Enterprise Wireless Gear - The new ethernet switch?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Enterprise Wireless Gear - The new ethernet switch?

Fly: Nov 3, 2002; moral compass

This thread is excellent. I am about to install a small business-class network with a private network plus guest access using two or three access points.

It should save a lot versus a Meru-based system from what I can see.

edit: I've been testing the UniFi AP Pro units for a day now, and I can say that I am now a big fan of Ubiquiti. I did have to install the beta drivers in Linux, and that works great. The configuration server works beautifully on OS X, too.

I want to try mucking with VLAN settings next.

Fly fucked around with this message at 02:01 on Aug 4, 2012

# ¿ Aug 1, 2012 23:06

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 07:14

Fly: Nov 3, 2002; moral compass

Just an update on Ubiquiti installations I installed two AP Pros at church, and that's working great though we don't have a lot of people connecting to it.

I recommended Unifi for a move into new office space at work, and we have two of the regular APs running now. We'll see how well they handle a small load of about a dozen users beginning this next week. Coverage from the regular APs blows away that of consumer wireless routers.

# ¿ Sep 29, 2012 02:46

Fly: Nov 3, 2002; moral compass

We've been running the two Unifi APs at work for several weeks, and I think we're happy with them. We have only sixty or so devices on the network, and they work just fine for that.

We did notice that bringing up the management server would cause the APs to go through re-adoption, but we determined that was caused by the management server being brought online with a changed IP address because it did not have a DHCP reservation. We thought there might be some kind of bug, but it was self-inflicted.

I'm planning to get one for home just for the great coverage they seem to provide at just $70.

The two Unifi AP Pro units at church also hum along nicely with no intervention.

# ¿ Nov 14, 2012 05:16

Fly: Nov 3, 2002; moral compass

wolrah posted:

I'm now a few weeks in to a two site deployment of nine total (6+3) UniFi LR units. My only complaint so far other than a personal dislike of Java (used for the controller) is the non-standard PoE. 802.3af has been around for some time and most of my sites already have it to support IP phones, I'd have paid a few extra bucks a unit to have it. The Pro units have it, but all of them should.

You want the Ubiquiti Instant 802.3af Adapter, don't you?

# ¿ Nov 19, 2012 04:36

Fly: Nov 3, 2002; moral compass

wolrah posted:

Not really. If I'm going to have to deal with a bonus box per device in my network closet anyways the dumb power injectors that come with the things are free.

The main benefit of proper PoE to me other than the lack of extra "wire warts" is being able to have PoE wired everywhere and not worry about someone accidentally plugging a computer in to a port with dumb injectors. I like it when everything's just a port number and what that port actually does is defined by switch configuration and what's plugged in to it.

For now though all my currently installed units are mounted to drop ceilings so there's little chance of an accident.

The adapter would go at the end of the span near the AP. I think you wouldn't want to put it in the wiring closet.

That would effectively make the AP and 802.3af device whose connection was a pig-tailed connector rather than the connector built into the AP's disc form factor.

That way there is still no possibility of someone killing your AP by changing the ports in the wiring closet. It's all 48v out of the closet. It's also the way they devices are intended to be used. It's an adapter for the device (not the cable run), and it goes at the device end of the cable so that you're getting the benefits of a higher-voltage and lower-current PoE cable run (as noted on the product page).

# ¿ Nov 20, 2012 03:12

Fly: Nov 3, 2002; moral compass

adorai posted:

The instant adapter can go right next to the device.

In fact, it's supposed to go right next to the device.

# ¿ Nov 20, 2012 04:02

Fly: Nov 3, 2002; moral compass

KillHour posted:

I don't know where you'd get this idea. Normally, PoE injectors go in the switching closet. Otherwise, a standard wall-wart adapter would make way more sense.

The adapter is not a PoE injector. The adapter simply changes the already injected 48V to the 24V that the device uses.

The PoE injector does live in the switching closet. I'm not sure where you got the idea that it didn't.

