Ubiquiti - UniFi Dream Router (UDR)

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.

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

Future proof is always tricky. You’ll never know exactly what you need. I have the older UDR, it was my introduction to unifi and it’s been good. Just think about placement, having it a bit higher helps. If your gear will be located in an inconvenient location for an access point I’d maybe consider something else. Amazon does sell a decent looking wall mount. In my place the UDR plus one AP offers good coverage everywhere. Two access points are probably a little more future proof, as they are kind of upgradable separately from the UDR. But with WiFi7 being so new you’d be safe for a while. The express looks a lot more powerful, so unless you have some fast internet it’s probably ok. If you are vlan heavy though, at least with wired connections. How much traffic do you handle? They’d all have to go back to the router with your switch options and that connection is the bottleneck. The 2.5 with 10gbe to the router would be better. The fiber gateway… not sure if the UDR port can be configured for LAN. If 2.5gbe is fine then probably not an issue. Otherwise the Pro Max 16 PoE, or the Pro 8 PoE or Enterprise 8 PoE. If it’s all WiFi, probably doesn’t matter as much.

This is the way. I went through the same thing several years ago and ended up with a UniFi Dream Router, some of their  switches, and three of their APs placed strategically in our house. Excellent wired and wireless coverage now. 

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.

How large is the space? Does your relative really need a second AP? For my home I got the Dream Router and a U6+ and it’s overkill but works great. You could do the UDR with the U6 Extender if the space is too big for just the UDR. Just a bit over budget, but…

How large is the space? Does your relative really need a second AP? For my home I got the Dream Router and a U6+ and it’s overkill but works great. You could do the UDR with the U6 Extender if the space is too big for just the UDR. Just a bit over budget, but…

To upgrade or not! I have the original UDR and thinking of going to the UDR7 if the AP signal is better. Might just try it out and see myself.

As others have said, cable the mesh, as ***wireless*** meshing will always be "meh" at best, even on tplink or asus mesh systems. And yes, Unifi wins in every aspect. We've tried DLink, TPLink, NETGEAR, Huawei, and even Mikrotik, and the router setup that FINALLY worked flawlessly was Unifi. It literally just ***WORKS***. *All the other brands* were fine until more routers were added into the mix, then they made havoc, even when manually adjusting channels and whatnot. So yea, I'd get Unifi. Get a Dream Router and, if the space is big, one or several U6 Pro's (or U6 Enterprice if money allows). We have U6 Pro's at home and they're already *incredibly* good. Since our space allowed it, we've got a UDM Pro instead of a Dream Router just for the sake of expandability (and to separate concerns - one acting only as a gateway, the others just routers), but if you *JUST* want wifi, the Dream Router should be sufficient.

I'm not qualified enough to tell why it's better or not, but what I ***can*** say is that after dealing with multiple brands and all the hassle that came with them, I’ve stuck with UniFi because of its simple setup and the fact that *it just works*. Plus, UniFi is *almost* enterprise-grade, which means it ***has*** to be better than typical consumer-grade options - otherwise, it wouldn’t survive in that market. What this means for us, home users, is that the experience should be more than sufficient, which it is! About the UI, honestly, it's nice. It has a lot of interesting insights and options which you usually pay extra or straight-up don't even have on consumer-grade equipment. But even so, it's simple to set-up, in mere minutes. About connecting multiple Dream Routers together, if I'm not mistaken they are built to be used as a gateway AND routers, in one package combined, so you can't wire them together. If the house is big, I'd rather purchase a Dream Router (or even better a Cloud Gateway or an UDM Pro) and some AP's from them.

The Max is serving me well but I had the older UDR and I liked it very much. Having the controller hosted on it is just easier. I had it on a Windows server before. Now with the UDR7, if this covers most of your house, it would be a nice way to go.No problems at all running your VLANs.

Yes it's no problem. I did the same on my older UDR. No issues. Both wired and wireless mesh was fine.

