UniFi Dream Router (UDR)

Deployed the previous UDR to a friend, it has been going strong for the entire time. I can recommend Unifi products in general.

I had this problem, you need to turn off some smart WiFi setting somewhere, I don’t remember exactly. Search for iPhone drops unifi wifi. After toggling it off no issues with connectivity. I do though have complain about unifi, UDR specifically, which started to randomly freeze right after warranty expired, and support after investigation said it is physical issue and I should just buy a new device.

What are you using for WiFi? I would wholeheartedly recommend for you, a “pro-sumer”, the Unifi stack. You can start with the dream router or go to the Cloud Gateway Ultra (less than $200)

You can have wifi on the router or separate. Up to you. The dream router has wifi 7 built in but it’s more expensive

UDR isn't a great all-around unless you're buying firmware. They need to work on making their hardware match their firmware capabilities.

Yes, to build a UniFi network with equal antenna technology, I need to get the Enterprise version of their Wifi 6 AP (assuming Wifi 6 is my use case). If I have a Wifi 7 use case, there's no AP with 6 Ghz 4x4 mimo last I checked, which will help with range to individual clients at the edge of the network and serving multiple clients. Admittedly that was a couple months ago after a recommendation. Even the 7 Pro Max is 4x4 only in the 5 GHz band. Nice for serving many clients, but not the hardware I'd expect for a Wifi client-heavy use case. With the UDR, it's 2x2 on every band. Specific use cases make sense with the firmware/software, like the NVR you mentioned. I'm not dismissing the firmware capabilities, just pointing out the need to strangely compromise with hardware in their solutions *when the claim is world class hardware in every implementation.

UnIFi is a great solution for what you want. The UniFi Dream Router 7 would be a great starting point. https://youtu.be/0AUqaf3wDQU?feature=shared

I would return the dream router get the Unifi express series either the regular or the 7s. put one in the cupboard and put another in the house they mesh.

Is this something the city or the county can do to help? Or are you volunteer firefighters who have to fight budgets to get newer hoses and there's no money around? Because what you really need is determine WHERE you need WiFi, then do a "survey" to know how well waves will propagate given your challenging environment. Meshes can extend range but will do very poorly against isolation and reflection. My guess is you will probably end up with a Unifi Dream Router ($279) and 2 U7 access points ($99 Lite, $189 Pro with 6Ghz). Since it's a fire station, I assume it's OK to run visible Cat6e from the Unifi Dream Router to the access points in different room. If I were you, I'd reach out to local Unifi resellers around and see if they would help you build this <$500 solution in exchange of a photo OP and your logo on their webpage/Yelp. People love firefighters and realistically your project is simple if you have the right tools. Maybe 4 hours of work. You pay for devices, they donate expertise, and you donate good publicity.

Lol yep it’s quite the opposite of fun, but it’s a solid router. Fortunately my roommate is a network nerd and was able to set up our dream router cause there’s no way in hell I would’ve been able to configure it correctly

Yes I am serious, not everyone has the technical expertise where they can say those products, or anything network related are easy to set up. Plus this house has a Synology NAS/Plex server bridged to the local network so I didn’t really feel comfortable touching it, as the server is not mine.

Drop TP Link altogether. They have [a lot of vulnerabilities](https://www.forescout.com/blog/new-tp-link-router-vulnerabilities-a-primer-on-rooting-routers/). I personally made the switch to UniFi. I have a Dream Router and an AP and love them. It wasn't a whole lot more than the two separate things you're running now either.

I tried that router, it wasn’t fun setting it up. Plus my Series X had moderate nat type. Trying to turn on the virtual whatever it’s called (basically from my understanding dmz mode) was a chore. I returned the Dream Router and went back to my older Asus router.

What’s so night and day different about it? A lot of people complain about how terrible Unifi’s setup and online UI is. Plus the fact that I installed a dream router with their own switch, my Xbox had issues. Zero issues with my Asus router. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to replace my Asus router but the Dream router with switch was $350+ and the experience was horrible. Asus is way easier to deal with at more than half the price. I didn’t give up, they just need to do better.