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    #61
    Nice!!!


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      #62
      Originally posted by waynehead99 View Post
      Ubiquiti FTW! I have their AC wireless access point and it covers more than I need in my house. I am currently using their edgerouter as well (can't beat what it can do for 50 bucks).

      That being said, a few things stick out that you stated that I think is getting overlooked in this thread.

      - Ease of use, building your own or even the edgerouter will have a learning curve if you have limited knowledge related to networking. There are many benefits to keeping things separated, but it comes at a maintenance cost, more equipment means more maintenance.

      - Getting new equipment is a gamble if it will fix your current issue. I hardly get my internet speed over wireless unless I am within a few feet of the AP (granted I have 250 service). Depending on what you are running for wireless right now, you could see an improvement or not. I would recommend 2 things, let us know what you are currently using, and also do a speed test hardwired into the modem. That will tell you where your bottleneck is. If its solid and you are getting close to 80, than your wireless is the issue, if not, you have either a bad modem, or a connection problem that Crapcast needs to resolve.

      Any gig switch (don't get managed unless you are wanting things it can do, but it will be more complicated to setup) will do for your needs.

      My recommendation would be, if you want the higher end stuff and are willing to learn a bit, buy it and setup a separate network as you learn. This keeps your house up and running at least and once you have everything setup, you can move over to the new network easily (split the networks at the modem). Otherwise I would recommend a wireless router that is a minimum AC.

      I support the idea of Ubiquti, but I also know its not for everyone and there will be a learning curve. I don't have any recommendations outside of that though since I haven't looked at anything else in the past 3 years. Read reviews on products as well.
      My new router is failing already and has to be restarted every few days so I am looking into the Ubiquiti setup many of you have mentioned. I have been reading about the equipment on Amazon but am wondering what is a good way to go about learning the networking basics I will need to setup and manage the system?

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        #63
        what is a good way to go about learning the networking basics I will need to setup and manage the system?

        Check out You Tube. I am sure there are plenty of videos relating to networking basics there.

        Baby steps and do not let it overwhelm.

        Utilize a PFSense firewall here. The PFSense GUI is simple. There are a bunch of videos on You tube relating to PFSense.

        Relating to using Ubiquiti WAP's there is a very active forum and much help. That and you can ask here about it.

        Managed switches today are easy and have very intuitive interfaces. Way back here only utilized Cisco and the CLI.
        - Pete

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          #64
          Originally posted by Pete View Post
          what is a good way to go about learning the networking basics I will need to setup and manage the system?

          Check out You Tube. I am sure there are plenty of videos relating to networking basics there.

          Baby steps and do not let it overwhelm.

          Utilize a PFSense firewall here. The PFSense GUI is simple. There are a bunch of videos on You tube relating to PFSense.

          Relating to using Ubiquiti WAP's there is a very active forum and much help. That and you can ask here about it.

          Managed switches today are easy and have very intuitive interfaces. Way back here only utilized Cisco and the CLI.
          Thanks Pete. I will have a look at PFSense.

          Regarding the firewall I am a bit confused about if the Ubiquiti products come with one (some posts say their latest software comes with a basic one). Do I need something advanced to run HomeSeer? I have a few ports open and lots of reserved IP addresses but nothing special in my setup otherwise.

          Was looking at the USG Security Gateway then would need a switch for Ethernet ports.

          Or an EdgeRouter (various models) which don't seem to have a firewall built in and are more advanced to manage.

          Any opinions on those? Would the USG gateway work with a non managed switch if I use a POE injector for wifi hotspot plugged in at hotspot location?

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            #65
            Originally posted by Planetview View Post
            Would the USG gateway work with a non managed switch if I use a POE injector for wifi hotspot plugged in at hotspot location?
            My internet services comes into a comm box located inside of a closet then has a feed from there to each room via Ethernet cable. I have an unmanaged switch in living room for HS3/TV/AV/Gaming systems.

            Was thinking cable modem to USG gateway to unmanaged TP Link switch in comm closet to Ethernet in each room. WiFi hotspot would have a new Ethernet cable from comm box to water heater closet which is in middle of unit and has a power plug.

            Does this seem doable or would I need to get managed switches to work with the gateway or router?

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              #66
              WiFi & Router Recommendation?

              So there is a fair amount of risk when undertaking. You end up having to fish cable, terminate network drops, flash firmwares... bottom line, you could brick something.

              If you are still interested, I would recommend:
              1. You will want your AP(s)to be in a good location either:
              A. at or close to the center of your house.
              Or
              B. Far enough away from your other APs in order for your client devices to see strength differences on the hosted wifi networks.

              To do this you likely need to learn how to fish wire, and terminate Cat5e/6 cable.

              2. YouTube unifi controller installation and initial setup.
              https://youtu.be/HcfIpTso_Ys

              3. Look up your new firewall/router vendor.
              PFSense: https://youtu.be/DthbnPLBbRA

              The simplest setup will need a low end PC with 2 network cards.

              DD-WRT: https://youtu.be/IP6_IA3dw7o

              Note: you need a home router that is on the compatibility list and a firmware that matches it.

              Tomato: https://youtu.be/1UkoZ-YQz7c

              Note: you need a home router that is on the compatibility list and a firmware that matches it.

              Sophos: https://youtu.be/mx6l1f6Bpy0





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                #67
                Excellent resources, thank you.

                I ordered the AP Pro to get started as it may work with my existing router according to what I read.

                I have experience fishing cable through walls and terminating the ends of cable (have tool already).

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                  #68
                  WiFi & Router Recommendation?

                  Glad to help.

                  I agree with @Pete. Break this apart into smaller tasks. You could
                  1. setup your new AP and unifi controller.
                  2. Setup your firewall custom firmware.
                  3. Local DHCP
                  4. IPV4/IPv6 support
                  5. Add features like
                  A. local ad blocking dns (Pi-hole)
                  B. Local NTP
                  C. IDS
                  D. VPN to your home from the public Internet.
                  E. VPN for private browsing.
                  F. reverse proxy
                  G. SSL certificate management
                  H. Separate vlan for guest Internet access.
                  I. Radius authentication for wifi WPA2-enterprise wifi.
                  Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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                    #69
                    I installed the UniFi Pro hot spot on Saturday. It was easy to configure with their software on a mobile phone.

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                      #70
                      Originally posted by Planetview View Post
                      I installed the UniFi Pro hot spot on Saturday. It was easy to configure with their software on a mobile phone.


                      Nice, do an RF scan and pick a channel on both 2.4 and 5 GHz that are minimally used. On 2.4 GHz ensure that you are using non-overlapping channels (1,6,11)


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                        #71
                        For 1200 sq foot coverage I highly recommend an Asus router. Should be more than enough for that size house. If you had a larger area to cover then I would recommend a Ubiquiti mesh system.

                        Off the shelf the Asus is very easy to use, has dual wan (cellular backup), and the option to run Merlin software if you need root access to Linux for further customization (to do things like wifi presence, VLANs, etc.).

                        This one has four ports and is $100 off. Use the savings to buy a managed switch Nice thing about this router is that it has three wireless transmitters. One 2.4 and two 5ghz (one for short distance and faster speed, the other for longer distance and a little slower speed). It also splits the traffic among the three transmitters so one band isn't overly congested. It has the option to configure all three transmitters as the same SSID so you only need to add one wireless network to your devices/pcs and the router will choose the best one.

                        As far as a cable modem, Arris has been extremely reliable and is compatible with every cable provider I've seen. Recommend this model.

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                          #72
                          How does the various products mentioned on the list compare, and which one can be said to be the best?
                          https://buywirelessrouternow.com/bes...ravel-routers/

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