Ubiquiti - AC Mesh Series

You can hook up one unifi AP to the router and mesh off it. you just need the wallwart and an ethernet cable from it to the AP. Not the cleanest but it does work well

\+1 vote for Ubiquiti UniFi

I had phone jacks and was able to convert enough of them to Ethernet to get a great Ubiquiti system set up. One u6 in wall, one u6 pro ceiling mounted in a utility closet, and one u6 mesh outdoors. The phone wiring was daisy chained and only some were cat5. But I got 2 working jacks out of it, plus mounted one AP outdoors. And 3 APs is plenty for a ~1800 sq ft house even with old construction and suboptimal AP placement. It’s also possible to fish wires through walls but may be difficult depending on your house. If your basement is unfinished or you have an attic might be easier. If you do have to go mesh without wired backhaul I’d probably just get eero or one of those

Yup. If you have a unifi ap, you can just unplug it's ethernet connection and it'll switch over to being a mesh ap.

Unifi gear is not cheap. But I highly recommend it. I installed a wifi 7 pro AP the other day and it's fantastic. Their gear is great but the price tag reflects it. Highly recommend.

https://preview.redd.it/zfn21gdqkpje1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=d05d67faf408c3803282fe2ee0b6f84b32b6a222 I used to have a tp-link mesh system, which died just after the 2 year warranty was up. When comparing new systems, the Unifi was actually a decent price, way more features and control, plus much easier to expand and can handle hundreds of devices. We use these APs at the office, very stable/reliable. You dont need a switch, you could use poe injectors instead. Biggest draw back is running ethernet cables where you want them

Definitely not as plug and play friendly but very powerful tools baked right in. Also an easy rabbit hole of an ecosystem and a very deep (and expensive) one. Fortunately, they do play pretty well with others.

Unifi sounds like a good option in this case. Being able to pull out your phone anywhere and see everything that is going on down to the individual port and connected device level is worth the price of admission, even though hardware would be overkill for what they need. The consumer grade mesh systems available simply don't give you that kind of control and visibility. Wired is always better, but for their simple needs, you probably wouldn't notice the difference being on WiFi mesh. Cloud gateway ultra and maybe consider U6- mesh? They have lots of mounting options and work well inside and outside if needed.

I have a similar setup at home. I have a U6 Mesh connected to a USW Flex that is housed in a Flex Utility enclosure. I needed several ethernet ports for the devices i have in an outside gazebo and this worked great. The Flex Utility is waterproof and supplies power to the Flex. The Flex has PoE to power the U6 Mesh. The U6 meshes over 5ghz to another U6 Mesh i have in the house about 50 ft away. I get about 150Mbps to the devices connected to the Flex which is more than enough for what i needed. If i was doing it now, i'd probably go with U7 Outdoor but still use the USW Flex to power it and leverage for more ethernet ports.

Absolutely true. I just removed 4 Deco X75s (had zero issues with them - just wanted a more advanced setup with VLANs for a hybrid personal/business network) and 3 Google WiFi pucks (had some issues with these). Everyone talks about issues but I haven’t had any with UniFi or with Tp-Link.

Ubiquity Unifi, TP Link Omada, and Aruba Instant On seems to be the 3 most common ones for people on this sub and can all accomplish what you need. I use Unifi at my house, but have setup Omada for some other family members. I'm in Canada and finding Instant On here at a reasonable price is the only reason I haven't tried that. Beware of SSID limits on some devices if you have a lot of VLANs. Some people have some serious hate for Unifi effectively using their user base as guinea pigs for updates. My experience hasn't been bad. A bunch firmware releases were bad a long while back, then got good for a while, but recently has been crap again for many. Unless there's a vulnerability, I don't update my access points too regularly and wait until the rest of the community can show a release doesn't have problems.

I'll give a nod to the UniFi AC-Mesh - a little old school with "rabbit ear" antennas, but it's a real performer. I had just one inside a 2400 sf house, and it covered all of it plus an outbuilding about 30 feet away. I now have a full UniFi setup, but I still use that AP and bought another one for use on a wall in the house.

