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Ubiquiti all the things: How I fixed my dodgy Wi-Fi

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Re: Ubiquiti all the things: How I fixed my dodgy Wi-Fi

#101

Post by dzhiurgis »

silversmith wrote: post #50
shmerl wrote: post #35

> I got a variety of responses including that I should install the open source dd-wrt firmware... No, no, a hundred times no... Silly. If the author doesn't want to follow good advice, too bad for him. I'm using WRT1900ACS with DD-WRT. It works like a charm. > if I buy a product then I expect it to work as advertised and not need to implement hacks to keep it alive. It's not a "hack". It's installing a better quality…

In my experience, the DD-WRT firmwares are on the same level as XDA android images. Yes, the overall feature set is richer, and performance might be better. But all that is offset by some completely ridiculous bugs, like having to modify 5ghz wifi settings only via cli, because touching a single switch on web-based admin panel causes it to die (my current tp-link). And there have been bugs like that on every router I…

> modify 5ghz wifi settings only via cli,

Sounds better than trying to setup Java though.

Also, I've checked their site a year or two ago, they didn't even had 802.11ac option at that time.

That said, they do have pretty annoying bugs, but hey, its supports hundreds of devices... Anyway, apparently DD-WRT hasn't been a good choice for years and, according to kids, OpenWRT should be replaced with https://lede-project.org .

Re: Ubiquiti all the things: How I fixed my dodgy Wi-Fi

#102

Post by gogopuppygogo »

PietdeVries wrote: post #91
OriginalPenguin wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. And here I was just thinking with this week's Netgear security vulnerability, maybe it was time to switch to Ubiquiti. Guess I'll just wait for the Netgear patch and save my money.

I have two of their products, and must say: when they work, they work awesome! Range is great, monitoring is great - just compliments. But a firmware upgrade on their access point caused quite a lot of trouble. And with only one access point I seemed to be the lucky one, others had more work fixing it. Some got bricked when trying to revert to the old firmware. Support forum should provide background information if r…

If you can afford it a Ruckus Wireless solutions has yet to disappoint me. Though the Brocade acquisition leaves a lot of questions on the table for their future.

Re: Ubiquiti all the things: How I fixed my dodgy Wi-Fi

#103

Post by myrandomcomment »

So I have posted this before as there has been a ton of Ubiquiti threads.

3 story house, 1 AP AC Pro per floor 1 AP AC Pro in the detached office 1 Switch 16 POE in the house 1 Switch 16 POE in the office - 2 x Cat6a between switches in a LAG 1 Security Gateway 3P 1 Cloud Key

I upgraded all the firmware on the complete system as I was typing this message using their app for the iPad.

Run a FreeNAS Mini in the office 2 x 1g in a LAG.

Run Insteon home automation for lights, plugs, HVAC, Camaras, leak & door sensors.

3 TVs with Intel Compute Stick with Kodi plugged into the TV HDMI. Added USB to 1g on the stick and wired to switch. Logitech Harmony remotes (same in every room) for control.

Lots of laptops, phones, pads all wifi. TVs are Wifi for their apps (used Ethernet for Compute Sticks).

Every product here is rock solid and just works (okay Kodi is buggy as is the Windows 10 it runs on).

I love the Ubiquiti gear. We use the APs in the office at work as well. 2 older APs (2 year old models - plan to upgrade soon) with 35+ devices on it at any time (most are developer laptops with lots of traffic to the DC). We use TrueNAS to boot all the servers, etc (FreeNAS commercial version).

So for wifi Ubiquiti is pretty dang good and love FreeNAS (and the IXsystems hardware) if you need a NAS.

For less technical I have recommended Eero to a few people and they all say it is quite good so far.

Re: Ubiquiti all the things: How I fixed my dodgy Wi-Fi

#104

Post by robocat »

thaumaturgy wrote: post #19

I'm happy to see Ubiquiti getting some exposure here and on Reddit and other places recently (and also a bit worried that this means they're about to start releasing garbage and/or get bought by Cisco, since that seems to be a phenomenon that happens). We've been installing and using their gear in deployments all over the place for over 5 years now and it always just works. I think we've had to replace two faulty uni…

> I hate that their management software requires Java though

Yeah, it stinks. But their wi-fi access points have been sooo reliable for us that it is worth the pain. We had random problems with a few other brands' most expensive routers - cost does not equal quality.

As a mitigation, we only run the management software once every many months to make changes to configuration (it is not left running on a server). We lose some logging and things, but everything works fine.

