I got 99 problems but my WiFi ain't one

Trackends

Now diving into the world of changing broadband provider? Extending wifi is a rabbit hole I tell thee...

don't try and derailleur this thread

nothing wrong with a chain of puns

Anyone else looking at Ubiquiti's UniFi gear?

.

EDIT: removed my endorsement of Google WiFi

@Velocio wrote a detailed post about setting up your own network which I copied and saved somewhere, which he extolled the jobs of ubiquiti stuff, as a long term alternative to the equipment broadband providers send you free when you sign up..

I bought a Ubiquiti UniFi UAP-AC-LITE access point based on the advice @Velocio gave and it's amazing. Rock solid Wi-Fi, no problem with a dozen things being connected to it. This one:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ubiquiti-Networks-UAP-AC-LITE-Access-Point/dp/B016K4GQVG

I didn't bother getting a UniFi router, I'm just using my ISP's. Wi-Fi is super fast, totally reliable and there's a good signal all around our flat as well as in it. Wouldn't go back...

seeing as I'll be changing broadband supplier think I might purchase something to secure the future and getting the whole ubiquiti shebang seems like a no brainer, also hope it goes a long way to solving the wifi issues in my flat as well..

Just getting the Unifi UAP-AC-LITE will make the biggest difference and it's pretty affordable and will survive many ISP and router changes.

You can always get a second access point, but you will have to run cable for it and do the setup dance yourself.

If you're feeling spendy I'd consider the Ubiquiti Amplifi solution now too:

• https://store.amplifi.com/products/amplifi-mesh-system
  
• https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ubiquiti-Amplifi-System-Wireless-router/dp/B01L9O08PW/
  
  

I recommended that to someone living in a cottage and whose walls made WiFi so bad that the they ended up trying to install 5 different WiFi access points. It was fully replaced by this solution and it worked really well (key point: they didn't need my help setting it up).

I'm looking at running in something like this:

Internet──BT fibre router
               │
			   │
	  Unifi Security Gateway
		       │
			   │
	  Unifi Switch 8-150W
	              │
				  ├─UAP Pro (Kitchen)
		          ├─UAP Pro (Landing)
				  ├─UniFi AC Mesh (outside, garden)
				  ├─UniFi Cloud Key
				  ├─Kitchen wired point
				  ├─Kitchen wired point
				  ├─Unifi Switch 8
				  │             │
				  │             ├─Wired device 1
				  │ 		    ├─Wired device 2
				  │ 		    ├─Wired device 3
				  │ 		    ├─spare
				  │ 		    ├─spare
				  │ 		    ├─spare
				  │ 		    ├─spare
				  │ 		    └─spare
				  └─Unifi Switch 8-60
				                │
				                ├─UAP Pro (Living Room)
		                        ├─Wired device 4
              				    ├─Wired device 5
				                ├─Wired device 6
				                ├─spare
				                ├─spare
				                ├─spare
				                └─spare

I may have to wait to get the plain Switch 8, but I have an unmanaged switch that can sit there for the moment. Also, there will be a second cable going to the point the UAP Pro (kitchen) is at, and a second to the loft (where the UAP Pro (landing) will be run off in case I want to put something on the front of the house.

I've just realised that the Switch 8's have a POE pass though, so I could replace the Switch 8-60 with a plain Switch 8, which would save a bit of cash.

I should also look at the cost difference between the UAP Pro and the UAP Lite, as the lite is likely good enough.

thanks for that boss man, but yeah I'm not going to be that spendy until I know that the UAP-AC won't reach the corners of my flat that I think it will..

Quick picking your brains question. In the post I mentioned previously you say
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

Do I need lots of gigabit ethernet for home use, netflix/ps4/network music streamer?
And why would I want my wifi and cabled devices to be on the same physical network?

Asking these questions as I'm wondering whether I need to spend an extra £100 on something I may not actually need or ever use?

Probably simple questions that can be answered with a bit of googling, but since you're here thought I'd take advantage of your expertise.

• Do I need lots of gigabit ethernet for home use, netflix/ps4/network music streamer?
  
  

No. Not for that.

But if you have a NAS and store lots of local media or photos that you process on a laptop, etc... then the difference between falling back to 100Mbps ethernet and 1Gbps is pretty noticeable.

If you're just clients for internet services, this is not an issue as your internet connection is already the weakest link in bandwidth speed.

• And why would I want my wifi and cabled devices to be on the same physical network?
  