Here's the thing, people forget or don't know in the first place that it's not just about how strong your access point is.. The signal coming from your phone or whatever wireless device you're using has to be strong enough to penetrate through walls or whatever and get back to the access point. In other words, a phone can hear a Wi-Fi signal from really far away.. but whatever is generating that signal might not be able to hear the phone. It would be like two people on opposite hilltops.. one has a megaphone and one doesn't. The person without the megaphone can hear the person with the megaphone just fine. However, the person with the megaphone might not be able to hear the person without the megaphone at all. I only need one u6 mesh access point in my house. It's a smaller two bedroom house. Even though my phone can hear the access point out in the yard.. the access point can't hear the phone. Which is why I have a second u6 mesh access point mounted outdoors but the power doesn't need to be nearly as high. I think it's turned down to maybe 30%. I don't really want or need any of the indoor Wi-Fi devices trying to communicate with the outdoor access point. The outdoor access point doesn't have any walls to blast through so it doesn't need nearly as much power to get to the phone and the phone doesn't have any walls to blast through outside so the access point can hear it just fine. Ubiquiti isn't the only company that has hardware like this but it's also very useful in some situations to be able to bind certain devices to certain access points. All my outdoor cameras that aren't wired, are bound to the outdoor access point. That way I don't even have to worry about them occasionally stupidly connecting to the indoor access point and having a weak signal. Kind of went on a FYI rant there lol.. I guess what I originally should have just said was, I do suggest mesh but it needs to be configured properly and the right equipment needs to be installed for the right location. If you have any questions you think I can answer, feel free to ask..

If you can get by with the regular Google Wi-Fi, TP-Link, erro, orbi, ECT.. systems. Great! There reasonably priced and reasonably fast.. Heck, there's nothing wrong with using equipment supplied by your ISP as long as the rental fee is reasonable and it works reliably. In some cases, that's free and there isn't a rental fee. True, someone at the ISP has access to your router if you go with their equipment but I'm honestly never come across that being an issue and over 30 years. It either works and people use it or it doesn't and they get their own equipment. If what they're selling in the big box stores is not going to cut it for you, a pretty reliable alternative would be ubiquiti/unifi. Slightly more complicated to set up but in my experience much more reliable, flexible, powerful, works with a broader range of older devices and newer devices, and you don't need to rely on the cloud unless you really want to. Plenty of YouTube videos and help groups as well. If you want something more complicated or expensive.. I don't think you'd be here posting this in the first place and would already have the answers you're seeking lol.

Same here. Moved from Orbi mesh which was unreliable at best. UniFi system easily lets you set up separate SSIDs with whatever channels you want to assign. A lot of the access points can even adjust power and detect the best channel to reduce interference automatically. I haven’t had to think about it since upgrading to this system.

Just tossed my netgear stuff for Ubiquity and couldn’t be happier. My devices no longer connect to whatever random access point it happens to see even if there’s a better one closer. Then they would get stuck on that one even after rebooting. So frustrating.

Pretty similar for me using Unifi as well. You can have multiple SSIDs with each one able to enable/disable 2.4/5/6ghz bands for each. Right now I have one set up with 6ghz max channel width on WPA3, one with 5/6ghz max channel width and one 2.4ghz on 20hz channel width.

I have two U6 mesh APs in my apartment and they've been nothing but perfect

All the unifi access points support mesh just fine. You can set "auto" or pick specific address points to use for priority 1 and 2. I have one of 4 APs with wireless uplink, and have no complaints. It's in my shed and has two wired security cameras attached that are constantly streaming. They also all support 802.11r/k/v for roaming and fast switching, regardless of wired/mesh uplink. These protocols make devices seamlessly switch APs as they move around, and without dropping connections. You can be on a video call and walk around without interruption.

I second this. Went all in and couldn’t be happier. Never had such good coverage and the control you have is insane!

