[w0utert]

>> Don't bother with repeaters. Get normal access points, and install several of them if you need to disperse the range around a large area/building/complex.

Or better yet, buy a bunch of Ubiqity UniFi's, which were specifically made for this purpose and should provide the most seamless and efficient way to blanket your house in Wifi (provided you already have cabling to the access points). They are not cheap, but also not extremely expensive compared to a decent router either.

[technofiend]

>Or better yet, buy a bunch of Ubiqity UniFi's

Warning: do not follow this advice; Ubuiqiti products are like potato chips in that you can never eat just one.

Oh I'll get the AC PRO access point, you think. Five minutes later you've set it via quick QR code scan and the UniFi app. That was painless! No wonder people recommend these things.

Oh wait I need to make some more device tweaks but UniFi won't do it.. better get the cloud key thingy that manages the device. I'll have one of those.

A couple of months go by and you discover your Google Home device or NEST doesn't work with beam steering. Wait, you can manage the advanced AC PRO settings using their own software? Fine I'll build a small PC to run that since if you're going to do it may as well see the stats all the time.

Hmm... KRACK/sploit-du-jour is out, maybe I'll just get a new Edgerouter since it's already fixed there. Oh wait, there's a fringy area in my house I'll bet another AC PRO or maybe an AirMax repeater would be just the thing.

Oh dear, I seem to be running out of ports, better go ahead and get a nice POE switch since that'll declutter things a bit. Etc.

[lunchables]

So true. Started with a couple AC AP PRO (incredible by the way). Ended up with an edgerouter poe and a poe unifi switch. I'm running the control on a vm on qemu/kvm and the seamless integration is wonderful. Once I plugged in the switch it popped up in the devices section and I could perform a one-click software upgrade, just like the WAP.

I will say that the features in the controller software rivals serious commercial offerings that I've used (Cisco, Meraki, Aerohive).

[johnbellone]

I agree. I purchased some Ubiquity gear a few months back after a condo purchase, and ran into few problems:

- UniFi brand works well for setup, but the cloud controller is necessary for command/control management outside of iOS/Android app.

- EdgeRouter is not a UniFi product and does not act as a cloud controller.

- EdgeRouter X does not deliver 48V PoE; upgrade was needed to power the AC-PRO.

- EdgeRouter UI is horrid and it’s much easier to manage over SSH.

- Cloud Controller is easy to setup, but doesn’t work with all product lines.

tl;dr The hardware is really good, but software is lacking, especially because not all hardware is UniFi compatible.

[technofiend]

My response was tongue in cheek but seriously I recommend budgeting a VM or Raspberry PI to run their controller software which offers the most configuration options.

https://www.ubnt.com/download/unifi/

[slantyyz]

The Unifi cloud stick isn't that much more expensive than a PI, and is probably the least amount of work to set up a dedicated controller.

I use an Atom based PC stick that I had lying around to run the controller (on Windows) and it works great.

[technofiend]

I mistakenly thought the cloud key ran a lesser version of unifi than the distribution found on their website, however googling around implies it's the same version. So I suppose budget for a cloud key or a pi. A raspberry Pi 3 is 64 bit, runs Fedora natively and can serve up other functions beyond the key. So I lean towards the Pi but if they're functionally equivalent I suppose it's down to personal preference.

[rrauenza]

I tried putting it into a docker container, but in the end didn't want to deal with the complexity -- bought a key. Does the VM/Raspberry PI get you anything the key doesn't?

[silverwind]

A Raspberry Pi probably won't do. The controller requires MongoDB which itself is no longer supports the 32 bit architecture which most RPis are running on.

[technofiend]

Pi 3 is 64 bit and natively supported in Fedora.

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/ARM/Raspberry_P...

[rogueresearch]

You mean these UniFi APs don't run a built-in web server to allow configuring them?

[w0utert]

Basically all your objections boil down to the fact that the UniFi's are not very easy to manage.

I'd say none of this matters if you just want to have a few access points around the house for a WiFi network that currently runs on a single standalone router. Nobody said configuring the UniFi's is easy or convenient, but the premise is that you only do it once, using whatever computer you have that you can install the cloud controller on. You don't absolutely need to buy anything besides the AP's, it's only for convenience if your network changes a lot.

[pjc50]

UniFi devices are a bit unusual as wireless APs: not only do they not act as a DHCP server, they require you to have one somewhere else on the network. Generally your uplink router will do this, but it surprised me when I wanted to use one as a standalone AP.

[paulie_a]

In my opinion that is correct behavior. An AP shouldn't have dhcp, it should provide access to a network.

Disclaimer: I have a unifi and edge router and it's a great combo

[tomfanning]

A wireless access point is a completely transparent bridge between wired and wireless networks.

If you want a DHCP server in your Wi-Fi "box", you likely want it to do NAT and DNS as well, and that is a "wireless router".

[vlan0]

That's because you're comparing consumer grade all-in-one routers to a more Enterprise worthy AP.

Consumer grade gear is made to be easy and "just work".

[rvanmil]

Or better yet, get the AmpliFi’s instead of the UniFi’s :)