>*"You are better going with something like ubiquity"* The problem with this is that if you want to get into 10G... or really anything beyond 1G, you need a UDM Pro which just isn't that great if you don't have room for a full 1U rack anywhere. And by the time you add in APs and potentially other switches it gets really pricey compared to a standard Asus all-in-one unit for a small-medium size house. There's the Dream router - but that's only wifi 6 and doesn't support multi-gig. The Express is cute but again, not above gig. Sure, the AIO solutions from Asus for 10G probably aren't quite as good as a full Unifi setup with their APs... but it's way cheaper, takes up less space, and is simpler if you want others in your household to be able to configure it when you're not around.

It's predecessor has 2, so all the installs that have got 2 cams running off them now have to buy switches or get injectors, it's been downgraded sadly

I recently bought a secondhand Unifi Dream Router for my studio apartment and it’s been fantastic with my HomeKit setup 👍🏼 Edit: around 30 wifi-based HomeKit devices; yes, there’s a bit more to configure if you want to dive into VLANs & such but other than that it’s pretty straightforward. https://preview.redd.it/rwe4te1rhrtd1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=95c6a2fff3035c59f4cbd64a43096d97baabe6bc Unrelated: look how pretty it is 🥲

[Ubiquiti Networks UDR UniFi Dual Band Wi-Fi 6 PoE Dream Router - UDR | Mwave](https://www.mwave.com.au/product/ubiquiti-networks-udr-unifi-dual-band-wifi-6-poe-dream-router-ac55853) One of the best home routers, works at full gigbit speed and the security it provides is excellent

A router doesn’t deal in WiFi, unless you’re confusing an AIO router/AP/switch combo job (which are typically not great). I do like the UniFi Dream Router though for what it is.

There is no such thing as a "stupid powerful" router. There are some that due to WiFi capabilities (such as MU-MIMO and beamforming) or antenna design can achieve better range. Going through two floors though, especially in an older home, you'll probably get better performance using 2.4GHz than 5GHz. The problem is that 2.4GHz @ 80MHz channel width, there are only three usable channels that might all be subject to contention from other nearby WiFi networks, as well as 2.4GHz devices that don't use WiFi, even things like microwave ovens. The best solution would be to run (or have a professional run) CAT5e or CAT6 cable from the current router location to each floor to install additional AP's. Start off with a Unifi Express UX7 + USW-Flex-2.5G-5 POE Switch, or Unifi Dream Machine wireless router on the top floor, replacing your existing router. Or if you only have and ever expect to use 1gbps Internet, you can use a UDR (WiFi 6) to at a lower cost. Run a cable down to the ground floor and the basement, this generally isn't too difficult if you use good quality tools and components. You might be able to run outdoor CAT5e/CAT6 from the current router location, out, down the exterior of the home, and into the basement, which could be easier than pulling cable down interior walls. Ask if you need help and before buying tools/components, or find a professional network installer (not a general electrician or low-voltage alarm/CCTV installer). An alternative to running cable might be using MoCA2.5 adapters if you have coax connected to both the top floor and basement. Install a Unifi U6-Mesh (flexible mount) or U6-Pro (normally ceiling mount) AP in the basement. A UDR (WiFi 6, 1GbE) costs $199 and a UDR7 (WiFi 7, 10GbE + 2.5GbE) costs $344 ($279 + $65 for the SFP+ 10GbE SFP+ transceiver). A UX7 costs $299 plus $199 for a USW-Flex-2.5G-8-PoE POE Switch, so a UDR7 is cheaper if you don't need the extra ports. Each U6-Mesh AP is $179 and can be placed on a table/desk top, mounted on the wall or mounted in the ceiling. A U6-Pro AP costs $159 and should be ceiling-mounted, but it can physically be placed on a table/desk top or a shelf. The U6-Pro has better 2.4GHz performance than the U6-Mesh, but the signal out the back (mounting side) of the U6-Pro is lower overall.

