Setting up Wireless Access Point

[thestrangebrew1]

I got an Ubiquiti WAP unit to help with increasing my signal at the other end of my house. Should be here in the next day or two. My question is, do I disable my router's wireless and just use the Ubquiti WAP or leave both on? Any pros or cons for either?

 

[kater1]

I got an Ubiquiti WAP unit to help with increasing my signal at the other end of my house. Should be here in the next day or two. My question is, do I disable my router's wireless and just use the Ubquiti WAP or leave both on? Any pros or cons for either?

All depends on the situation. Where you are putting the new access point. The signal strength, ect.

IMHO. Disable the WiFi on the router and only use the new access point (if signal is strong enough through out your home). This is the easiest way to set it up.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[thestrangebrew1]

All depends on the situation. Where you are putting the new access point. The signal strength, ect.

IMHO. Disable the WiFi on the router and only use the new access point (if signal is strong enough through out your home). This is the easiest way to set it up.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Initially I'll set up the WAP close to the router and see how the signal is with that location. The room where the router and modem are in has no attic space or crawl space, so if I need to the WAP closer to our low signal zones, I'll have to put a hole in the wall and run a cable outside, then back in to the other end of the house. I've read/heard that Ubiquiti's have great signal strength, so I'm hoping my initial setup location will work. Another question, does the WAP need to be directly plugged into the router, or will it work plugged into a switch? My router's LAN ports are all taken, but I have an available LAN port on a switch. Sorry, not so good with networking stuff.

 

[kater1]

You can plug it into a switch. But you will have to use the poe power supply that comes with it. Disable your router WiFi and see if your signal is close to what you are wanting.

What access point did you order

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[thestrangebrew1]

You can plug it into a switch. But you will have to use the poe power supply that comes with it. Disable your router WiFi and see if your signal is close to what you are wanting.

What access point did you order

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Thanks! I ordered this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PRCBBI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The software I'll have to download for setup seems pretty straightforward. Hopefully it works well for our needs.

 

[kater1]

Same one I have. Setup was very easy for me. I have a 2500sq ft home all one level. No problems at all here. Basically in the center of the house

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[JackMDS]

There is No point to disable the WIFI on the Router. Wireless is not just about Speed. Two WIFI source would provide more local Bandwidth.

Set the Wirelles on the Router to Ch. 1, and the one on the WAP to Ch.11 and enjoy.


😎

 

[thestrangebrew1]

There is No point to disable the WIFI on the Router. Wireless is not just about Speed. Two WIFI source would provide more local Bandwidth.

Set the Wirelles on the Router to Ch. 1, and the one on the WAP to Ch.11 and enjoy.


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Thanks! Just curious, how would the devices work as far as connecting to my wifi? Will it just choose the stronger signal the further I am from the source?

 

[Ichinisan]

Thanks! Just curious, how would the devices work as far as connecting to my wifi? Will it just choose the stronger signal the further I am from the source?

Some devices are stupid. They'll keep jumping on the network with the weaker signal and hang on to it when it's unusable. Having multiple Ubiquiti APs with a controller wouldn't have that problem because devices see only one network and one AP MAC.

I tried matching SSIDs with my Asus routers in AP mode. Even though my devices always show one SSID with a strong signal, I often find the far-away router reports wireless clients connected to it that should never be connected to that one. I finally gave them different SSIDs so I can force my devices to use the correct one. I had to make my Apple devices forget the networks I don't want them to connect to. If one device learns it, they all do (synchronized across devices through my Apple ID).

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Thanks for sharing. I'll hook it up in the next day or so and see how my devices play with it.

 

[kater1]

Some devices are stupid. They'll keep jumping on the network with the weaker signal and hang on to it when it's unusable. Having multiple Ubiquiti APs with a controller wouldn't have that problem because devices see only one network and one AP MAC.

I tried matching SSIDs with my Asus routers in AP mode. Even though my devices always show one SSID with a strong signal, I often find the far-away router reports wireless clients connected to it that should never be connected to that one. I finally gave them different SSIDs so I can force my devices to use the correct one. I had to make my Apple devices forget the networks I don't want them to connect to. If one device learns it, they all do (synchronized across devices through my Apple ID).

And this is why I suggested turning off WiFi on the router.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[freeskier93]

Thanks! Just curious, how would the devices work as far as connecting to my wifi? Will it just choose the stronger signal the further I am from the source?

In theory the device should automatically choose the stronger signal but in reality that rarely happens. Even if the device does decide to transition it's not smooth.

As others have said disable the wifi on the router. If you need more coverage get another Ubiquiti AP since they support zero handoff. Keep in mind though for zero handoff to work the controller has to be running 24/7.

The Ubiquiti APs also support band steering, which I imagine wouldn't really work well with the existing router's wifi.

Also keep in mind that wifi is a two way street, just because the AP has long range doesn't mean the device on the other end has the power to transmit back to the AP.

 

[JackMDS]

In theory the device should automatically choose the stronger signal but in reality that rarely happens. Even if the device does decide to transition it's not smooth..

