Wireless 802.11ac Access Point Recommendation

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#1016029 31-Mar-2014 14:10

SumnerBoy: Yeah I had come across that beast, but all I need is an AP. I don't do anything extreme on my WIFI, I just want decent range. So for half the price I have decided to go with the UAP-LR.

Does the UAP-LR do 802.11ac, I thought it was only n?

SumnerBoy

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#1016030 31-Mar-2014 14:11

Yep just 'b/g/n' - i.e. 2.4GHz only.

kiwitrc

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#1016032 31-Mar-2014 14:12

SumnerBoy: Yep just 'b/g/n' - i.e. 2.4GHz only.

Ah, the OP wants ac not n. My comment was aimed at him.

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#1016033 31-Mar-2014 14:13

Apologies. My bad!

networkn

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#1016038 31-Mar-2014 14:21

SumnerBoy: Yeah I had come across that beast, but all I need is an AP. I don't do anything extreme on my WIFI, I just want decent range. So for half the price I have decided to go with the UAP-LR.

I'd be interested to know what range the UAP-LR had compared to the EAP350 I have....

andrewbnz

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#1016293 31-Mar-2014 23:44

nigelj: Don't forget, the Linksys WRT1900AC is due out soon, and it'll actually run OpenWRT with apparently very little effort.

I realise that it isn't a straight access point, but I was doing some research for even N APs and the focus really appears to be on all-in-one boxes (which of course you can disable the routing on)

I have been trialling the WRT1900AC for over a month now and have been pretty impressed with the performance and range of this router. The 5Ghz provides great coverage of my home (150+sqm) and out to the garage through brick walls.

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#1016298 1-Apr-2014 00:09

The Unifi's are great but don't at the moment have band steering so better to setup 2 SSID's (2.4 + 5G) at the moment. See..

http://community.ubnt.com/t5/UniFi-Frequently-Asked-Questions/UniFi-Band-Steering/ta-p/758316

Also (last time I heard) you can't "roam" between 802.1ac SSID's on the Unifi Yet (it may have already been implemented)

IMHO as most devices don't have 802.1ac as of yet it might be more cost effective to get a Unifi Pro (2.4/5G b/g/n)

Otagolad

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#1016438 1-Apr-2014 11:18

I have a 2 story 500sqm house and I use an ASUS RT-AC66U and the coverage is brilliant for both 2.4 and 5Ghz - the ASUS is in my office which is on the 2nd floor in the corner and coverage extends to the end of our 3000sqm section on 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz fully covers the whole house.

ASUS have released the RT-AC68U and its a 1900Mbps router - this should do the OP fine.

littlehead

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#1016445 1-Apr-2014 11:35

I have the Netgear R7000 and a relatively small three story house, and I find the range and throughput on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz excellent, surpassing my expectations really.

In saying that, while the wireless is brilliant, and the file and media capabilities are good as well, as a router I would not recommend it. It does not automatically connect via pppoe requiring you to manually test the connection for it to connect. Quite annoying if you lose power, connection or need to reboot. Firmware upgrades or changing of settings does not fix this, at least for me. It also has no vlan tagging on the wan side, which is a big problem for anyone with a VDSL or UFB connection, which requires an intermediary device between modem/ONT to provide the tag.

I have not tested DD-WRT, which is available,to see whether it fixes these issues, however I have read that wireless performance can be affected with DD-WRT.

So, if you want an access point, then I would recommend it. As a router however, I would not.

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#1016448 1-Apr-2014 11:41

Yah I just want an AP, I have a good router I am not looking to replace it with.

Yabanize

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#1017872 3-Apr-2014 14:09

Ive heard the apple airport extreme is really good

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#1017900 3-Apr-2014 14:38

We have one of the new Airport Time Capsule AC models. While it integrates into our existing Apple ecosystem well, I would have to say that I have been disappointed by the range achievable by both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz spectrums. Our old 2007 single band AirPort Extreme appears to have better range on 2.4 GHz (analysed by the wifi diagnostics program on the Mac and backed up by general usage using single antenna iPhones) than the new model despite all the enthusiastic reviews out there. We have an old 1920's house and 5 GHz does not penetrate our internal walls at all well. You only get that great AC performance within the room that the AP is in, otherwise devices preferentially flick to the 2.4 GHz spectrum that is stronger.

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#1159650 21-Oct-2014 21:57

Sorry to bump an old thread. But does everyone still think that the Ubiquity UniFi AC access points, are the best ones to get? They will just be for my house. Will probably need 2 of them for good coverage. I already have a good router so only want an AP. Not an "all in 1" device. Is there anything else I should consider, Arerohive, Ruckus, Cisco??? As I want something with good range, AC support, And doesn't need to be restarted all the time. Hope Im not asking too much.

billgates

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#1159657 21-Oct-2014 22:20

Aerohive and Ruckus make the best WiFi 📶 AP's I reckon. If you can afford either 802.11AC devices then go for these but remember that you need a valid subscription service from both companies in order to utilize their clod service. Once hardware hits EOL for Aerohive after support plan ends which is 5 years, you can only control it via CLI.

Do whatever you want to do man.

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#1159658 21-Oct-2014 22:20

Aredwood: Is there anything else I should consider, Arerohive, Ruckus, Cisco??? As I want something with good range, AC support, And doesn't need to be restarted all the time. Hope Im not asking too much.

I would recommend Ruckus - personally I've only used the R700 from there AC range; but its been rock solid for us. We haven't had the need to reboot the APs; and they performance really well, in a less than ideal environment. All up we have around 50 Ruckus APs.

Cheers
D

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