Unifi Dream Router if your internet service is <1gbps. My early access version has been going strong for several years now. If you have much faster service, the UDR 7 or Unifi Dream Machine Pro will be good. Or you can build your own router with a spare PC if you really want to learn networking.

it's probably not the amount of devices, but the fact it has to cover the whole house. i would grab a unifi dream router and a couple u6-extender's (wireless mesh AP's, just plug into any wall outlet) as a cheap way to get better coverage. if that doesn't do the job, you probably need to add some AP's with wired backhaul. you can use MoCA adapters to transmit ethernet over the coax wiring your house already has, but those get expensive. so i would try the mesh approach first. MoCA would also let you add switches to hardwire more of your devices into the network, reducing the load on wifi AP's to begin with.

Yup, Unifi Dream Router is like the bastard child of an AirPort Extreme and a Cisco enterprise rack

$200 is not expensive for a high-quality router. I’d recommend the Unifi Dream Router over this, but both are actually worth the price tag

The Dream Router pops up; I’ve gotten three for clients over the past few months, but I do hope there’s an upgrade with more being made soon.

Unifi Dream Router is the spiritual successor and kicks the crap our of eero without spying on you

UDR 40w is a nice machine but bear in mind it maxes out about 700mbps of Internet speed. Looks like you can find one on Amazon/Ebay for about $330. That said, I'd consider what /u/LeoAlioth said about separate units. For example: $130 UniFi Cloud Gateway Ultra router $110 UniFi Lite 8 PoE switch $190 UniFi U7 Pro WAP $430 total or $499 UniFi Dream Machine SE $190 UniFi U7 Pro WAP $689 total Main advantage of doing separates is you can put your modem/router/switch down in a basement and out of your hair, then a WAP (Wireless Access Point, aka WiFi base station) goes closer to your living space where you use it. Requires a little cat6 cable in the wall of course.

I just received a UDM SE to replace my older UDR and now this comes out… I’m annoyed

Yeap. Unifi is a sweet spot if you like user friendly interface, slightly more advanced capabilities and IDS/IPS. I have UDM-Pro, UDR and UX. First two are working perfectly and are very fast, so I can recommend both of them. UX is stable but not very fast, so don’t go that route. I don’t have UDM, so can’t comment.

I have the UDR (not the 7) basically I’m wondering if it’s worth $300 to upgrade…

We have gigabit Ethernet and definitely are not hitting the speeds with our UDR

UDR7 is for people who want a single device as a router (and switch and access point). ie they are replacing a TP-Link or Netgear for example. If you are going to have CAT runs to most (or multiple) rooms, I think the also released Cloud Gateway Fiber makes a lot more sense alongside whatever access points to suit your needs. I'm no pro on the line-up (I own a simple setup with the original UDR myself) so take the above with a grain of salt.

Unifi Dream Router for $200! It can't do 1gbps (max ~700mbps) but it's a great router with an excellent ecosystem. You can easily add managed switches and smart APs that are pretty reasonably priced. If you need more chooch, the Dream Machine comes in at $400, but you'll need to add at least one AP.

How's the fan noise? I otherwise loved my udr but the fan noise was unbearable. Gateway ultra + u6 mesh saved my sanity, although I did like having the ability to run protect.

UniFi Dream Router is what we lean towards for small clients. Optional 5 year extended coverage for $59 and $99 yearly CyberSecure license.

> Ubiquiti Dream Router UDR 40W I have one. It's performed flawlessly. I think I ordered mine on direct from them when they were available.

Moved from ASUS to Unifi. Reasonably low end kit for them, over 50 devices. Works like a dream. Even the Wi-Fi mesh.

I have one and hear light whirring if I get very close. Did not know it had a fan until I hear that sound. After experiencing fanless UI hardware (flex switches, UCG Max), UDR is running so refreshingly cool.

I would agree that hardwired is ideal, but I've been having excellent results meshing dream router and ap lite. The distance is only one flight of stairs plus 30 horizontal feet, but device roaming is generally consistent with proximity to the ap. Strangely, some devices have bounced to the ap pro, 150 feet away in a separate building. I expect to see more, more easily with 9.1, probably upgrade tomorrow.