Re: Ubiquiti all the things: How I fixed my dodgy Wi-Fi

#105

Post by robocat »

thaumaturgy wrote: post #19

I'm happy to see Ubiquiti getting some exposure here and on Reddit and other places recently (and also a bit worried that this means they're about to start releasing garbage and/or get bought by Cisco, since that seems to be a phenomenon that happens). We've been installing and using their gear in deployments all over the place for over 5 years now and it always just works. I think we've had to replace two faulty uni…

> I hate that their management software requires Java though

Yeah, it stinks. But their wi-fi access points have been sooo reliable for us that it is worth the pain. We had random problems with a few other brands' most expensive routers - cost does not equal quality.

As a mitigation, we only run the management software once every many months to make changes to configuration (it is not left running on a server). We lose some logging and things, but everything works fine.

Re: Ubiquiti all the things: How I fixed my dodgy Wi-Fi

#106

Post by Johnny555 »

csmajorfive wrote: post #94
Johnny555 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends how much bandwidth you need and what the distance is. A pair of Unifi Nanostations (available in 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz, 900Mhz models), will give you 100Mbit, a pair of Nanobeams will give you up to 450Mbit. I use a single Nanostation 5Ghz out on the front porch to bridge back to my Unifi Wifi node

I need as much bandwidth as I can get over a pretty short distance -- let's say 30 feet. I'm bridging two closets at opposite ends of a hallway. One closet has the WAN connection. The other closet has a bunch of hard wire gear (NAS, home theater, etc).

You could use a pair of airfiber stations to get over 1 Gbit/sec. But they are not cheap. You'd probably be better off finding a way to run fiber (or even cat5) to get 10 gigabit.

Re: Ubiquiti all the things: How I fixed my dodgy Wi-Fi

#107

Post by sprite »

I have Eero but not 100% happy with it. For some reason it sometimes drops the connection to my Macbook Pro. Disconnecting and reconnecting wifi bring the connection back up. I've been thinking of making the switch to Ubiquiti and think that is probably the way I should have gone in the first place.

Re: Ubiquiti all the things: How I fixed my dodgy Wi-Fi

#108

Post by ksec »

Ubiquiti is nice. But, it is not a consumer brand, most consumer dont need all the options and setup. Its consumer version AmpliFi, doesn't rhyme with me.

Hence why i am very sad when I heard the rumors of Airport Extreme being shoved. Most consumer Router as of today, still requires a reset from time to time. Please name me one which doesn't, Linksys, Belkin, Buffalo, Netgear, Dlink, ASUS. Some of these brand may have some router that doesn't require reset, but it is likely 90% of their Range do.

And if you think the top end router may be better, think again, sometimes it may overheat just because it was trying to push the top speed, or too new with buggy firmware.

Router should only be a one time setup cost. Most Enterprise Router brand, Ubnt, Ruckus ( God they are good ), Aruba are all good.

And Apple is the only one i can recommend in a consumer brand, and you only get 2 models to choose from ( Excluding Time Machine ). Cant go wrong, and it is using NetBSD being a bonus.

Re: Ubiquiti all the things: How I fixed my dodgy Wi-Fi

#109

Post by samcrawford »

sargun wrote: post #29
finnn wrote: post #7

Since we're all saying nice things about Ubiquiti, I feel obliged to point out that they are actively violating the GPL: http://libertybsd.net/ubiquiti/

So are the following: -Tesla -Eero -Pluot

Can you provide a reference to how eero is violating the GPL? A quick search did not reveal anything, and they have a page on their website that suggests they meet their obligations under it.

Re: Ubiquiti all the things: How I fixed my dodgy Wi-Fi

#110

Post by alkonaut »

shmerl wrote: post #35

> I got a variety of responses including that I should install the open source dd-wrt firmware... No, no, a hundred times no... Silly. If the author doesn't want to follow good advice, too bad for him. I'm using WRT1900ACS with DD-WRT. It works like a charm. > if I buy a product then I expect it to work as advertised and not need to implement hacks to keep it alive. It's not a "hack". It's installing a better quality…

> It's installing a better quality OS on the device.

That might be the case for my car or TV too - but I just don't want to. I think it's fair to say that when I buy an appliance, if I have to worry about what software it runs (upgrade it, replace it, manage it...) it has failed me. I really don't care if it has a CPU and runs linux, it's a box that should give me wireless internet for a few years and then I replace it because there is a newer standard. If it needed updates along the way it better update itself.

That said - if I can improve it by hacking it somehow, that's fine - but it should of course work as advertised without that.

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