# ¿ Nov 20, 2012 05:17

Fly: Nov 3, 2002; moral compass

Caged posted:

No, they all come with injectors (except the Pro model), however they use a PoE that isn't 802.3af (again, except the pro). You can get an adaptor to sit in front of them that turns 'real' PoE into Ubiquiti PoE so you can carry on using real PoE switches.

The Pro does come with an injector. It's an 802.3af injector.

# ¿ Nov 22, 2012 04:15

Fly: Nov 3, 2002; moral compass

Fruit Smoothies posted:

Not sure if this is the right thread to ask. We have a client who want public (internet only) and private (internal company) wireless. They have an ADSL connection and would like their site to be covered. I assume the solution to this involves VLANs but I'm not entirely sure how to go about this with wireless units.
code:
Router----------WirelessUnit
		publicAP
		privateAP	
And then presumably bridge / repeat the accesspoints as needed throughout the site.

I guess we need:
1) A router with the ability to have multiple VLANs that can separate the internal network from an internet-only. Also it needs to be able to issue its own DHCP on the internet only VLAN because we don't want it talking with the DHCP server on the company network.
2) Some wireless units that can bridge multiple SSIDs. I've seen this on cheap TP-Link routers so I know it's possible

I hope this isn't too unenterprisey for the thread!

Another option, if you don't have VLAN support on your switch or router is to block all local network access from the guest APs.

FWIW, the "guest mode" on the Unifi APs does exactly this. I've also set that up using iptables with dd-wrt, but it's much nicer with Unifi.

Essentially, the RFC 1918 private network addresses are all blocked, but you can still use the main DHCP server. You can also configure them to use VLANs if you'd rather go that route.

# ¿ Nov 27, 2012 04:28

Fly: Nov 3, 2002; moral compass

movax posted:

Oh, gently caress. I installed just one UniFi awhile back and thought I just had to do the initial configuration with the controller app. I need to keep that continuously running?

As noted above. You need not worry. I have set up a setup with two AP Pros at church that runs without a controller for at least a few months now. We also have a setup a work using two base model APs without a controller running. Both work just fine.

quote:

Unifi FAQ
Do UniFi APs require the controller to be running all the time?

UniFi APs can run by themselves without the controller unless features like guest portal is enabled (as UniFi controller also functions as a captive portal). Restarting the controller won't restart your APs.

Note: If the controller restarts with a new IP address, then with the default AP configuration, the APs will be adopted by the "new" controller, which means they'll disconnect and reconnect, and all clients will be dropped and reconnected after thirty seconds or so. This is from experience with the base APs. I haven't tried with the AP Pros, but I suspect they'll do the same.

Fly fucked around with this message at 03:05 on Dec 7, 2012

# ¿ Dec 7, 2012 03:02

Fly: Nov 3, 2002; moral compass

carlcarlson posted:

Wanted to chime in and say that thanks to this thread we replaced our patchwork lovely wifi with a 3-pack of the UniFi APs and had everything configured and deployed in about 10 minutes. It's nice to be able to see how many devices are actually connected on each AP, as I had no idea of the actual usage on our old shitboxes.

Although the warning to keep it at least 20 centimeters away from a person made me a little nervous while I had the first one at my desk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_burn

Keep it away from your retinas at least.
The APs have much less power than a microwave oven though (< 1W vs 1.1 kW in the oven).

# ¿ Apr 12, 2013 04:27

Fly: Nov 3, 2002; moral compass

less than three posted:

Cisco Meraki APs are pretty awesome. Take a webinar and they'll give you one for free to try out. (Yours to keep.)

If your work doesn't like it, hey you have a $600 access point for home.

Don't you need the management software? My understanding of that webinar deal is that it gives you one year of their cloud management service. After that, wouldn't the AP stop being manageable unless you pay Cisco?

# ¿ Jul 5, 2013 02:06

Fly: Nov 3, 2002; moral compass

Xenomorph posted:

I wanted to do this so that we could see what building a user was in, based on their IP - figuring their IP would change as they changed buildings. That's not the case, though.

If I'm in building A, my device gets an IP address on that Subnet.
When I move to building B, when my device reconnects to WiFi, it holds on to its existing IP address, which can't do anything since it's now on the wrong Subnet.