  

Networks may not be visible to each other... and perhaps for you this is fine (if you're all just clients of internet services).

The issues I came across:

1. I wanted my desktop machine to be able to cast via Google Cast to my Chromecast Audio - the desktop is cabled, and the Chromecase is wifi... without them on the same network they couldn't see each other. It also feels like magic to have a non-Wifi machine "see" a Wifi device.
   
2. I wanted my laptop to speak to my NAS - the laptop is wifi, the NAS cabled... again, needed to be on the same network.
   
   

Note: This issue only arises if you're putting your router in modem mode and then using the EdgeMax as your router, and you also want to use hardware rather than software routing... in this circumstance, the EdgeMax treats every port as a distinct network and they cannot see each other. Using a PoE switch (like the ToughSwitch) behind the EdgeMax and running WiFi from the ToughSwitch solves all of this... as it all gets the same DHCP IP range and subnet.

These issues are both advanced gotchas. If all you are doing is wanting lots of laptops, TVs, stereos to be clients of internet services... just get the Unifi UAP Lite and you're all good. Plug it into the existing modem, and disable WiFi on the modem. That's all you need.

See now you've gone and done it.
I have a NAS and am aiming to have that be at the heart of the new media world I'm creating (Music to network streamer, Films to Smart TV etc), so would like it to be able to talk to everything. Currently I've got NAS and desktop computer cabled to existing router, and they seem to be seeing each other without me doing much at all..
hmmm!

If your Unifi AP is plugged into the BT router (or whatever)... it will all be the same network. You're good.

It's only if you have an enterprise grade router that every port is a different network (though it is possible to configure them to be a bonded network that appears as a single network).

Unless you're going the whole hog on Unifi... you do not have to worry about this.

I'm thinking of switching to zen internet and they can supply a modem only router, which means I can use ubiquiti router and ap to create long term networking solution, as discussed above only issue is whether I need the switcher for one network to rule them all?

I wanted my desktop machine to be able to cast via Google Cast to my Chromecast Audio - the desktop is cabled, and the Chromecase is wifi... without them on the same network they couldn't see each other.

I solved this by putting a wi-fi card in my desktop :)

It was £25 - would be less than that for a PCI Wi-Fi card too normally, but my hackintosh needed a specific card for the Wi-Fi to work as native in OSX.

My approach has been to connect everything via Wi-Fi to the Unifi UAP Lite. I like this approach cos it's cheaper...

I have a Unifi AP and EdgeMax router. I also have 3 or 4 switches but they are bog standard D-Link or whatever, the Unifi ones are nice and give additional management features but don't provide any difference in terms of speed so far as I'm aware (£150-£200 for an 8 port switch compared to £20).

The wireless point is good but not the solution to every problem. I still had to move it one room over (about 20') to cover my flat (flat is probably about 50' end-to-end). It is much better than the stock ones.

The Edgemax router appears very good, some decent management tools and it appears to be rock solid. Easy enough to set up but some of the advanced features are very complicated.

I do have a lot of stuff on my network though (NAS, Plex Server, lights, heating, chromecast, raspberry pis, amazon fire, printer, amp, tv, xbox, tivo, laptops, phones, etc) and I do need that stuff to be working when I'm away.

I need a wifi booster than does so via an ethernet cable.

So I have an ethernet cable that runs a long way (brick building) and I want to then plug that into a device to give wifi.

What are my options?

Get the Unifi UAP Lite - it does power over ethernet so you can put the POE injector (included) at one end and the UAP Lite at the other. You Wi-Fi will be awesome. Simples.

So I can plug the unifi device into my home hub 6(in the garage), run an Ethernet cable into the house and bring the unifi device into the house like a WiFi extender?

That looks good, but I have a power socket available. Is there a simpler (cheaper) option?

What you are looking for is a 'wireless access point', not wifi booster/range extender/repeater which are about extending well, wirelessly, rather than via Ethernet. (Although the terms seem to get confused, especially with powerline networking... )

Very cheapest way of doing it is to use an old wifi router and put it into 'bridge'/'client' /'AP' mode. This may not be possible on BT home routers though. Should be easy to find an old Netgear/Linksys/TP-Link etc for a couple of quid though especially if you are OK with older wireless N.

If not something like this does wireless AC: https://www.ebuyer.com/748436-tp-link-ap300-ac1200-wireless-gigabit-access-point-ap300 for about fifty quid.

Yes