Help in choosing and setting up APs

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sbiddle

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#2612157 28-Nov-2020 10:30

Jp576:
What's the better option, 2 cheaper weaker aps i.e 2x uap ac lite vs 1 stronger more expensive ap like nanohd.
Or 2 tp link eap245 for 400 vs 1 ubiquity nanohd for 300+?

That's not a question that can be answered. You can't think of AP's simple as "weaker and stronger". There is also no "better" option.

Every single one of those AP's has very different characteristics and different usage scenarios. The most significant difference between them all is the number of chains, and without knowing what your exact WiFi requirements are - ie do you need 4x4 or is 2x2 sufficient? What are your throughput requirements? What bandwidth will you be using (remembering 20MHz will give you waaaay better coverage than 80MHz @ 5GHz) and so on.

richms

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#2612159 28-Nov-2020 10:32

multiple "weaker" ones will be better. but they all seem to be able to do a decent amount more power than a phone anyway. The differences as you go up the AC ones is basically the number of streams goes up. phones and similar devices will not benifit a huge amount from the fancier faster ones, and even most laptops are still only 2x2 since they have to stick antennas and route cables thru. The 160MHz that the HD offers is prettymuch useless IME since it relies on the DFS channels and unifi gear constantly has false radar detections and will stop using those channels.

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cyril7

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#2612169 28-Nov-2020 11:07

Hi, it all depends on how large an area you are trying to cover, if it is large enough that a single AP is sufficient but not 100% then I would go with two AP's not only will you better cover the area assuming you can place them to best spread the cover, but you will also distribute the traffic load across the two APs, obviously that will only help if clients are not all on one AP. My 2c YMMV.

Cyril

Jp576

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#2612179 28-Nov-2020 11:28

cyril7:
Hi, just be aware that the phone app can only setup one UniFi AP per instance, if you want to run multiple as a single network (which is recommended) then you need to use the controller, as others have said, michaelmurfy has a controller that you can use if you want a full but painless UniFi experience.

As for the Grandstreams, I ran into some at a site recently, it seems a very good a capable solution, and compared to UniFi offers true wireless control therefore results in better roaming etc.

Cyril

So what would i need to run 2aps?

Jp576

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#2616389 4-Dec-2020 16:17

Thanks for all the replies haven't had a chance to properly read all the replies and respond all week with work.

Just a little update.

They're still waiting on their fibre connection but the old owners have left their connection on/connected for a little while and surprisingly my old vodafone ultra hub router worked automatically plug and play with the old owners connection which from what we've been told is trust energy or possibly orcon ( Husband/wife have seperated and got 2 different answers).

From the feedback I've got from them router connected near the kitchen/lounge gives adequate coverage over most of the house. Will go check this weekend possibly.

The problem with this is I can't find a way to use the standard router in the lounge and still connect a couple other ethernet ports around the house to the router as there's no second ethernet pont to return back to the cabinet in the garage if that makes sense?

Secondly If we did go with an AP or 2 will any harddrives connected to the ISP router be discoverable on the wifi network? Im guessing no?

Lastly is it possible to use the isp router wifi and also the secondary ap wifi or is that cause issues?

cyril7

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#2616400 4-Dec-2020 16:29

Hi, I strongly recommend you dont try share files off an ISP's router, even though it may sport ability to do so, but performance will typically be so poor that you will regret having spent any energy getting it going.

but to answer you question yes they would be discoverable, however I strongly recommend you look at getting a NAS if you are serious about sharing files.

As for you earlier post, to run two APs, if you go with UniFi you have two options, 1, setup a controller on a PC locally, or better use a cloud controller, michealmurfy has one, I do also, you are welcome to use it, you get your own individual instance that only you can see (and obviously me as superadmin), so its a painless experience, all you need to do is find the APs on your network and ssh into them with putty or bash, and issue a very simple command, let me know if that suits, or contact micheal for his cloud controller.

Cyril

wratterus

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#2616401 4-Dec-2020 16:31

This makes sense as all 3x of those providers use DHCP with VLAN10.

From the feedback I've got from them router connected near the kitchen/lounge gives adequate coverage over most of the house. Will go check this weekend possibly.

Yes - there is nowhere nearby that does have two ports? It is possible to get 2x 100mbps connections using the same cable, with 2 pairs wired to a separate keystones, but if you want more than 100mbps (well about 94mbps after overheads) than that option is no good.

Secondly If we did go with an AP or 2 will any harddrives connected to the ISP router be discoverable on the wifi network? Im guessing no?

Hard drives? Not sure what you are asking. If you use something like a UniFi AP, or any AP in bridge mode, they are transparent, so everything should talk, doesn't matter what AP you are connected to.

Lastly is it possible to use the isp router wifi and also the secondary ap wifi or is that cause issues?

Yes, definitely possible. Is better not to for a few reasons, mainly management of them, but it can be setup so it's all pretty seamless.

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Jp576

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#2616578 5-Dec-2020 10:48

Cool thanks heaps for all the answers, like I said earlier all my questions isn't just for my brother's case but learning and understanding all this stuff for my own personal use sometime in the future. Actually doesn't seem as daunting as expected.

Cyril7 interesting regarding the HD connected to router. I've never done that in the past but I have years ago setup plex on my PC so could watch the media on my phones/tablet through the plex app and found it worked fine. Both were connected via wifi. I'm assuming the HD connected to router is not the same experience from your comment?

cyril7

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#2616677 5-Dec-2020 14:34

Hi, a router providing SMB service will operate exactly as you had with an SMB share off your PC including be accessible via WiFi. The catch however is that typically routers are not well powered for services other than network related. End result is they provide pretty basic and slow performance. It might not be a big issue for basic music streaming, but higher rate HD and 4k video might be an issue. If you want to do it properly either use a NAS or as you have done in the past create a share on a PC on the network.

Cyril

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