Unifi AP location roof space vrs under the house.

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Unifi AP location roof space vrs under the house.

1 | 2

BlackHand

135 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 19

#2043596 25-Jun-2018 15:34

phrozenpenguin:

I have recently changed to running 2x Unifi AC Lites in the room space. I didn't want to drill and mount them on the ceiling (yes, they don't look too bad - but I would rather have things as clean as possible) although that was the backup plan.

I mounted them pointing down, using the mounting brackets into the wooden trusses that make up my roof. One is 3ft and one is 6ft above the insulation.

Signal wise I get solid 5ghz AC across the house, which is what I was after - with decent speeds as tested to home server. 2.4ghz for other devices also solid.

Temperature as mentioned is the other variable, but I've seen plenty of electronics get plenty warm before. The data sheet lists operating temp up to 70deg C - and I haven't seen that yet in the roof space.

I have a similar setup (but with 1 x UniFi AP HD) mounted in the roof (+-3 ft above insulation) towards the centre of the house (2 levels), signal is perfect even on the ground floor.

phrozenpenguin

868 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 90

#2043600 25-Jun-2018 15:49

I haven't been able to find a way to monitor the Unifi temps - I thought I could query by SNMP but maybe they don't have any thermometers on?

BarTender

3629 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2572

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2043604 25-Jun-2018 15:59

If you want to put APs in your ceiling space then I would look to buy cheap ones off Trademe. I picked up 5 Ruckus APs off Trademe for $100. They are just N not AC but are fast enough for me. I mounted two in the ceiling and if one of them blows up I have spares.

Otherwise I wouldn't recommend it as the ceilings can get very hot and dry which is bad for electronics. Otherwise why would HRV have created a whole business from pumping air around the house from the ceiling.

Otherwise perhaps an outdoor rated AP would be better?

phrozenpenguin

868 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 90

#2043607 25-Jun-2018 16:05

BarTender:

If you want to put APs in your ceiling space then I would look to buy cheap ones off Trademe. I picked up 5 Ruckus APs off Trademe for $100. They are just N not AC but are fast enough for me. I mounted two in the ceiling and if one of them blows up I have spares.

Otherwise I wouldn't recommend it as the ceilings can get very hot and dry which is bad for electronics. Otherwise why would HRV have created a whole business from pumping air around the house from the ceiling.

Otherwise perhaps an outdoor rated AP would be better?

Buying cheap old APs defeats the point for me. I want fast wifi throughout my house, which means 5ghz AC. If mine die, then I will replace and change installation only if temp was the issue.

davidcole

6099 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1465

Trusted

#2043671 25-Jun-2018 16:57

A fast n UniFi is still 300+ mbps. If you’re needing more than that we’d be wondering why you aren’t wired.

Previously known as psycik

Home Assistant: Gigabyte AMD A8 Brix, Home Assistant with Aeotech ZWave Controller, Raspberry PI, Wemos D1 Mini, Zwave, Shelly Humidity and Temperature sensors
Media:Chromecast v2, ATV4 4k, ATV4, HDHomeRun Dual
Server Host Plex Server 3x3TB, 4x4TB using MergerFS, Samsung 850 evo 512 GB SSD, Proxmox Server with 1xW10, 2xUbuntu 22.04 LTS, Backblaze Backups, usenetprime.com fastmail.com Sharesies Trakt.TV Sharesight

phrozenpenguin

868 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 90

#2044384 26-Jun-2018 21:41

davidcole: A fast n UniFi is still 300+ mbps. If you’re needing more than that we’d be wondering why you aren’t wired.

I'm wired to all my static devices but spend a bunch of time on laptop and don't want to be restricted to cable. I thought AC was still in real world usage 3x faster than N?

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

davidcole

6099 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1465

Trusted

#2044435 26-Jun-2018 22:17

I tend to use old uaps as fill on 2.4ghz, and place acs where I do want better coverage/faster. Also use a uap in the roof, since it’s 2nd hand and I don’t care (too much) if it dies. It did survive one summer though.

afe66

3181 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1678

Lifetime subscriber

#2045606 28-Jun-2018 15:35

Thanks for everyone's help.

Its been very useful.

I might look at AP in the roof. As I live in deep south I think the temperature issue would be less a problem.

While I have been grumbling about wifi quality for a year or so, the tipping point was my inability to stream gopro 4k via plex from synology NAS to Sony A1 via ethernet 100Mbs (rest of network is cat6 with gigabit switches) or connect to the NAS using apps on the tv.

(which was partially solved by wrong LAN port selection on the media manager on synology. Can stream outside Plex but not within probably a plex codec issue)

Pilbromatic

20 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 3

#3198227 21-Feb-2024 11:30

Hi all, network engineer and former professional fixed wireless installer here. Thought I'd drop in my two cents in case anyone finds it useful.

I've installed many UniFi APs in customer ceilings over the years, and not one of them had an issue (I can't comment beyond after leaving the company 3 years ago).

Regarding temperature concerns, these APs were in all sorts of roof types in Auckland. Yes it can get warm up there, but the actual electronics are probably fine with temperatures up to about 70 degrees (remember that's the internal temps of the chips - NOT ambient temp!) - I've not checked spec sheets, but that's a general rule of thumb. Previous commenters are correct in that theoretically you shorten the lifespan of the components, however I've not personally seen a failure to due an AP being in a ceiling.

It's important however to place your AP(s) in sensible locations in the ceiling - keep them away from HVAC and ducts, and other metal objects. Personally I always place them above the batts so that they get the best airflow (I've not tried under batts and wouldn't recommend it). Consider where your wall beams are - you might want to place the AP on top of the beam, or possibly on the batts themselves (ensure you don't block the vents - use an ice cream container lid if you need to). I've always laid them upright. There is an argument that upside down coverage would be better, so in my house I'm considering stringing them from the rafters. Metal roofs might cause unwanted reflections. In commercial environments it's said to avoid placing APs in hallways and rather place them above the users - YMMV regarding your home topology.

If your house is steel frame, then don't bother with the ceiling cavity. In fact, don't bother with WiFi at all if you can avoid it. Steel frames are the worst idea ever in my opinion.

A few wireless basics:
- If you can afford it, it's generally better to buy a few APs and turn down the transmit power to cover just the spaces you need.
- Google "co-channel interference".
- I'd also suggest turning off the 2.4 GHz channels in most situations too - stick to 5 GHz if all of your devices support it (which is pretty much everything these days, except a few IoT devices).

Personally I opted for MikroTik cAP (a bit more involved in the config than UniFi, so maybe not recommended for everyone). I have 3 of them in my ceiling cavity and I get great wireless performance. They run warm, but they're fine - and if one were to fail, they're inexpensive.

HTH.

1 | 2