The right part is my workshop which is about 20x20m and about 8m to the
roof. As you can see I want to have one ap in my house and one in the
workshop. At the moment I just got an ADSL connection, but I might
install fiber soon and all the cables are cat6. I’ve been thinking about
getting the Ubiquiti Unifi AP-AC Lite or the Unifi AP-AC Long Range (Not sure about the difference here)
but I’m not sure about the performance of it and if it’s worth the
price. Also, are these omni directional APs any good to have in a house
with alot of walls and such?
The router in the basement is an Netgear R7000 running DD-WRT.
But basicly what I want is an good and stable ap with both 5 &2.4ghz (that is both ac and n) with good range.
I've heard good things about the new ubiquiti stuff. I have one of the older AC models and it's rock solid. The lite (and long range I think) is only 2x2 so if you need 3x3 then you'll need the pro.
Ok, well I really won't use that kind of speed. In the workshop I'm mainly just gonna use it for some websurfing and emailing. So I actually could get a cheaper one out there.
I don't have any of the AC variants but I do have a UAP deployed in my trailer home and it works very well. So if the AC stuff is like the non AC stuff then they will be good. Do know however you need the unifi controller for configuration. I have it running on a laptop, just a small Java app. Once you set it up the AP remembers the configuration
You only need to run the controller 24/7 if you use the captive portal. Otherwise whenever you update something on the controller it will send the configuration to the APs and then they don't need to talk to the controller until you change something else.
They will work fine hooked up to your router. You could get a PoE switch for them but they will come with PoE injectors anyway.
The lite and long range are 2x2 so they have a speed of around 800mbps whereas the pro is 3x3 and has around 1200mbps. The lite and long range are pretty much the same except the long range has more range.
Alright, since I won't get fiber here in probably at least 4 years, I'm stuck with 24 mbit/s. And even if I would get a gigabit connection, I would never have any use for that on my mobile devices anyway. I'l think the long range will suit my needs just fine! :)
The price for these AP's is quite high though and I'm wondering if I really need them for my application. All that I want is a Stable, fast, ac capable and sleek looking AP. Ubiquiti came to mind beacuse it's one of the few enterprise brands I know of, but perhaps there is something better out there?
I can't think of anything better for the price. It may seem like a lot but you won't regret it. Mine has been running for over a year with no issues, totally stable.
I'd just opt for the AC Lite. I just installed my AC Lite earlier this week and its been rock solid. The range isn't the best thing in the world but its more then acceptable. The access point is in the upstairs bedroom, which is above the kitchen. But below the kitchen in the basement I can still get 25 down by 12 up, which is not my full 93 down by 12 up, but its still more then acceptable for the occasional movie in the basement. Much more then enough for any web browsing and emailing. The only problem I've had has been unrelated to it, and thats been a piece of shit broadcom N wireless card that has problems in the basement. My Intel 7260 AC and AC 7625 WiFi devices have been fine getting the 25 by 12 in the basement, but that broadcom is just slower in general. Going back I might have gone for the LR version, but I might be buying a second AC Lite for a new project that I can use in the basement after, so its not that big of a deal for me.
Conclusion, its definitely worth it in my opinion, and I'd recommend it. Might have been smart to opt for the LR, but the Lite is still exceptable on everything with a half-decent wifi card.
Alright. I've also asked around the forum on Smallnetbuilder but they all say that I should get a router instead and just use it as an AP instead. They sad that consumer routers generally has better speed then Ubiquity stuff and that you get alot more stuff when buying a router instead of an ap.
But I'm not sure, I have had so many consumer routers over the years and they have all been unreliable. Weekly reboots, crappy speed and dying after 2-3 years of use. I'm sick of it and I just want to buy something that lasts for 6-8 years.
You really should just build a PfSense box and use it as an Access Point. That's what I did, and its been better then any other solution I've tried. I went through 3 consumer routers in 3 years, and all of them are basically dead at this point. Its better to just do it right once and not worry about it.
One of the big selling points for these AP's (for me at least) is the fact that you can place them around the house and get one big network, instead of a couple which you have to switch between when going to the other side of the house.
I can't say anything about the Ubiquity AP but I can say that AVM networking products are simply amazing. I have an AVM modem/router and an extender and they work flawlessly and have a huge range (the 2.4GHz signal goes through thick brick walls like nothing, the 5GHz has some problems thou). Never felt the need to reboot them because of weird hanging up or slowdowns. Also the software is really customizable (not on the same level of WRT) and functional.
