I finally got the ok from my mother to finally fix our intermittent spotty WiFi coverage in her house. I am leaning toward either the UniFi AP AC HD or the UniFi AP AC SHD and wanted to hear from someone who has experience with Ubiquiti Network Products. The information I am looking for is what do you think about their products, do they really perform like I hear other people say. I was hoping maybe I could get away with just one or two units to cover the whole house. The total square footage I got to cover is 2000 square feet. I don’t really know much about them, except for people really raving about them.
Both are huge overkill, and the SHD is ridiculous overkill for a single-family 2000 sq ft house. Of course they would work fine, but you’ll end up spending a lot more money than actually necessary. I’d recommend installing a consumer-grade mesh router, which will work perfectly fine.
And if you really want to save money, Asus is including mesh capability in their newer router firmwares too. I haven’t tested it but early reports are it works great.
Since he’s having problems with a much smaller house, I assume it has brick walls obstructing signals, that’s why I suggested mesh. Although I guess he could just be using a crappy ISP router/modem combo too.
It’s both, I have a crappy ISP router/modem combo and the electrical wiring is causing interference with the WiFi signal, which is the reason I am looking into an enterprise-grade solution. I tried an Eero and that didn’t work so well, I don’t think a Mesh-Networking kit is an answer to my problem. I know I could solve it by just wiring the house for ethernet, but with plaster walls that would be a huge mess and cost thousands of dollars. I am trying to find a solution that isn’t so expensive. I thought maybe I could add one to two of Unfi’s HD or SHD units, add whatever additional equipment thats need and be done with it.
Try the 80 dollar ac lite from Unifi and go from there. Buy from Amazon or wherever with a good return policy. I do not think you will be disappointed.
Eero is basically the same as what I recommended. If replacing your old router with a mesh setup didn’t fix the problem, getting a Unifi alone will not fix it either-- it’s just a good wifi AP, not a wizard. You will indeed need to wire your house somehow.
I suggest MOCA 2.0, which transmits ethernet over the coax cable your house probably already has wired. It’s much better than powerline. Then plug in a second wifi AP (or your second Eero node) at the other end.
And just a further point of optimization, if you’re a cable cutter you can save a ton on DECA adapters, which are essentially MOCA for DirectTV users, so it uses the same frequencies as cableTV to transmit ethernet. But don’t get it if you pay for cable TV, as it won’t work.
I know my best option is to wire the whole house, but if I am going through the hassle tearing up the plaster wall I might as well redo the electrical wiring. I guess I am just have to live with the shity WiFi.
I still think you should buy and an AC lite for 80 bucks and place it center of the house as best you can and see how that goes then we can go from there and possibly use the moca adapters to get you one more somewhere else.
If you do this, be sure to use the frequency scanner so you can use the cleanest band. I have Unifi APs running in 100+ old buildings surrounded by hundreds of other wireless networks. The issues I’ve had were solved by finding the cleanest frequency.
Do you use this yourself? If so, what is the real world performance like?
What is “bonded MoCA 2.0”?
**Requires that your router support bonded MoCA 2.0.
I set it up at my parents’ house. Real-world latency and consistency is like ethernet, as it’s wired. So it’s useful for stuff like online gaming and streaming video without stuttering. Bandwidth is around 600Mbps.
Bonded means it combines two frequency channels to double the theoretical bandwidth to 1Gbps.
I know what it means abstractly, but is “bonded MoCA 2.0” some sort of proprietary protocol or are they just saying that it supports bonding?
I’m confused because the adapter just has a single ethernet and an in/out for the coax. Do they mean for you to bond the 2 adapters via LACP or something?
edit
Nvm, found the answer in the QA section:
These devices can be used two ways. If your router has a COAX port for HPNA MoCA 2.0 rated you connect that to your CATV cable and use them for an Ethernet connection for devices at the other end. Or use one to connect to your router at an Ethernet LAN port or use the WAN port if available and connect to your CATV COAX. Then use the other off the COAX at the other end for Ethernet to a device such as a PC, Router, Switch, etc. Or if you have a MoCA 2.0 enabled network range extender like the Actiontec ECB6200 Bonded MoCA 2.0 Network Adapter, it will connect direct off the COAX cable. So yes if you use two as you suggest you will get full speed bridging. MoCA 2.0 offers 400 Mb/sec to 800 Mb/sec actual depending on whether they use channel bonding. I got 640 Mb/sec actual and stable on mine over the CATV COAX. My CATV setup in my house is in the home run configuration. Make sure all your splitters in your home are MoCA 2.0 rated for 5-1675 MHz frequency for best results and include an MPOE filter at the CATV providers input to keep your network signal from exiting your home.
Yeah, I believe they’re talking about Verizon FIOS routers there, which use MOCA 2.0 to pass connectivity throughout your house to their set top boxes, which use IP to watch TV.
Anyone know how to properly setup a Xbox 360 WIFI adapter, so it doesn’t inter with the rest of the network. My sister just added one to the network?
Errrrrr what? You running your WiFi router next to an induction motor running at 480volts? In all seriousness, I would say get the Ubiquiti AC long range or Pros. Turn the Long range power down to medium. Get the pro if you have any 3x3 5ghz devices (many things are not). Ubiquiti is pretty solid. Up time is in the months. If i didnt upgrade firmwares I could no doubt make a year plus
No, I am not running an induction motor next to my WiFi router. I think I found what is causing the interference with my WiFi router. Yesterday afternoon we had one of our frequent power outages, so I took advantage of the opportunity and decided to remove a one-foot square of plaster from one of my bedroom walls. Guess what I found. I found under the plaster what appears to be chicken wire. This wire mesh was the only surface that was used to apply the plaster onto. I am amazed we even get any WiFi through the wall at all.
Ok now that we know what the problem is what is the solution? Can someone please explain how Unfi’s products work? Also what other items would I need to set up a Unfi solution? Please keep in mind the only equipment I have is the combo unit that is provided by my ISP.