There is No such general Theory. If the hardware/firmware does not support such feature, then it is Not available.

Consumer level Wireless hardware/firmware do not support it. (Business use RADIUS Servers, or Hardware that is designed with roaming capacity).

On the other hand OS' are designed to disconnect only if there is no functional signal any more, so real roaming is Not functional there either. I.e., weak signal would be let go even if there is another strong signal available.

Just imagine the conundrum if One walks to a place in home/house that the signal is weak and the next door neighboring signal.is very strong.

Some wold say "I leave on a farm" and there is No next door? Unfortunately there is No special versions of OSs' for people in the ""Wilderness"".

But, I do not care about cost and the additional learning of how to configure it!!!

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-802-11ac-Dual-Radio-UAP-AC-PRO-US/dp/B018XX8K66?th=1

Please Note that the Ubiquiti needs to be few units Networked in additional to the Router.


😎

 

[freeskier93]

There is No such general Theory. If the hardware/firmware does not support such feature, then it is Not available.

You missed the point, which was that devices that do support it rarely do it well. Yes, either a device supports it or it doesn't, but just because it does doesn't mean it works worth a damn.

Consumer level Wireless hardware/firmware do not support it. (Business use RADIUS Servers, or Hardware that is designed with roaming capacity).

On the other hand OS' are designed to disconnect only if there is no functional signal any more, so real roaming is Not functional there either. I.e., weak signal would be let go even if there is another strong signal available.

iOS has supported automatic switching/"roaming" for a long time. Aka take any two random access points, give them the same SSID and security credentials, and iOS will automatically switch between the two depending on signal strength. In my experience it's fairly smart in switching, but when it switches you lose connection for a good 10-20 seconds.

Just imagine the conundrum if One walks to a place in home/house that the signal is weak and the next door neighboring signal.is very strong.

Some wold say "I leave on a farm" and there is No next door? Unfortunately there is No special versions of OSs' for people in the ""Wilderness"".

But, I do not care about cost and the additional learning of how to configure it!!!

Honestly not sure WTF you are trying to say here.

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-802-11ac-Dual-Radio-UAP-AC-PRO-US/dp/B018XX8K66?th=1

Please Note that the Ubiquiti needs to be few units Networked in additional to the Router.


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No shit, and like I said, you need the Ubiquiti UniFi controller running 24/7 for seamless handoff to work. Otherwise it's up to the client to switch and you'll lose connection for a period of time every time it does.

Another note, the UniFi controller kind of sucks for Windows. It requires Java and doesnt run as a service, meaning you have to manually start it at login. For just one AP you don't need the controller always running, only when you want to make a configuration change. If I had multiple APs I would probably go get a Raspberry Pi to run the controller on.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Well I set it up last night, I left both on because I didn't want to deal with logging all of our wireless devices to the AP, and I just wanted to test the connection speed and see how the AP fared vs. my consumer router. I had my phone connect to the AP and when my device was close to the AP, downloading episodes from Netflix was very fast. Much faster than I remember my default wireless connection was at downloading. However, at the other end of the house, using wifi analyzer, my speeds were about the same, if only slightly faster on the new AP. I didn't do any detailed analysis of the AP (I wouldn't even know how to do any significant tests anyways) but it appears I'll need to move the AP to the other end of the house. I'll continue to play around with my network and see how well it works with the AP in different spots.

 

[Ichinisan]

Well I set it up last night, I left both on because I didn't want to deal with logging all of our wireless devices to the AP, and I just wanted to test the connection speed and see how the AP fared vs. my consumer router. I had my phone connect to the AP and when my device was close to the AP, downloading episodes from Netflix was very fast. Much faster than I remember my default wireless connection was at downloading. However, at the other end of the house, using wifi analyzer, my speeds were about the same, if only slightly faster on the new AP. I didn't do any detailed analysis of the AP (I wouldn't even know how to do any significant tests anyways) but it appears I'll need to move the AP to the other end of the house. I'll continue to play around with my network and see how well it works with the AP in different spots.

Mobile devices with single-stream 2.4GHz usually max-out at 30/40mbps on 2.4GHz band. Did you test on 2.4GHz or 5.0GHz?

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Mobile devices with single-stream 2.4GHz usually max-out at 30/40mbps on 2.4GHz band. Did you test on 2.4GHz or 5.0GHz?

I did not know that. I just tested 2.4ghz last night. I'll check out 5.0ghz tonight and test our tablets and laptops to see how well they play with the AP.

 

[freeskier93]

I did not know that. I just tested 2.4ghz last night. I'll check out 5.0ghz tonight and test our tablets and laptops to see how well they play with the AP.

I don't remember what default is but if band steering was on it you might have already been on 5GHz. Band steering makes it so there is only 1 broadcasted network and the AP automatically manages devices on 5GHz and 2.4GHz. There's a setting to prefer 5GHz so everything will connect to 5GHz but then push devices to 2.4 GHz based on congestion.

Also keep in mind while 5GHz is faster it has a shorter range compared to 2.4GHz.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Thanks! I'll look into these settings and mess around with them as time permits.