Oh man, this money can get you solid unify setup: [Gateway Max](https://store.ui.com/us/en/products/uxg-max?variant=uxg-max) 2 or 3 [U6 Access Ponits](https://store.ui.com/us/en/category/all-wifi/products/u6-pro) Or maybe something [in wall](https://store.ui.com/us/en/category/all-wifi/products/u6-iw)? Edit: formatting

I had 5 eeros around the house and my pain was that devices took their time switching from AP to AP , getting poor signal even when I was standing next to another hard wired router. You had almost 0 information that's going on on your network. Even with paid subscription, you got a message threat detected, but that's it. No details at all. So I bought Synology router and leave eeros in bridge mode for WiFi only. 6 months later, I got rid of all eeros and got another Synology router. All issues with WiFi coverage were gone. Then I had some extra money and got unify.

Another vote for Ubiquiti UniFi.

Ubiquiti. Join the club. The more you get the more you want.

There are many helpful people in r/Ubiquiti. They could assist with your choices.

I dumped my entire nest and google WiFi mesh network and went Ubiquiti. Best decision I ever made. Period.

Technology aside (I.e. UniFi WiFi 7 better than WiFi 6 with my old Google/nest WiFi setup) the level of network control provided by ubiquiti software is FAR superior to Google home. UniFi tells knows whether problems are with specific clients, APs, or your ISP. I can create VLANs for just cameras and security. Separate ones for business and can filter application etc

My UDR7 replaced two U6 Mesh units, approx 2800 square feet. My UDR7 is upstairs on one side of my home and have complete coverage. I’d start with the UDR7 and see how it goes, you can always add more later.

I use two U6 Mesh. One is wired the other is connected via mesh. It works good.

I'd go Unifi if you're willing to pay for a nice user experience but if you don't want ceiling mounted AP's, the only wifi7 options are the UX7 or the U7 Pro Wall with the table stand. Wifi 6 options have the U6 Mesh but there isn't a U7 mesh yet. An example setup: * Gateway: UCG Fiber * Switch: Flex 2.5G PoE or Non POE depending * APs: UX7 or U7 Pro Wall with Stand

Unifi AP's can all do mesh with each other, but they only mesh over 5ghz currently. If you want to provide the most bandwidth over mesh, you'd want an AP with 4x4 antennas/streams on the 5ghz band, like the U6 pro or U6 mesh. Or the U7 Pro XGS if you want to go crazy. U6 line is wifi 6, basically one generation old but still fine. U7 AP's are their newest wifi 7 devices and still releasing models. It sounds like you'll be fine without it, but the U7 outdoor AP's have a directional antenna if you need more range. Lastly, if you're not familiar with POE (Power over ethernet) that is the normal way to power most of their AP's, so you'll either need POE Switches or POE Injectors.

That's definitely a thing and usually called "Passive POE". But any normal POE switches will only output power to devices that need it. As long as you don't search for and specifically buy a passive POE switch, it'll be fine. Also, some of the AP's will come with a poe injector in the box, like the U6 mesh. Edit: I should also mention there are power tiers with POE. POE, POE+, POE++, etc. Each + indicates a doubling of power. But basically if a device requires POE+, you need a POE+ switch or higher.

If budget is not an issue, go with Unifi. I have a similar size home, and I and happy that I made the switch to Unifi

Ubiquity UniFi, I have two wired APs inside, one outside and two wireless APs outside. They blanket 5+ acres and a 2300 sq. ft. house with WiFi, zero issues.

Ubiquiti Unifi, requirements will depend on layout but I would do UDM Pro router and probably one wired access point on each floor. Very configurable, modular and easy to expand. I have two houses with Unifi mesh setups and virtually never have an issue. When I do, it's the ISP.

Two words, Ubiquiti UniFi. Little more expensive but an excellent, manageable and expandable mesh system. I have installed UniFi in both of my homes with virtually zero issues. One home install is over 5 years old, the other 1 year. Both houses are single level, around 2400 sq.ft. and sit on 5+ acres of property. Running 5 APs, two inside and three outside. Wifi always stable anywhere you go on the property.

Ceiling mounted APs are best. You're beaming down around things and people. And with wood framing and floors, many times you can cover the floor below with good placement. Unifi has them. Eero seems to be designed to site on a counter, desk, end table or maybe mounted on a wall.

I’ve fitted Ubiquiti into a couple of multi million pound houses in the UK. So far it’s been very reliable, and the customers are very pleased with the aesthetics. The U6 Mesh is very popular as it’s a sleek looking red bull can style in white.

