Everything Apple (the Mac heads thread)

I have a couple of Airports and they run pretty flawlessly... it's just annoying you still need a router/modem to plug them into which might cause some sort of bottleneck? Maybe? I have no real idea.

I'd agree with the Ubiquiti wifi point. I bought a few routers with wi-fi and wireless extenders and crap before deciding to ditch them and just go with that. I went with the long-range version https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016K5A06C as wi-fi seems to have a real problem in my flat. It wasn't quite as powerful as I hoped but once I had it positioned properly it now works throughout and is fast enough for video streaming anywhere.

@Velocio how simple is the EdgeMax router to set up? I'm getting occasional dropouts which could be due to my router but I have a load of static addresses, port forwarding, etc that I'll have to set up again so want something relatively straightforward.

The EdgeMAX is easy to set up.

When you first get it, do a firmware update straight away. The default is a few releases old. The latest has wizards that can get it configured for a SoHo config in a few clicks.

It is very powerful in terms of config, so can be scary. But that is a feature, follow the wizard to get started, it will configure a WAN, a LAN, and the DHCP, DNS forwarding, etc... then after you're up and running you can choose whether you want to enable a PoE port to add the WiFi to the EdgeMAX on a different network (subnet mask) or whether you are going to use something like the ToughSwitch so that your WiFi is on the same DHCP and subnet as cabled stuff.

I put my WiFi and LAN on the same subnet, because I love the fact that I can use an ethernet cable in my laptop on my desk, and yet stream via WiFi to my Chromecast (with laptop WiFi disabled), and this shit works.

Cheers, sounds worth a look. I've struggled to diagnose exactly why my connection drops out as, as well as the router, there are a couple of switches in there too. The router seems the most likely suspect though.

How does it cope with VPN, is it the same as most routers in that it will drop the speed right down?

It has some limitations on VPNs types that are supported, but it as a piece of equipment designed for offices it has dedicated encryption hardware that means the supported stuff does not see a slow down of any significance.

This is where it shines, no matter how you configure it you'll get the speeds advertised.

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thanks for the tip!

Quiet day at work so migrated the boot drive to an external SSD again and deleted some old stuff.

5400 rpm @ 25mb/s to 420mb/s

Couldn't bare it any longer.

Thank you very much for the advice, although I'm a bit baffled.
Can you tell me if I have this correct?

I keep my existing router, but disable its wifi in settings (modem mode)
Connect the old router to the ToughSwitch - which provides the connectivity to the two other Ubiquiti products (and I guess to the 4x other things I currently have connected to the ethernet ports on my existing router).
The EdgeMAX is doing what my router used to do.
The Unify UAP is then taking care of the wifi.

Sorry for all the questions but I really have no idea about this sort of thing, and thanks again for the help.

1. ISP Router to modem mode (it's disabled, except for talking to the ISP)
   
2. ISP Router connected to EdgeMAX router
   
3. EdgeMAX is now your main router, it routes traffic to and from the ISP router and your local networks
   
4. Unifi UAP connects to the EdgeMAX router and provides your WiFi
   
   

At this point, you're all good, you have great WiFi everywhere.

Optional:

• ToughSwitch connects to the EdgeMAX to provide lots of gigabit ethernet
  
• Unifi UAP can connect to the ToughSwitch if you want WiFi devices and cabled devices to be on the same physical network (not required, but it can make some rare edge cases simpler to solve)
  
  

That's it.

The hardest bits are:

1. Enabling modem mode... check with your ISP
   
2. Configuring the EdgeMAX, which by default is dumb and requires you to connect a laptop and upgrade the firmware and run a wizard.
   
   

If this all scares you... stop here, retreat, buy whatever you feel most comfortable with. This setup is awesome powerful, super fast, will last years and give great ethernet and WiFi... but the setup isn't by Apple, isn't "just works", this is setting up a professional network at home because home equipment by default may be easy to set up but tends to be shit.

Or just buy any wireless router from here
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/networking/wirelessnetworking/wirelessrouters/

To start with I'd be tempted to go with the in-between method. Keep your existing modem/router but turn off the Wifi.

Get the Ubiquiti Wifi Unifi UAP and plug that into the router.

The wi-fi will be better than the equivalent price router with wi-fi, you can add a new router further down the line if required.

With this in-between method, what reason might there be to add the new router later?

This seems like sound advice. It doesn't completely scare me but also I'm not entirely confident. I worry that like @aggi said, I would buy a simpler solution only to find I'm not happy with it and have to do the full set-up anyway at a later date.

Configurability and stability I'd say.

My old router couldn't stay working for two weeks or so without a restart which was crap when I was working away for three weeks and I wanted to access stuff at home.

With this in-between method, what reason might there be to add the new router later?

• Stability (never needs a reboot)
  
• Performance (there is no longer a question of "Is my router a weak link?")
  
• Reduction in cables (power over ethernet)
  
• Security (each port on the EdgeMAX is a different network, this is powerful... you can use a different port (network) for things like games consoles and internet-of-things devices knowing that they cannot trivially access or see your laptops or NAS)
  

Can these hole in the wall or online sites actually unlock the iphone 5s I just got given or am I just going to have to wait for ee to do it?

Cheers

Think you have recommended this stuff to me before... I am going to need a relatively big setup. Current plan:

1. Router in hallway
   
2. Switch in hallway (24 port I think)
   
3. Wireless access point on every floor (3 floors), ceiling mounted
   
4. 2 ports in every room, (8 rooms)
   
5. Long cable to log cabin in garden
   
6. Switch in log cabin (needs at least 6 ports)
   
7. Wireless access point in log cabin (running off the above switch?)
   
   

Would you still recommend Ubiquiti for this set up? Would like wifi to all be on one SSID, so it automatically switches to strongest access point as you move around.

I had my MacBook stolen the other day, with some genuinely purchased software on it.

How difficult will it be for me to "purchase" and install new versions of FCP, PS and MS Office? I am a relative layman, but know how torrents etc work.

Do you have copies of your license keys? If not, surely you can get them resent to you by the vendor?

You should be able to call them up and get the keys moved over to your new laptop. All of those should be able to disable the keys remotely...

What on Earth do you need all that for?

But yes :)

The only thing I'd add in addition to just more (more switches and access points) is one of these:

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-cloud-key/

Which is a mini computer which will orchestrate your whole setup and includes a permanently free licence to the Ubiquiti Controller https://www.ubnt.com/enterprise/software/ for which the doc is here: https://dl.ubnt.com/guides/UniFi/UniFi_Controller_V3_UG.pdf

Most people who run this stuff never need a Controller... but it sounds like you would benefit from being able to use your laptop or phone to diagnose and view your whole network and control everything from your sofa.

Nah. It's been a long long time and I don't even know where I bought the originals from. Like 8 years...
How about the other option?

Joys of a three story stone farmhouse, literally wifi from the BT hub does not go from one room to the next! Hence will try and get as much stuff cabled in as possible, whole house is being rewired, so might as well do it properly!

and log cabin in the garden is where I run my business from... Which involves VPN into multiple clients so consistent network is key for me.

Suspect I will need more switches in lots of places as well. Stupid things like Chromecasts don't work that well as the wifi doesn't work well enough!

A friend of a friend had this happen to him once and he said one of his mates' brothers knew a guy who could sort him out with all those apps without any problem and I think if I remember correctly he tweeted the other day that they are all installed and working fine.