
Ubiquiti UniFi made me realize how terrible consumer Wi-Fi gear is - prostoalex
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/review-ubiquiti-unifi-made-me-realize-how-terrible-consumer-wi-fi-gear-is/
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mshook
Have they fixed their GPL compliance issues?

[http://libertybsd.net/ubiquiti/](http://libertybsd.net/ubiquiti/)
[http://news.slashdot.org/story/15/04/07/1740217/how-
ubiquiti...](http://news.slashdot.org/story/15/04/07/1740217/how-ubiquiti-
networks-is-creatively-violating-the-gpl)
[https://community.ubnt.com/t5/Business-Talk/Slashdot-quot-
Ho...](https://community.ubnt.com/t5/Business-Talk/Slashdot-quot-How-Ubiquiti-
Networks-Is-Creatively-Violating-the/td-p/1222643)

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2bluesc
Looked at getting these a while ago and the Java configuration tool and server
turned me off for a simple 2 unit deployment. Anyone else have
thoughts/experience with this?

~~~
mitoyarzun
I disabled the upstream check (IIRC) in the AP, and I only have to turn the
server on when reconfiguring. I was against Ubiquiti for this reason, but
after using it I'm glad we chose it.

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dano
The Unifi software is simply awesome. It is as if someone finally figured out
how to write an application in Java properly. I've installed eight APs in our
office and three at my brothers house and it is as easy as one two three.

1\. Plug into the network w/power over ethernet 2\. Fire up the UniFi
controller 3\. Press the 'Adopt' button on the newly listed AP

I used to use routers that could run Tomato and other variants of DDWRT, now
it's just Ubiquiti equipment.

I've also used their 5GHz point to point equipment and outdoor AP equipment
with great success.

If you have any questions at all, check out their forums. The participants
will help you design your system and pick out the equipment that will do the
job.

[https://community.ubnt.com/t5/custom/page/page-
id/Forums](https://community.ubnt.com/t5/custom/page/page-id/Forums)

Edit: The AP install at my brothers house has a high WAF (Wife Acceptance
Factor).

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mchahn
> now most devices are a lot smarter about their roaming choices and can more
> readily shift between multiple access points on the same WLAN.

One would think a 2015 Chromebook Pixel would be "smarter" but I have had
horrible problems moving between APs in my house. I've resorted to tethering
to my phone when reading in bed.

I've tried both using the same SSID on both APs and using different ones but
neither work. I've had no trouble with android phones "roaming".

~~~
mitoyarzun
Have you tried the "Zero-Handoff" mode? It supposedly broadcasts the same
BSSID and the devices don't have to use roaming. [https://help.ubnt.com/hc/en-
us/articles/205144590-UniFi-What...](https://help.ubnt.com/hc/en-
us/articles/205144590-UniFi-What-is-Zero-Handoff-)

~~~
mchahn
Unfortunately I can't afford to replace my hardware. It would be nice if DD-
WRT supported zero-handoff but I couldn't find any reference in the website.

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dmitrygr
I have some UniFi gear, and getting it was such an amazing event that I simply
cannot help recommending it to everyone I know. This is the first time in my
life that i have not had to power cycle anything in months to fix strange WiFi
issues in my house.

In fact this is the first time I've felt comfortable installing wireless gear
in very-hard-to-reach places because I now know I don't need to reach it.

My UniFi AC APs have not been power cycled in months and have had zero issues.

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mchahn
> Ubiquiti UniFi made me realize how terrible consumer Wi-Fi gear is

How terrible can consumer wifi be when his Apple AP beat the commercial units
on all tests?

~~~
feld
I think he's testing from a MacBook which of course it's Wlan driver was
tested extensively against the Airport.

Wifi drivers are a nightmare because of the severe fragmentation. It's most
consistent on OSX and Linux/BSD, but on Windows the exact same chip rebranded
might never get all the bug fixes in their copy/pasted driver. The SOHO access
points have similar problems.

~~~
ksec
That is exactly why I think Apple are investing into their WiFI Chipset.

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smnv
mikrotik has capsman controller in all its gear, even without wifi. works
quite nice, with roaming and such. cheap. boxes are ugly though.

~~~
jlgaddis
And the software on 'em is buggy as hell and QA is apparently non-existent.
Take a look at the release notes for any recent version of RouterOS for the
kind of bugs they {introduce,fix}.

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ChuckMcM
I read this when it was published and the bottom line is that consumer gear is
a race for the bottom in cost and cuts a lot of corners.

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hoverbear
Bought one of these awhile ago, the stock firmware and UI is easily some of
the worst I've ever used.

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supercanuck
The new firmware offers more in the way of wizards and things for standard
SOHO environments

~~~
hoverbear
Still need to install java and get the software installed and working. Was a
huge PITA in Linux so I ended up using a windows boot and even that was
spotty.

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supercanuck
Says MSRP is $149 but they are $229 on the ubiquiti store and amazon. Ugh

~~~
feld
AC-LITE is what you want and it's $89 each

~~~
merb
the ac-lite versions aren't as good as the pro's. the normal version basically
have less cpu/memory.

~~~
feld
The ac-lite are awesome. 800mbit/s 5ghz what's to complain about?

[https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac-
lite/](https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac-lite/)