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.

4x port 2.5gb nics are ~$50-100 alone. The unifi is actually pretty reasonably priced @ $200 and totally fine for home use. Next best thing and my recommendation would be a mini pc and nic running pfsense/opnsense for your requirements, also ~$200 total You'll easily saturate the pi 5s USB bus and gen 2 pcie x1 lane with 4x 2.5gb connections + WAN. The pi could work if you also got a small 2.5gb switch but for the cost I think you're in minipc territory at that point

A few weeks ago I got tired of my issues with my original DR and went to Micro Center and bought a Dream Machine SE and an extra AP. I'm strongly considering returning it for this and a poe 8 lite. \\ ^^^Talk ^^^me ^^^out ^^^of ^^^it

Not a surprise. UDR is notorious for not having enough performance. The previous generation of UDR can only saturate about 700 Mbps of Internet connection with every other capability disabled: Protect, InnerSpace, IDS/IPS, DNS-based Ad Block, and Encrypted DNS, you name it, all gone. Now, the new generation of UDR only provides a slight improvement in CPU (Quad A53 @ 1.5 GHz compared to previous Dual A53 @ 1.35 GHz) but now needs to handle 2.3 Gbps IDS/IPS routing.

All UniFi fans always tell you UniFi products are fine and flawless, but no. UniFi Products are always full of Bugs (Layer 3 switches failed to apply static routing config, Client analyzer failed to record non-UniFi devices' PoE usage), Hardware design failures (UDM Pro/SE/Pro Max's built-in 8 ports switch only has a fixed GbE uplink), and Faults (UniFi Layer 3 features can't handle IPv6, UDM Pro/SE/Pro Max's RJ45 WAN Port can't handle PPPoE up to 700 Mbps). So be prepared, you will face bugs every day every week, and be ready to talk to UniFi's support engineer every day about bugs you find. Cloud Gateway Fiber has a much more powerful CPU (Quad A73 @ 2 GHz compared to Quad A53 @ 1.5 GHz on UDR 7, even more powerful than the one in UDM Pro/SE, a rack-mount gateway) and claims to be able to handle 5 Gbps IDS/IPS routing. So it sure can saturate your gigabit connection. It doesn't have built-in Wi-Fi, so you will need to get a dedicated AP. More money needs to be spent, but the bonus is that your gateway no longer handles the wireless stuff and can focus its computing power on networking, routing, firewall, etc.

I'd recommend Ubiquiti Dream Machine or Dream Router even for a non-techie.

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.

This has been answered a lot of times. But I’ll give you the short version. 1 - you’re gonna want to hardwire TVs and gaming. Just an overall better experience. 2- on either your phone or laptop install software that lets you create a heat map. This shows you what areas if the house have bad coverage. 3- I use and suggest ubiquiti equipment. 3a. You’d install a dream router next to your modem (make sure the ISP puts your modem in bridge mode) 3b. Run wires and install access points where they’re needed and set up your network in mesh mode. 4- enjoy

Ubiquiti Dream Router (all round and expandable) or Amplifi Alien (Dedicated gaming/streaming.)

I use a UDR in my RV with Starlink. Great coverage inside and out. Easy to add an Instant camera to so I can have a few perimeter cams if I need to. I use a G3 instant as a dash cam for now until I upgrade to the Theta.

Agreed. I started with an UDR, I think it’s great for flat apartments, not so much for multi story houses. You will need extra APs, and the UDR will likely be in a closet or in the basement so not the best place for the built-in AP. I’m much happier now with the UCG and I might consider fibre once/if faster internet access becomes affordable in my area.

sort of, about to replace a Dream Router. Got 1 gig fiber installed recently, so the Dream Router is now a bottleneck. DR 7 seems like the logical upgrade.

