Access Points recommendations

Hey there

Trying to help out a neighbour who’s got poor WiFi reception. Her home has a lot of wall insulation which is foil-lined, which means each room is almost like a Faraday cage. Apart from the room the ISP router is actually in, the WiFi signal is terrible.

I’m thinking of running 2 x RJ-45 from back or router, up into the attic space and connecting a couple of AP’s, locating them above the rooms where WiFi is needed.

Thinking of UniFi AC-Pro for the job. Only thing is, won’t have a Controller after their initial setup, i would only have my laptop to do that when installing.

Anyone think this is a good/bad idea or have any other suggestions?

Ta

But there are so many cheap option to run the unifi network…

My advice is to use a consumer-friendly mesh system that has Ethernet backhaul. Then you just have to run the cables and help her set it up in an app on her phone.

Your neighbour likely doesn’t need blazing network speed. They just need functional WiFi. An Asus/Google/NetLink/TP-Link system can do that for them without too much money or hassle. The crucial element that you’re providing are the ethernet cable runs.

If you put in some Ubiquiti stuff that can only be administered by you (and that most people aren’t familiar with), then you’re making her network health and security reliant upon you. I’m sure you know this already, but I’m just putting it out there because I’ve made similar mistakes in the past.

To be clear, my concern isn’t inconvenience to me. It’s inconvenience to others when I’m not available to help them. They get frustrated that things don’t work, and I feel bad for letting them down.

This is also why I don’t set up openHAB servers for other people, or even recommend it to them if I don’t think they’re looking for a hobby. I don’t want to be responsible for someone else’s home automation.

That being said, good on you for helping out your neighbour!

Thanks Russ, you raise some fair points, thank you. Part of the reason i was also thinking of Unifi was, once they’re up and running you never need to touch them again (generally speaking) and since they’re enterprise-grade (ish) they don’t need to be restarted over long periods.

The neighbour in question wouldn’t have a clue about using an app to be honest, more after a set it and forget it setup. Since i have my own Unifi setup, thats been my experience of using them. Really appreciate your time to reply, thank you

For sure. I don’t have direct experience with Ubiquiti products, so I’m not commenting on its ease-of-use at all. I’m just a strong believer in teaching people to fish instead of giving them fish. So when it comes to technology, I think the best solution is often the one that a layperson can understand.

I currently use Unifi and have the software running.

Before I had the Unifi I just used old access point/routers left over from ISP changed etc and ran ethernet and just set the access point to bridged mode.

Nothing fancy but it worked.

Having seen many Wi-Fi setups, my most valuable and strong hint would be to get a homogenous set of devices from ONE single vendor that come with a working mesh implementation.
Don’t try to be more clever than that vendor and ‘mesh’ yourself.
Put one AP (or bridge, rather - in mesh mode they’re not really 'AP’s you can address) wherever you need Wi-Fi coverage, usually one device per floor level.
Use Ethernet to interconnect components wherever possible. It’s not for bandwidth but for reliability reasons.

In Germany, about everyone is using AVM Fritz! products.
They’re most respected for their great tradeoff between functionality, usability and reliability.
Most important, they just work, hassle-free, out of the box. YMMV elsewhere.

You can’t run Unifi APs in mesh mode without a controller. But I guess you already know that since you’re using Unifi yourself…

I’ve setup various AP-systems including UniFi. My suggestion would be to go for a Rucks R710 (If wifi 6(e)" is not a requirement. On Ruckus you can run the controller on the AP itself, it has much better Radio technology compared with UniFi as well as a simple UI to configure things. Ruckus is pure enterprise. You can get a R710 off ebay for about 100 euros. With Ruckus chances are that you will not need more than one AP.

Possible drawback with the r710 is that is quite big (physically) and not as good looking as UniFi.

See this thread as a reference: Ruckus Wireless as an Unifi alternative? | ServeTheHome Forums

UniFi is still quite good for the money, and I still maintain few friends / family installations.

BR S

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