around with the UDM SE tonight along with the wifi 6 LR and one In Wall 6.

I managed to create a couple networks and tinker with some settings which was fun. I'm very impressed with how user friendly the UI is for someone who isn't an IT Professional.

The speeds are unreal so far. With the LR I was able to get 600mbps in the basement, 400 on the main floor and 220 in the farthest corner on the top floor. Then once I hooked up the IW-6 on the main floor I was able to get 800+ on the main and top floor.

3 APs was probably overkill but hopefully with the right strengths I'll have a rock solid system and can put downtime behind me!

Sweet! And yes, 3 APs is probably overkill, so tune really carefully. WifiMan has a nice signal mapper built in as well and that will probably assist.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by indes

Wow. I just started playing around with the UDM SE tonight along with the wifi 6 LR and one In Wall 6.

I managed to create a couple networks and tinker with some settings which was fun. I'm very impressed with how user friendly the UI is for someone who isn't an IT Professional.

The speeds are unreal so far. With the LR I was able to get 600mbps in the basement, 400 on the main floor and 220 in the farthest corner on the top floor. Then once I hooked up the IW-6 on the main floor I was able to get 800+ on the main and top floor.

3 APs was probably overkill but hopefully with the right strengths I'll have a rock solid system and can put downtime behind me!

I have 2 APs. The Wifi6 LR AP is probably enough, but inexplicably, my in-laws always have weird issues connecting with only the LR AP. I have an "older" non-wifi6 AP as a "legacy" connection point.

I added an AC lite non-Wifi6 AP and those issues went away. I don't know what the real issue is, but it seemed that their phones and laptops wouldn't connect directly to the Wifi6 LR AP at times without me restarting the AP. However, their phones would happily connect via the AC lite and then migrate to the LR AP at a later time. It was the weirdest thing. Their devices weren't even older than my oldest devices, but only when they showed up did connectivity issues start to arise. I wonder if it was because some of their devices were locked by their IT department and it was talking to my set up in a weird way that was confusing the hell out of it.

Kinda annoying because I literally sold an "extra" AC lite AP thinking I didn't need it after successfully testing the LR. I had to keep an eye out on the Ubiquiti website for months to buy one back to solve their problem after their devices kept having issues connecting via Wifi6.

I never did find out what the issue was... but less than $150 to brain dead solve the issue was worth it.

Maybe I'll tune the AP sometime over Christmas and make the cables less ugly and gross. I don't really want to figure out how to hang the AP on the ceiling or hang it on the wall without a crazy amount of cable pulling or whatnot though... But the in wall AP that has built in PoE and ethernet ports out seem like it would be worth the hassle to figure out. I would just have to figure out how to position it along with the AC lite and LR (or replace and sell the LR) to tune appropriately. Currently, both are just plugged in and sitting flat face up on the top of a shelf or table. Properly wall or ceiling mounting could give significant benefits to overall speed and heat dissipation IMO. I know my AP are sorta interfering with each other. My overall speeds connected to the U6 LR are slower with two AP than with the one AP alone. I still don't know how to proceed understanding the theory yet. I'll probably need a few hours of nerding it up over the holidays to figure out what I want to do.

https://ca.store.ui.com/ca/en/collec...wifi-6-in-wall

I can't believe I didn't see this before (unless it was sold out). It's the same price as the U6 LR. It seems like it would be so much cleaner and more utile if I were to replace the office wall plate with this. There's also this mount which is also damn nifty... assuming I can get the cable well hidden... without drilling more holes into the wall.

https://ca.store.ui.com/ca/en/collec...fi-accessories

I'm still confused as hell about a bunch of the different theories about ceiling mounting vs wall mounting though. It does seem like proper wall or ceiling mounting can help to use the house structure to amplify/reduce power of the signal? What I read though makes it seem like there's conflicting theories about it though and I'm still barely past the proper settings on my current set up.

The safer project for me though is to first move/better organize my networking area in my utility room to a lower heat and safer lower traffic location than it currently is. I have the perfect spot. I just need to move it and then improve my patch cables/switches/UPS/rack/server set up and then put together a dust shroud with good air flow/fan to ensure it doesn't gunk up and doesn't trap heat in that nook in the utility room. That room gets warm because of the old furnace.


Random: I took a look at the Ubiquiti website today. There's UDM, UDM-Pro and UD-SE available right now on the Canada site. You have to login to see availability on some of them. There's also a ton of the AP available and some of the other accessories and stuff are available. It might be worth doing some shopping before people get overly excited to blow their wad on Black Friday. (Unsure if Ubiquiti website would go bonkers on sale, but availability has been a bigger issue than price for a while now, so paying the premium is probably a smarter decision).

[indes]

I don't want to post the picture of how scabby my U6-In Wall is haha. But it's behind my tv hanging on a nail and it works great so what can you do. (I need to figure out how to put an end on my cat 6 cable to install it properly).

I'm now struggling with getting my Optik Tv working with the UDM. I found a great walkthrough on GitHub but keep getting an error when I try to execute in SSH.

Does anyone here have it working?

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by indes

I don't want to post the picture of how scabby my U6-In Wall is haha. But it's behind my tv hanging on a nail and it works great so what can you do. (I need to figure out how to put an end on my cat 6 cable to install it properly).

I'm now struggling with getting my Optik Tv working with the UDM. I found a great walkthrough on GitHub but keep getting an error when I try to execute in SSH.

Does anyone here have it working?

The issue I have with my AP positioning is that I think I'm easily halving the efficacy or more from where I have put it. If I could get it in a place that's unobstructed, that would be awesome. I also believe that if it's mounted on a nail rather than the thermostat looking metal mount it comes with, it's not doing as well. I believe that if it's properly wall or ceiling mounted, it can somehow use the wall/ceiling to more effectively send the signals.

Could your situation be an issue with authorization or IP address?

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by indes

I don't want to post the picture of how scabby my U6-In Wall is haha. But it's behind my tv hanging on a nail and it works great so what can you do. (I need to figure out how to put an end on my cat 6 cable to install it properly).

I'm now struggling with getting my Optik Tv working with the UDM. I found a great walkthrough on GitHub but keep getting an error when I try to execute in SSH.

Does anyone here have it working?

If you want a proper wall plug for the cat6 you can buy them easily, and you don't need a crimper. You just follow the colour coding and clamp it in.

[indes]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

If you want a proper wall plug for the cat6 you can buy them easily, and you don't need a crimper. You just follow the colour coding and clamp it in.

I didn't realize there were clamp on ones, I'll have to take a look at those. Right now I have the wall plate with a female end, then I run a cable to the IW. I need to remove the plate with the female and put a male cat 6 end on the cable then screw the mounting bracket to the gangbox. It's mostly laziness holding me back haha.

I just nailed the metal bracket to the wall 8" to the left of the gangbox and clipped everything in. Beautiful? No. Functional? Absolutely.

I started messing with the power levels on my APs but have yet to get anything better than leaving them on auto with fast roam enabled.