Yep, the BGW320-505 has some annoying shortcomings, just like the CenturyLink-branded C3000Z DSL modem/router I used when still on DSL. As you say, the solution is to have your own router, with the AT&T box in IP Passthrough mode. My previous one was a Ubiquiti Dream Router. I upgraded it once I went from ADSL (~140 Mbps down/20 Mbps up) to AT&T fiber (1 Gbit/s both ways) because that model maxed out at 700 Mbit/s (despite having a "gigabit" WAN port, this was a processing limitation apparently). I replaced that Dream Router with a Dream Router 7, which as well as being more than capable of handling the full gigabit, and also does WiFi 7. Which tier of AT&T fiber do you have? Particularly if you're OK with not having the latest and greatest WiFi, I see a few routers on the market that can handle a full gigabit wired, for $100 or less. Would that work for you? The extra-mega-elegant solution is to cut out the AT&T box entirely, by purchasing your own SFP+ module (WAS-110) and programming it to "masquerade" as the BGW320-505. But then you need something with an SFP+ port to plug that into, and it gets to be a few hundred $ in hardware.

I'd bet curious how they addressed the WAN port for this, I sold my OG Dream Router because it couldn't hit 1gb for my fiber. This new one says 2.5gbs WAN.

I have a larger house and found UniFi with 7 access points is a game changer. Make sure you get a switch and hardwire the access points. I have gigabit WiFi in every room. You won’t get all that for $700, but you could do a budget version with a UDR ($199) and 2 U6-Pro access points ($159) for a total of $517.

Yeah my bad, with the Cloud Gateway Ultra you'd need an access point. I was thinking of the Unifi Express which has WiFi 6 built in. I'd personally go with the Dream Router or Unifi Express + Flex Mini switch for the versatility offered by Ubiquiti's software.

Netgear, google, TPLink but the best would be a Ubiquiti dream router with an access point in the other building connected by the wire. Highly flexible and great system with ability for growth.

It would be multiple products and it's very customizable based on your needs. Going to be comparing to the Pro Deployment which is $699 No Wiring but only need WiFi? Dream Router 7: $279 2x U7 Pro + 2 POE injectors: $408 Total: $687 Need at least 1 ethernet ports near the mesh AP? Dream Router 7: $279 2x Unifi Express 7: $398 Total: $677 Have at least 1 ethernet port wired and need both multiple ethernet and wifi? Dream Router 7: $279 Unifi Express 7: $199 U7 In-Wall: $149 Total: $628 It's a whole ecosystem of devices meant to work together and you can continually expand or replace as units get old. Eeros and Orbis would require replacing the entire stack when it comes to upgrading. With a Unifi setup you can pick and choose which components you want to replace, usually you keep the gateway/router and swap out the Wireless Access Points.

Yes, exactly. I've been reading up on ubiquiti and I'm starting to lean towards a dream router 7 + a U7+ In Wall Access point. The dream router outputs PoE and has enough ports to where I don't need a switch and can directly send everything to the rooms. Then I'll use the U7+ In Wall to receive ethernet and transmit wifi in the living room while also allowing ethernet output. And then I get to access all the ubiquiti bells and whistles. This is also super future proof as i can just add more access points from ubiquiti when I move

UniFi, hands down. I don't know what you consider "similar nonsense", - prosumer and a lot of business will use a controller that manages the configurations and statistics. The Cloud Key is a somewhat older implementation of the UniFi setup where it performed as the controller and an NVR for cameras. They've split that off - you can get gateways (router/controller) that does not have the video incorporated any longer. The "cloud" in some of their hardware doesn't mean it's run from the cloud or whatever, it's simply part of the model name. You can run it all standalone without being tied to their servers (though it's pretty convenient at times). Similarly, they have "mesh" in the name of some of their APs - but all of them can be wirelessly uplinked. It's a matter of them associating through marketing to the massive consumer "mesh" marketing. But it's still prosumer stuff and uses the same controller as the rest. My favorite feature is reliability. It's been rock solid for me through 6 years (I've moved through three upgrades and it's just stable. I love it. Look at the Dream Router 7, UniFi Express models, and Cloud Gateway models for some pretty darned good home solutions. The Dream Machines are great also, they are rack mount though and tilt towards having the video features. Should you choose one of the simpler offerings and want to go video later - there are standalone DVRs - including the Cloud Key+, which is still popular - that you can add. There is other prosumer gear, but Ubiquiti UniFi and TP-Link Omada are the only ones I know of with the unified management.