If both wireless networks have the same SSID and the same security, then the client device isn't going to know that it needs to get a new IP address until its DHCP lease expires.

Since that's how (I think) all clients are going to behave, it's going to be difficult to solve at the infrastructure level unless you make the client think it needs a new address. Is anybody suggesting there's a way to avoid this without having routes for the device's original address? I'd like to know.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2013 01:42

Fly: Nov 3, 2002; moral compass

Caged posted:

Is there such a product as a concurrent dual-band 802.11n AP where small quantities of units can be managed as one (e.g. one AP takes up management duties and the others talk to it), or is my best option going to be a couple of UniFi Pros? I'm trying to sort the Wi-Fi out in my house but all the walls between rooms are brick so it's going to need several APs, I'm just conscious of the cost getting stupid but 2/3 UAP Pros would be doable.

It's either that or a bunch of AirPort Expresses which have very good Wi-Fi performance but aren't quite as easy to manage as a system that can work as one.

Why would you need the UAP Pros? If you have a house in which WiFi signals are blocked by your walls, why not set up 2.4GHz UAPs (regular)? They're only $69 each. You don't get Gigabit Ethernet, but they're quite serviceable. (I have them at home and at work.) I have nothing against the UAP Pro if you want to spend the money. I have a couple of those installed at church since there is a lot of 2.4 GHz traffic there already.

# ¿ Sep 9, 2013 01:56

Fly: Nov 3, 2002; moral compass

stevewm posted:

Ubiquiti's UniFi system is pretty good..

There are some caveats however..

The release version of their controller software (v2.4.5) does NOT support the newer AC access points, and does NOT support the Zero Hand Off roaming feature.
Version 3 of the controller software which does support all the newer hardware is currently in beta status.
Zero Hand Off is not currently supported on any 802.11ac access points. (to be fixed soon)
Zero Hand off ONLY works on WPA/WPA2 encrypted networks, it does not and cannot work on Open or WEP networks.
Management traffic from the APs is untagged and cannot be changed. VLAN tags can only be applied to SSIDs. (supposedly they are changing this soon)

That said, we currently have 11 of the 2.4Ghz only "Long Range" access points spread across 6 sites using the v3 controller software. Performance is exactly what I would expect from a 2.4Ghz network. Being able to manage them all from a central location is great. And the zero-handoff feature works great too, clients jump between APs without dropping a single packet.

Version 2.4.6 was released yesterday with some kind of UAP AC support. "UAP-AC - backport v3 commits." I am still wary of the AC units. I also get strange performance issues with one of my laptops with Intel wireless running Ubuntu Linux, but it may be related to power saving mode on the laptop WiFi.

I've had success with the regular APs and the AP Pro units aside from the issue above with my Dell XPS 15z running Linux. I have two regular APs for home that I'll upgrade to v3.1 at some point.

http://community.ubnt.com/t5/UniFi-Updates-Blog/UniFi-2-4-6-is-released/ba-p/592033

# ¿ Oct 17, 2013 02:15

Fly: Nov 3, 2002; moral compass

Antillie posted:

Assuming you have the little rounds ones the antenna is shaped like a doughnut. So if they are on the ceiling you want to be looking straight through the doughnut hole if you stand underneath one and look up at it. Which would be mounting the unit parallel to the floor lengthwise.

If you've opened a Unifi AP, you'll find they have two little bent-metal antenas mounted on the board. There's no doughnut. It's just a single board with antennas mounted on the board itself.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2015 16:29

Fly: Nov 3, 2002; moral compass

Fly posted:

If you've opened a Unifi AP, you'll find they have two little bent-metal antenas mounted on the board. There's no doughnut. It's just a single board with antennas mounted on the board itself.

Like so.

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# ¿ Mar 26, 2015 16:31

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 07:14

Fly: Nov 3, 2002; moral compass

Even with two little antennas, the Unifi AP does a good job. The Long Range version does an even better job though I haven't opened one of those.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2015 23:56

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Enterprise Wireless Gear - The new ethernet switch?