Home Automation advice for frustrated Newbie

Irish_peppa

bk wrote: »

Another option you could consider, is to flash OpenWRT or one of the other open source firmwares on your Netgear. I don't think these open source firmwares have any such limitation on number of devices.

Of course that is non trivial and might brick your router, but it is an option.

Hmm I saw that mentioned places it sounds like its like a hack type thing that puts third party software on your router. In any event im not that good at computers to do it.

Irish_peppa

Have any of you guys any experience with Ubiquities consumer level AMPLIFI products I assume they are a tad more user friendly

AmpliFi is Ubiquiti's consumer line for the home.

https://www.amplifi.com/

PS: I see Ubiquity and Unify mentioned a lot but they look a like i take it Ubiquity is the company and the Unify is the actual UFO looking device?

The high horse brigade

Amplifi is just their mesh wireless offering. My thoughts on mesh are it should only be used where you absolutely have not got the option of running a cable to an access point. Mesh is for convenience but is a big trade off compared to wired access points

All Ubiquiti are fairly user friendly, it has a nice clean interface and is pretty intuitive, no harder than most consumer gear. There is a wealth on info and guides online if you Google

Irish_peppa

The high horse brigade wrote: »

Amplifi is just their mesh wireless offering. My thoughts on mesh are it should only be used where you absolutely have not got the option of running a cable to an access point. Mesh is for convenience but is a big trade off compared to wired access points

All Ubiquiti are fairly user friendly, it has a nice clean interface and is pretty intuitive, no harder than most consumer gear. There is a wealth on info and guides online if you Google

No I have no problem running cables high Horse so ill ignore that system Looks like for Sure Ubiquity is the way to go. Scouring youtube videos and comments the feedback is 98% Ultra Positive, with everyone singing the praises of the system. It does look a tad complicated to set up and especially reattach all my devices DVR, Nest Ring etc but if it can run 100 plus 2.4ghz devices concurrently it will be worth it.

Last Question High Horse if you would hazard your best guess.;)

I cant do the full Ubiquity system for another few months due to cash constraints but would this work in the interim to allow me to expand network before putting in the full setup

Adding a Ubiquiti UAP-AC-PRO to my current Netgear Router and disabling the wireless on the x6, but since the Ubiquity is just an access point and not a router if the current router can accommodate 32 concurrent users, will this Ubiquity Access Point be limited to 32 devices as well

bk

Irish_peppa wrote: »

No I have no problem running cables high Horse so ill ignore that system Looks like for Sure Ubiquity is the way to go.

If you are willing to run cables, then Google Wifi might be an option. It has very good performance when connected by wire (less so when doing wireless mesh) and should be a user friendly setup.

Irish_peppa wrote: »

Adding a Ubiquiti UAP-AC-PRO to my current Netgear Router and disabling the wireless on the x6, but since the Ubiquity is just an access point and not a router if the current router can accommodate 32 concurrent users, will this Ubiquity Access Point be limited to 32 devices as well

That should work alright, worth trying anyway since you have the hardware.

The 32 device limitation is on how many devices connect to the Netgears wifi (per band), it isn't a limitation on how many devices in total can connect to DHCP, which is probably around 254 devices.

So you wire the UAP-AC-PRO to the netgear, turn off wifi on the netgear, use DHCP on the netgear and finally connect all your wireless devices to your UAP-AC-PRO.

It is a bit of a waste of an expensive Netgear, but at least you could get things working.

You could also leave the wifi turned on, on the Netgear, and connect your laptop and one or two other main computers to it, while connecting all the smart switches to the UAP. Allow you to possibly take advantage of some of the features of the X6.

THE ALM

OP, I think I am right in saying you have a Unifi AP in the attic at present so assuming you have cat cable running from the nighthawk which is downstairs to this?

If that is the case I think a simple solution would be to ditch the nighthawk (assume you could easily sell this on) and connect a simple POE switch to the Virgin modem. From this you could connect the Unifi AP in the attic a further one on the landing and another downstairs, this way you only have to run cat cable to the AP's which, I think, you already have. Not sure you would have to go with the Unifi AP Pro and could use the AC-LR and a compatible POE switch.

I currently run a AC-LR centrally located in our bungalow (approx. 2000sqft) and it covers the whole house. I run the Unifi controller software on a rpi3 which I can access from anywhere. I think once the ap's are set up and configured in the controller software they are pretty much leave and forget and then you are just using the software to monitor use and any problems, upgrades etc, it is a great bit of software.

Irish_peppa

bk wrote: »

If you are willing to run cables, then Google Wifi might be an option. It has very good performance when connected by wire (less so when doing wireless mesh) and should be a user friendly setup.

That should work alright, worth trying anyway since you have the hardware.

The 32 device limitation is on how many devices connect to the Netgears wifi (per band), it isn't a limitation on how many devices in total can connect to DHCP, which is probably around 254 devices.

So you wire the UAP-AC-PRO to the netgear, turn off wifi on the netgear, use DHCP on the netgear and finally connect all your wireless devices to your UAP-AC-PRO.

It is a bit of a waste of an expensive Netgear, but at least you could get things working.

