UniFi AC AP Lite As A Downlink

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broonie27

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#265817 12-Feb-2020 22:58

Hi There,

I currently have a single UniFi AC-AP-LR but it's not giving me the coverage I need so I'm looking to purchase one or two more UniFi APs to act as downlinks around the house. I was thinking of just using the AC-AP-Lite units as they are the cheapest but before I do I thought I'd ask if anyone has experience with these devices and with UniFi "meshing" in general. Any feedback appreciated.

Cheers

sbiddle

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#2417020 13-Feb-2020 06:33

Yes they will work.

Terrible idea using wireless downlinks though because it's a massive hit on Wi-Fi perfirmance, especially since your uplink is a 2.4GHz only radio.

My only recommendation is cabled APs. I never recommend any sort of repeater / mesh solution.

broonie27

109 posts

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#2417070 13-Feb-2020 08:35

The AC-AP-LR is dual band and I'm pretty sure the uplinking is done over 5Ghz. Unfortunately wiring just isn't an option.

sbiddle

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#2417080 13-Feb-2020 08:49

Oops misread as being original UAP-LR not AC.

Uplink band depends on what you configure. Like any sort of mesh or repeater the key requirement is that the radios need to go where signal is good.

If you put them where it's bad you kill the performance of your original AP, and likewise if you're planning to use 5GHz uplinks you'll probably want to be using 20MHz channel widths to improve SNR with the better gain and power (double that of 40MHz)

Mattmannz

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#2417222 13-Feb-2020 11:37

Have done something similar using the mesh feature and it works very well. Performance will take a hit but it will be significantly better than the marginal coverage you have now.

There are quite a few mesh options configurable, in the end I ran a dedicated pair for the wireless link and a separate AP for serving the far end to get best performance.

broonie27

109 posts

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#2421477 15-Feb-2020 18:43

Mattmannz:

Have done something similar using the mesh feature and it works very well. Performance will take a hit but it will be significantly better than the marginal coverage you have now.

There are quite a few mesh options configurable, in the end I ran a dedicated pair for the wireless link and a separate AP for serving the far end to get best performance.

I'm not 100% sure what you mean there Mattmannz, can you clarify?

broonie27

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#2423482 18-Feb-2020 20:43

sbiddle: Oops misread as being original UAP-LR not AC.

Uplink band depends on what you configure. Like any sort of mesh or repeater the key requirement is that the radios need to go where signal is good.

If you put them where it's bad you kill the performance of your original AP, and likewise if you're planning to use 5GHz uplinks you'll probably want to be using 20MHz channel widths to improve SNR with the better gain and power (double that of 40MHz)

Sbiddle, how would I ensure 20MHz channel widths?

New World

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phrozenpenguin

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#2423945 19-Feb-2020 12:18

broonie27:

sbiddle: Oops misread as being original UAP-LR not AC.

Uplink band depends on what you configure. Like any sort of mesh or repeater the key requirement is that the radios need to go where signal is good.

If you put them where it's bad you kill the performance of your original AP, and likewise if you're planning to use 5GHz uplinks you'll probably want to be using 20MHz channel widths to improve SNR with the better gain and power (double that of 40MHz)

Sbiddle, how would I ensure 20MHz channel widths?

There is a setting in Unifi controller.

broonie27

109 posts

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#2424187 19-Feb-2020 18:53

Ok thanks, I'll take a look.