Better routers are not going to overcome "lots of concrete and walls". You would be better served by working on a plan to get some ethernet run around and access points connected with it. "I'd really like to avoid..." says to me that you *could*, you just don't want to. The effort and expense would be worth it, your wifi experience would be so much better by using access points connected via ethernet. Mesh is just wifi via wifi, so the same signal issues getting to clients also applies to getting signal from router to mesh points. Placement will be key - the mesh point needs to be in a spot where it receives good signal from the router *and* is able to provide good signal to the clients you want to serve. The UniFi Express is more of an entry level device. The Dream Router 7 is meant to compete with the consumer all-in-one devices. The DR7 is *probably* going to do a better job with wifi. Nobody can predict how wifi will work in any house, but since you mentioned lots of concrete and walls, that makes wifi a challenge. What I will say is that UniFi will likely be more reliable and it's definitely more expandable with a wide range of APs and switches.

The Dream Router 7 has been the best router I've ever owned so far. WELL worth the cost.

That’s probably the best option if you need a couple extra Ethernet ports. You will also need POE injectors for the two APs. UI sells a [regular POE injector](https://store.ui.com/us/en/products/u-poe-af) for $8 which is all you need for the U7 Lite. My only other suggestion would be a [UniFi Express 7](https://store.ui.com/us/en/category/all-cloud-gateways/products/ux7) which has an AP built in, with 6 GHz, to boot. But it only has one LAN port so if you’re wanting to run more Ethernet you’d need a switch. The [cheapest one UI sells](https://store.ui.com/us/en/category/all-switching/products/usw-flex-mini) is $30 which makes it about a wash with your setup. The only advantage would be 6 GHz from the router but your still be without it on the other floor. Edit to add if there’s a chance they may ever want cameras the Cloud Gateway Max and Dream Router 7 both offer a basic NVR that supports their Protect products. And both have several LAN ports. The Dream Router even has a POE port to power an AP.

Depending on the thickness of your floors and walls, 2-3 APs should do the trick. The Unifi app includes a site mapping feature that will tell you where to put APs based on the floor plan, and you can just scan your rooms to make a floor plan. I’d suggest giving that a shot to see what it suggests for placement and number of APs. A U7 Pro AP is $189 from Ubiquiti directly, and requires a PoE+ switch to power it. You can either buy a switch from ubiquiti, or get a cheap one on amazon. This is where things can start to get expensive. Rack-mount gear is really nice to have. Not having to worry about a precarious pile of networking gear perched somewhere awkward is nice. And it lets you rack mount other gear (home server, UPS, your shitty modem that your ISP gives you) and lets you install a patch panel for easier network management. However, it is bigger, and more expensive. A Unifi Lite 16 PoE is $200, while a Unifi Standard 16 PoE is almost $100 more for AR capabilities and rack mounting. The AR stuff is pretty slick fwiw, showing you what’s hooked up to each port. As for a router, the Dream Router 7 comes with a WiFi 7 AP built in. As does the Express 7. The Express 7 is focused solely on routing, and is cheaper at $200. The Dream Router is more capable, running the full Unifi suite, allowing for security cameras, VoIP phones, door control, and stuff like that, but costs $279 to do so. The Cloud Gateway Max eschews the built in AP for a built in 2.5 GbE switch instead of the GbE switch in the Dream Router 7, and the ability to use an NVMe SSD for camera footage, instead of a microSD card. Worst case scenario: * Cloud Gateway Max - $279 * Unifi Standard 16 PoE - $279 * Unifi U7 Pro x3 - $567 And then you grab a 3d printed mount for the cloud gateway, your ISP modem, and begin rack mounting everything you can. Less than $1500 to do it fancy. Less than $1000 to do it economically. Still, definitely recommend downloading their app and mapping your place out before you pull the trigger on anything.

> Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway and their access points. I have my main network, a guest network, an IoT network, and dedicated WFH network. The IoT network is 2.4 only to make setting up those devices easier. After years of trial and error with every consumer brand router under the sun, I have pretty much exactly the same Ubiquiti setup you do. Three access points, multiple virtual networks, and it's been very stable. Still gradually migrating all my IoT hardware to the dedicated IoT network though. I have so many stupid wifi thingies I keep finding new stuff I forgot about.

Since you have cable Internet and it runs into the basement, you hopefully have coaxial cables available to you throughout the house, and usually in key locations. Just look at the area where all the coax ends should meet, likely in the basement where your modem/router is at and plugged into. If you do find this bunch of coax, you can use it with MoCA Adapters to build a wired Ethernet network inside your home. If you can achieve that, then getting good WiFi everywhere will be easy, as well as providing wired capabilities for other devices in needed locations. MoCA Adapters can be a bit expensive, but worth the cost. If you can build this MoCA network, then whatever you choose as the router and Access Points will work very well, including a 3 pack of a reputable mesh brand. For mesh, I use and can recommend eero. But ASUS Zen mesh is also praised a lot, and has more configurability. If you want to go higher end, you can get an Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway router, a Ubiquiti PoE switch, and some Ubiquiti Access Points. It's more expensive, but very capable of advanced setups, and is very stable. I use Ubiquiti at another home and in my office location, and I can recommend them personally as well.

So others will steer you into changing everything about your current smart home. And while they aren’t necessarily wrong, I’ll try and help you out with your ask. If a lot of your smart devices are Wi-Fi then you have some options. If you have Wi-Fi devices spread across your entire house and outside, you are going to want to invest in a decent mesh system. Specifically one where you can fine-tune the different Wi-Fi networks. You want a system where you can create different Wi-Fi networks as well as assign the bands to each network. I use a Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway and their access points. I have my main network, a guest network, an IoT network, and dedicated WFH network. The IoT network is 2.4 only to make setting up those devices easier. That network can’t reach into the other networks but the main network can reach into the IoT network. I haven’t worked out all the kinks, as I’m still learning myself and tweaking as I go. Another option would be to find a more consumer grade mesh system where you can have multiple access points, nodes, or whatever the brand you choose calls it. The big thing there is to ensure your 2.4 GHz network is named differently than your 5GHz. The mesh helps with coverage, and the unique name for the 2.4 again makes adding your smart devices a lot easier. You should be able to do this with your google Wi-Fi pucks now. Advice would be to leave the 2.4 network the same so you don’t have to read those devices, it can be a pain, the name your 5GHz something different. Phones and laptops are a lot easier to change networks on. The big thing that will help with speed in the consumer grade setup is having wired back haul capabilities. Google Wi-Fi does, I don’t think Nest does. That changes your access points from repeaters to the same speed as your main router, but in more places in your house. The caveat being you need to have Ethernet access in the places you want to add those wired Access Points. I’m sure others will chime in, and correct anything I got wrong. 🤣 Edited: Because I skimmed and missed that you already have a mesh system capable of naming the bands differently and google Wi-Fi supports wired backhaul.

Unifi ubiquity stuff is rock solid

Ubiquity/Unifi, if that's within your budget, way beyond the usual consumer brands, it's a commercial brand, but loved by a lot of prosumers like me.

I have just moved to Unifi from Linksys due to the constant issues with the Velop mesh. All wired and seems to be working very well. Even the Mrs is happy

I use Ubiquity Unifi gear since I’ve used it for almost 10 years. Netgear Orbi is a high quality product, Eero is probably ok too. More a question of how big your space is, is there a way to hardwire access points etc. The standard Verizon router may be totally fine for a small space.

Id check out the decos then unifi, unifi is pricer but nicer, my parents used decos forever without issue. If you just want some basic QOS/port forwarding you'll be good to go.

Like a few others in here I’ve been a full Ubiquity Unifi guy for many years. Great stuff.