Modest home network upgrade on a budget - EdgeRouter/EdgeSwitch/Unifi advice please?

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josephhinvest

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#279789 9-Nov-2020 09:45

Modest home network upgrade on a budget.

I’m looking to upgrade my current small home network with a unified and extendable system, on a budget. I’m reasonably competent, beginner/intermediate ability using a CLI; I can use a command line to SSH into my Pi-Hole and follow instructions, that sort of thing. I like closely monitoring my network and running my Plex server for family access.

Currently I have a Synology RT1900AC router, which makes an “Upstairs” wifi network, and a secondary AP (Aircube) connected via ethernet, making a seperate “Downstairs” network. House has no structured wiring, I have the one ethernet cable going from upstairs to downstairs and am pretty much limited to that.

Current network:

Proposed network:

Several devices are connected to the RT1900 via ethernet (CCTV, Pi-Hole, an ageing media computer that I want to replace with a Synology running Plex). My primary TV and Mac mini (the current Plex server) are connected to the downstairs Aircube via ethernet. This all works quite well, my downstairs Mac gets a satisfactory 500/400Mbps.

My plan is to replace the Synology with an Edgerouter ER-4 and an EdgeSwitch (ES-10XP). I’m happy with my existing Aircube and would add a second for the upstairs, with the aim to upgrade to a more/better Ubiquiti APs in the future(perhaps ?). I don’t have huge demands on the wifi networks, family phones and chromebooks for YouTube and Netflix, a video doorbell and other consumer devices. No home automation, no serious gaming.

Questions.

1. Can the Edgerouter, Edgeswitch and Aircubes all be managed by the UNMS iOS app? Otherwise directly via web interface? I would like to see everything in one place but the UNMS cloud service has a minimum of 10 devices apparently.

2. Would I connect the router and switch with SFP? Does this make the full 8 ethernet ports available?

3. Should I keep seperate SSIDs for all APs? Or make the same - does this essentially make a mesh network?

4. Does anything look obviously wrong with my plan? With unlimited money I would go for a full on Unifi setup, but it’s just not within the budget.

Cheers,
Joseph

Links to products.

EdgeRouter 4 currently around $367

EdgeSwitch 10XP currently around $241

Aircube currently $147

SFP Cable $31

josephhinvest

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#2600593 9-Nov-2020 18:13

Jeez the more I read the less sure I am.
Maybe I should go for a USG and unifi switch and one unifi AP for now and replace the aircube later.
Whether I need the controller also?

sparkz25

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#2600621 9-Nov-2020 19:18

I would suggest running all unifi gear with the controller and do some shopping around.

If you have a hunt on TM at the moment there are some USG's on there starting at around 100 here and here, then a unifi switch from here or here and then you can use these as ap's from here or here and as for the controller you can use this one here there are also detailed instructions on setting it all up.

Using the unifi gear you can manage everything in one spot.

The UNMS platform is aimed and designed for WISP's

josephhinvest

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#2600712 9-Nov-2020 21:32

sparkz25:
I would suggest running all unifi gear with the controller and do some shopping around.

If you have a hunt on TM at the moment there are some USG's on there starting at around 100 here and here, then a unifi switch from here or here and then you can use these as ap's from here or here and as for the controller you can use this one here there are also detailed instructions on setting it all up.

Using the unifi gear you can manage everything in one spot.

The UNMS platform is aimed and designed for WISP's

Thank you! Good advice and thanks for the links. Also the hosted controller is very interesting and well worth a look at. I hadn’t even considered looking on Trademe, D’oh.

Thanks,
Joseph

tanivula

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#2600778 10-Nov-2020 08:15

unless you really want to play with vlans and tweak your network, you could bypass having a UniFi switch and just get an unmanaged POE switch and power the UniFi AP's from there. This will save you a fair bit of coin depending on how many ports you need (~ $80 for 4ports). Or you could add the unifi switch in later (it's not essential).

josephhinvest

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#2600871 10-Nov-2020 10:25

sparkz25:
I would suggest running all unifi gear with the controller and do some shopping around.

If you have a hunt on TM at the moment there are some USG's on there starting at around 100 here and here, then a unifi switch from here or here and then you can use these as ap's from here or here and as for the controller you can use this one here there are also detailed instructions on setting it all up.

Using the unifi gear you can manage everything in one spot.

The UNMS platform is aimed and designed for WISP's

Grabbed a USG from TM for $121 this morning. Very happy with that.
Thanks again.

michaelmurfy

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#2600923 10-Nov-2020 11:34

Yep - UniFi gear is the way to go with your setup. Also I've got a controller (in my signature) you're welcome to use.

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josephhinvest

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#2601198 10-Nov-2020 18:12

michaelmurfy:
Yep - UniFi gear is the way to go with your setup. Also I've got a controller (in my signature) you're welcome to use.

Thanks, yep I’ve had some good advice and come to that conclusion too! And thanks also I will look into the controller situation. Is there any advantage other than saving some $ on a cloud key?

Cheers,
Joseph

fe31nz

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#2601446 11-Nov-2020 01:21

josephhinvest:
michaelmurfy:

Yep - UniFi gear is the way to go with your setup. Also I've got a controller (in my signature) you're welcome to use.

Thanks, yep I’ve had some good advice and come to that conclusion too! And thanks also I will look into the controller situation. Is there any advantage other than saving some $ on a cloud key?

Cheers,
Joseph

Unless you are doing something that needs the controller 24/7, such as running a WISP service where it needs to do accounting to get people to pay, then all you need the controller for is for initial setup and keeping an eye on things. I run my own on one of my Linux MythTV boxes that runs 24/7, and it is fun to see its list of all the other WiFi devices it has seen recently (ambulances here in Palmerston North all seem to have a WiFi access point on board, so it logs seeing them as they go past). But there is no need to have the controller running 24/7 for normal home use.

My controller is currently reporting using 1005.1 Mibytes of RAM on the Linux box. So it does use some resources, mainly because it is Java code and it has heaps of features that you will never use for doing WISP functions. There is a version that runs on Windows if you prefer that, or macOS.