You could also leave the wifi turned on, on the Netgear, and connect your laptop and one or two other main computers to it, while connecting all the smart switches to the UAP. Allow you to possibly take advantage of some of the features of the X6.

thanks for suggesting but Is Google Wifi not limited just like all the other consumer grade Wifi Routers to 32 concurrent devices per channel? Its the 32 max concurrent users is the problem only really. It seems all the standard Home routers TP Link, Asus, Netgear will only run a total of 32 devices at once. Even this 500 Euro Router has the same problem

https://www.currys.ie/ieen/computing-accessories/networking/network-routers-and-switches/routers/asus-rog-rapture-gt-wifi-cable-fibre-router-ac-5300-tri-band-10171035-pdt.html


OK and then turn the X6 wireless off. And theoretically then i could run 70 plus 2.4ghz concurrently off the Network. that sounds a sweet interim step hell i might not even need to get a full ubiquity set up in. The lad I know who put the ubiquity in the attic has one of those cloud keys. Last time he reset the attic Ubiquity he used it. So he could use that to set them all up:cool:

Irish_peppa

THE ALM wrote: »

OP, I think I am right in saying you have a Unifi AP in the attic at present so assuming you have cat cable running from the nighthawk which is downstairs to this?

If that is the case I think a simple solution would be to ditch the nighthawk (assume you could easily sell this on) and connect a simple POE switch to the Virgin modem. From this you could connect the Unifi AP in the attic a further one on the landing and another downstairs, this way you only have to run cat cable to the AP's which, I think, you already have. Not sure you would have to go with the Unifi AP Pro and could use the AC-LR and a compatible POE switch.

I currently run a AC-LR centrally located in our bungalow (approx. 2000sqft) and it covers the whole house. I run the Unifi controller software on a rpi3 which I can access from anywhere. I think once the ap's are set up and configured in the controller software they are pretty much leave and forget and then you are just using the software to monitor use and any problems, upgrades etc, it is a great bit of software.

Yup i have a POE cable running to the attic where its running a Unifi AP. It used to be wired to landing outside my room but believe it or not i got a better signal and download speed from the nighthawk double the distance away on the ground floor lol thats why i relegated it to the attic where it would just run 1 android phone, But would you belive the google home in the attic gets a great signal from the X6 Nighthawk over 2 floors below! Surprised myself the range of that thing

I would rather the Unify PRO Theres so many phones and google homes chromecasts its really a wifi use heavy house. So you reckon just strip the X6 totally out of the equation sounds simpler allright as the X6 probably wont really be doing anything just acting as a go between between the Virgin hib and the Unify Pro,
The lad that i know has the cloud key, so might be easy enough aaffair :cool:

THE ALM

Irish_peppa wrote: »

Yup i have a POE cable running to the attic where its running a Unifi AP. It used to be wired to landing outside my room but believe it or not i got a better signal and download speed from the nighthawk double the distance away on the ground floor lol

I would rather the Unify PRO Theres so many phones and google homes chromecasts its really a wifi use heavy house. So you reckon just strip the X6 totally out of the equation sounds simpler allright as the X6 probably wont really be doing anything just acting as a go between between the Virgin hib and the Unify Pro,
The lad that i know has the cloud key, so might be easy enough aaffair :cool:

Personally I think it would be the simplest way to go and as you know somebody familiar with the gear then better still, if they can help set you up then you are good to go.

bk

Irish_peppa wrote: »

thanks for suggesting but Is Google Wifi not limited just like all the other consumer grade Wifi Routers to 32 concurrent devices per channel? Its the 32 max concurrent users is the problem only really. It seems all the standard Home routers TP Link, Asus, Netgear will only run a total of 32 devices at once. Even this 500 Euro Router has the same problem

This thread seems to suggest folks have 159 devices attached to Google Wifi, but that isn't official, you should get official clarification from Google:

https://www.reddit.com/r/GoogleWiFi/comments/8wix3q/max_devices_on_a_network/

But as you already have the UAP, I'd probably just reuse that.

Irish_peppa wrote: »

Yup i have a POE cable running to the attic where its running a Unifi AP. It used to be wired to landing outside my room but believe it or not i got a better signal and download speed from the nighthawk double the distance away on the ground floor lol thats why i relegated it to the attic where it would just run 1 android phone, But would you belive the google home in the attic gets a great signal from the X6 Nighthawk over 2 floors below! Surprised myself the range of that thing

The performance of these devices (X4S in my case) is seriously impressive, this is just a stupid limitation that you have run into.

You could sell the X6 and just use the Virgin router as The ALM suggests, though I'm not impressed with the Virgin routers performance, you might run into other issues. I'd try these option first before selling the X6.

I think I'd either continue using the X6 as a router or replace it with a Ubiquiti or Mikrotik router.

Irish_peppa

Ill leave X6 in situ running as is and sure i might just throw a load of tp link smart switch on the new Unify HD WAP use the unifi wap as the IOT device and see what happens ill see if it can run 30 devices on both 2.4 radios. if not sure ill just get the rest of ubiquity a try

PS just out of curiousity, would the City West Hotel with 700 Odd rooms just have one Virgin Media cable 360mb coming in to run hundreds of devices or would it need multiple Virgin 360mb Piped connections to run the whole place. Could all that data go down 1 single Virgin cable like the ones your average house has to their Virgin hub? or would they need some totally different service provider?

bk

Irish_peppa wrote: »

PS just out of curiousity, would the City West Hotel with 700 Odd rooms just have one Virgin Media cable 360mb coming in to run hundreds of devices or would it need multiple Virgin 360mb Piped connections to run the whole place. Could all that data go down 1 single Virgin cable like the ones your average house has to their Virgin hub? or would they need some totally different service provider?

Most of the big ISP's have business departments who offer services to companies like this, usually using fibre, rather then coax/vdsl.

https://www.virginmedia.ie/business/

Virgins network is actually a mix of mostly fibre, with just the last couple hundred meters being coax to residential customers. This is called hybrid fibre coax, HFC.

But for a big business like a hotel, they would run a dedicated fibre from their fibre network to the building/hotel, into an enterprise router, with Ubiquiti or similar Cisco/etc. enterprise wifi access points throughout the hotel.