This. UniFi if you have a larger budget or Omada if you have a tighter budget. Both are great.

Are you also doing video streaming? If so I would suggest that you hardwire those if you can. I would put the a dream router (2nd floor next to modem) (it has built in wifi) —> POE to other floors and (depends on budget but you could probably get away with U6) you’ll have to get one POE injector as the dream router only has 2 POE ports. Ubiquiti allows you to set up via cloud if you want but you can also go directly from the modem or install their app somewhere on your LAN and push out configuration that way.

I wouldn’t go lower than the 6. I completely understand the want to go frugal. But IT equipment you get what you pay for. The best part of all of this is that when you’re setting up your network you can create a QoS (Quality of Service) profile to prioritize traffic by type and even by client on the network.

With Unifi you don't have to have a controller running all the time. You set up the APs with the phone app and they're good to go.  The unifi controller can run on a Raspberry pi, a virtual machine or any x86 computer.

I’ll just add that I am running U6 Mesh APs, using a single SSID, and have no issues whatsoever with my HomeKit WiFi IoT devices.

Consider access points. I have a unifi system. I have a router that is an access point. Then a cable runs to the other end of the house and there’s an another access point. In another part of the house where I can’t cable I have an access point but it runs as a mesh. One wifi network name. If you move around the house is connects to the strongest signal.

This is my current setup. Three WAPs(Ubiquity unifi) 3 years ago, have already replaced 2 switches and now all my access points are constantly failing. I have a Verizon router that my Apps are hardwired to for each floor. I was only using the WiFi from my APs before it started acting up, I’m currently using the WiFi from the router as a backup for a stable connection. My question is, is the SSID from the router interfering with the APs? If so, how can I resolve this. I’m only using the WiFi for my IoT devices.

I’ll really need your help. I’ve had this issue for the past three years now. A company installed 3 Ubiquiti WAPs for me that are now out of warranty. Have replaced 2 switches that just died and now all of my WAPs are not connecting to the network.

Unifi router that fits your needs and can manage all your devices and then go with bunch of their APs/Meshes that fits your needs. You most don't need the Wifi7 stuff. I have U6 Pro APs and U6 Mesh and they work great ony my 1Gbit internet.

For the average consumer, Eero is a much better fit though. Sure, if you like to tinker or have one off use cases, Unifi is the much better option, but Eero does a great job of providing a product that just works without ever really needing to touch it. I've had Asus, Netgear, Linksys, TP-Link, Google WiFi, and Eero, but I've had meshing issues with all except for Eero. My current setup is Unifi with Eero in bridge mode.

Unifi meshing works automatically and quite well. I have several APs not wired and they do a great job of connecting spots to the wired APs. I'm getting 100Mbps across a U6LR to Uap-ac mesh bridge right now. If you have long distances, Ubiquity also have these Loco range extenders to get a wireless bridge that works really well too. I have one on a farm with a U6LR at the far end and cover almost 1KM of property with 3 APs. 

I think folks that have commented already missed the point that you're not tech-savvy and do not way to deal with complicated setup/ troubleshooting. I would avoid Ubiquiti. It's a great product and I use it. But it requires network know-how the set it up and maintain it. I would recommend Eero. It's a solid performer and designed for the person that isn't tech-savvy and does not want to tinker with the network. Eero has probably the best mesh products on the market today. Depending on your layout/ needs, you could go PoE Gateway + PoE 6 APs. Great for ceiling AP locations. I also use this setup. Alternatively, you can use Max 7 or Pro 6E. Avoid 6/6+ models from Eero.

I basically have the Cloud Gateway Ultra, U6+ dish and three U6 meshes in a 180m2 house in three floors. Previously I had a google nest + six mesh units to cover the same space. But the Unifi is just vastly more reliable and I can’t think of a single point where google mesh would shine more, except maybe if you rely on google home heavily.

I agree with TatraPoodle, Unifi is the cheapest "full stack" I'd go with. Omada is thrown around in this sub but I find it extremely clunky to use and it's not that much cheaper. For wireless backhaul (mesh), you'll want AP's with at least 4x4 streams on the 5ghz band, or a combination of 6ghz and 5ghz streams. The U6 pro and U6 mesh both have 4x4 on 5ghz so I wouldn't go lower than those. U7 pro max if you want a step up. Unifi cloud gateway ultra is sort of the default router/controller.

