Thinking about the new home setup

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voy1d

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Topic # 222907 3-Sep-2017 11:53

So, I'm getting closer to settlement now and part of that is now thinking about what I want the place to look like from a connectivity point of view.

I've stipulated what I need for each room and the lounge shall have two data points (one on each side) and each bedroom will have one. In hindsight, I wish had gotten more, but them is the breaks.

Given the designs of the house the ONT + networking gear will all be in a cupboard by the front door, meaning that the AP in that area will be completely useless. However, I have been doing some reading and am a bit of a fan of the Ubiquiti gear (will keep the FritzBox as a router for the mean time with the idea of updating to an Edge Router at a later point in time).

I intend on purchasing the following;

2 x Ubiquiti UniFi Switch US-8, 8-Port Gigabit Managed Switch (I appreciate I don't need managed switches, but would likely need this to power the AP below?)

2 x Ubiquiti UniFi UAP-IW, N150 (150Mbps) In-Wall Wireless Access Point

Has anyone had any experience with the In-Wall Wireless AP's at all? I like the idea because then I can setup one in the lounge downstairs and the study upstairs and get decent coverage of the house (perhaps a 3rd one upstairs as well later on)

I'm a bit of a newbie at this, so if anyone has any other thoughts, I'm interested to hear.

richms

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Reply # 1857542 3-Sep-2017 12:21

IME the AC inwall is a bit crap for evenness of coverage. I put one above my workbench in the shed and devices 5-6m away from it would still hop over to the AP in the garage or the house, which are the normal AC PRO ones. Move a meter and suddenly the signal from the inwall goes up about 10dB and is better than from another building.

They still dont have the switch in them working in a usable way, they have added some VLAN controls to it but nothing much.

Also why would you get an N150 AP these days?

The cheap US8 doesnt do power on all the ports, just the last one, and can be powered by the first one. You probably want one of the other 8 port ones that either have 4 or 8 powered ports on them. Also they are not poe+ (802.3at) so cant run some devices. I have put 2 of the cheap US8 out by the games consoles and the PC's desk since they get powered back from the switch in the rack, meaning one less wall wart to worry about. Using the unifi switches makes some VLAN config really easy for example if you want to make a seperate vlan for guests, or one that has a different DHCP server to use a DNS unblocker etc.

Richard rich.ms

Aredwood

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Reply # 1857795 4-Sep-2017 00:19

Wifi speeds get quoted in layer 1 speeds. So there is no way that you will ever get a 150Mbit speedtest using an N150 AP. 20Mbit would be more likely. (It's the Wifi version of PMPO watts used in stereo system output figures)

Definitely get AC band capable APs since you are doing a new install and you will be getting fibre.

voy1d

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Reply # 1858363 4-Sep-2017 19:07

Thanks for the feedback. In that case would I be better to go for the following;

1 x Ubiquiti UniFi Switch US-8-60W, 8-Port Gigabit Managed PoE Switch, with 4 x PoE (Max 60W)

1 - 2 x Ubiquiti UniFi UAP-AC-IW Dual-band AC1200 (300+867Mbps) In-Wall Wi-Fi Access Point with PoE Passthrough Port 3 x Gigabit LAN, 48V Passive PoE / 802.3af - 7W, No PoE Adapter Included

The switch generates up to 60W for PoE and the In Wall AP's will consume up to 7W leaving plenty of energy left over.

Jase2985

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Reply # 1858418 4-Sep-2017 20:24

does the passive PoE AP work on the 802.11af PoE ports?

michaelmurfy

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Reply # 1858423 4-Sep-2017 20:33

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Here is my 2c. The in-wall AP's are pretty weak. Save your money. Take a look at the following options:

Grandstream GWN7000 Enterprise Multi-WAN Gigabit VPN Router - Here.
Grandstream GWN7610 Enterprise 802.11ac WiFi Access Point - Here.
PoE Adapter - Here.

Total cost comes below what you're willing to spend. The Grandstream gear is incredibly good for the money (I've got a damn positive review coming soon). The Router has a built in WiFi controller so you manage your network from one place and features most of the stuff the Edgerouter can do. You're futureproofing yourself too since just like the Edgerouter it can route Gigabit with ease. From here since you don't need managed switches just save your money and grab some cheaper TP-Link Gigabit switches to pop around the house.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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voy1d

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Reply # 1858783 5-Sep-2017 11:03

michaelmurfy:

Here is my 2c. The in-wall AP's are pretty weak. Save your money. Take a look at the following options:

Grandstream GWN7000 Enterprise Multi-WAN Gigabit VPN Router - Here.
Grandstream GWN7610 Enterprise 802.11ac WiFi Access Point - Here.
PoE Adapter - Here.

Total cost comes below what you're willing to spend. The Grandstream gear is incredibly good for the money (I've got a damn positive review coming soon). The Router has a built in WiFi controller so you manage your network from one place and features most of the stuff the Edgerouter can do. You're futureproofing yourself too since just like the Edgerouter it can route Gigabit with ease. From here since you don't need managed switches just save your money and grab some cheaper TP-Link Gigabit switches to pop around the house.

Thanks for the response and information.

My desire for an in-wall AP was to really hide them. Mainly because when I gave my wiring request to the developer I stupidly didn't think about the solution first but simply just pointed on the plans where I wanted network ports. In hindsight I should've requested another one that is dedicated for an AP and had it up high on the wall.

I'll await your review and go from there.

Thanks. :)

richms

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Reply # 1858881 5-Sep-2017 12:41

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If they are low down then expect performance to be even worse. They are really made for hotel type applications where they may have an existing port at a counter they can repurpose for it.

Richard rich.ms

darylblake

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Reply # 1858956 5-Sep-2017 13:42

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In my opinion.

Those in-wall access points are great for being retro-fitted, they are only B/G/N (not AC) but I am sure AC ones will come out. But if you can get some wireless AC compatible access points. I got the unifi AC lites. I put one on each story, and I powered them in the hub in the garage off a Unifi Edgerouter PoE, it also runs a Nanostation to my sisters place providing about 60Mbps of internet to both houses.

Anyway I cabled in EVERYTHING i needed to and put in extra ports, because I didnt want any extra switches in behind TV's etc.

So i got 3 ethernet ports to each TV, and a few to my office and other places. This means I can also double them as phone sockets if I want to by re-patching them.

I only ran Cat5e, but you could run cat6. The advantages of that is you can do HDMI video over it.

The wireless at my place is rock solid, and I have never noticed hopping between access points being a problem.

I have a 238 Sq metre 2 storey home.

EDIT: i went back when the electricians were doing the wiring and asked if they could run a couple of ethernet cables to points in the roof just before the gib went up. They said no problem.