Why don't you replace all of APs to UniFi Ubiquiti? They've got the most optimized radios.

Look at Ubiquiti Unifi. They offer a scalable managed network, start small and add devices as needed. The regular Access Points also support Uplink functionality but they have separate mesh systems.

Ubiquiti Unifi, professional network equipment with consumer starting models and prices.

Yep, I started with 3 AC Lights, now have about 12 devices. But I kept away from the rack stuff (yet)

I think Eero would be the most plug and play option. I've used TP-Link and they're decent but unclear political situation / possible ban. Ubiquiti/Unifi if you want to tinker and manage their network remotely (expensive)

Unifi APs can run in a mesh.

One Unifi AP needs to be wired to the router. The other Unifi APs can be meshed.

There's a Wireless mesh setting you need to enable in the Unifi controller program. Other than that, just do initial setup while wired then relocate.

Unifi stuff is not very difficult to set up. It’s pretty plug and play. If you WANT to get into the weeds , sure you can do that too. And it’s much easier to troubleshoot if something goes wrong. I used to have Orbi and the web interface is a joke.

This is what I did. Way easier to manage than orbi and much more stable. Also, probably cheaper , but this depends on your needs.

Agree. UniFi is very easy to set up. You download the app, stand next to your new gear and it walks you through everything. Some of the cameras with speakers even talk to you. I was a little apprehensive at first too, but all for nothing.

At that scale, look at prosumer products like TP Link Omada and Ubiquiti UniFi. It should be using a wired back end that also delivers the power to the WiFi via POE switches ( power over ethernet). It'll be centrally controlled and have seamless roaming when you move around the house.

You don’t really need mesh if you are doing wired backhaul. Go unifi, the extra money is worth the overall system.

Modular and stable. I’ll never go back to anything else.

Second. I just hard wired my UniFi and I’m blown away from the stability and speed.

Can you get it wired? I like UniFi as a system and MESH.

Unifi from Ubiquiti. You’ve got the wire to the small out building already. You can poe power what you need out there for wifi easily and with the new stuff they just dropped you have a lot of options. I left orbi for unifi. It’s not perfect but it’s been a lot better than orbi ever was.

I did not like my orbi setup. Buggy POS for me riddled with terrible firmware releases they kept having to apologize for. I moved on to unifi and while it’s not a panacea… it’s a damn sight better than orbi.

Just go unifi. Good prosumer stuff. Super extensible. I have everything in my house hardwired but just did my parents place with the cylindrical mesh APs and have been happy with it.

Just for understanding: What do you need mesh for, if you have a wired backhaul? Or do you want to have the mix of 2 hardwired and two mesh nodes? Without any requirements on bandwith: * U6+, U6 Pro or U6 Mesh for the nodes. * 3x Lite 8 PoE Switches (one for backhaul and one for each mesh node) If the backhaul nodes are on each end, it could make sense to get 2x U6Pro for backhaul aund 2x U6 Mesh for meshing. But any other combination would also work I would not recomment the U7 series because of the following: * Mesh only works on 5GHz * U7 seems to have problems with 2.4 GHz IoT devices

Understood. Thanks. Handoff should work well with unifi. Please don't get the Unifi Express. It's underpowered as hell. Depending on the setup and budget, I would suggest at least something like the Lite8 + U6+ on one side and Flex (not mini) + U6+ on the other side.

Just for understanding: What do you need mesh for, if you have a wired backhaul? Or do you want to have the mix of 2 hardwired and two mesh nodes? Without any requirements on bandwith: * U6+, U6 Pro or U6 Mesh for the nodes. * 3x Lite 8 PoE Switches (one for backhaul and one for each mesh node) If the backhaul nodes are on each end, it could make sense to get 2x U6Pro for backhaul aund 2x U6 Mesh for meshing. But any other combination would also work I would not recomment the U7 series because of the following: * Mesh only works on 5GHz * U7 seems to have problems with 2.4 GHz IoT devices