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Flatland_Spider
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Ubiquiti UniFi

Fri Feb 21, 2014 5:37 pm

Does anyone have any experience with Ubiquiti UniFi gear?

I'm looking at switching to UniFi APs, but I'm interested in hearing about the AP's durability and how the UniFi software works. From reading the documentation the UniFi software just looks like a client, but I'd rather run it on a server.
 
swinokur
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Re: Ubiquiti UniFi

Fri Feb 21, 2014 5:53 pm

For the price, UniFi is nice gear. It doesn't have some of the features of its more expensive bretheren (ruckus, etc).

The Unifi "controller" software can run on a linux or windows box, and you access it via a web browser. The controller software is used to set up / administer the Access Points. The APs continue working if the controller should go offline.

this page has been replaced by the unifi community forum, but it has the advantage of putting lots of information together in one spot: http://wiki.ubnt.com/UniFi_FAQ
 
Scrotos
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Re: Ubiquiti UniFi

Fri Feb 21, 2014 6:07 pm

We got 3 installed and never really bother with the software. Set 'em up and forget about 'em. Sometimes we have to power cycle one of them, but that's like once a year.
 
paco
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Re: Ubiquiti UniFi

Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:04 pm

Have 17 units covering a 100,000+ SQ-FT building for over a year now. They work pretty well haven't had to replace one yet. The majority of them are in a warehouse environment.

The lower end units seem to have minor issues with Motorola handheld scanners but it can be worked around in the configuration.
 
cubical10
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Re: Ubiquiti UniFi

Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:41 pm

I have been using a UAP-Pro for my home network for a few months now.
I run the controller software on my Linux server as a service which is accessible via web UI.
The UI is pretty slick, easy to navigate, nice reporting and quick AP configuration.

It has the usual features, integrated captive portal, support for RADIUS authentication, multiple SSID, etc...

The UAP-Pro came with a POE injector, so that really opened up options for me for AP placement.

The only negative I have is that the the actual network seems to be a bit unstable at times.
Sometimes our Galaxy TAB will not automatically reconnect to the network after wake-up. Or my Galaxy S3 state that "network is unstable", but it still works. No issues with our laptops or other gear.

But for the price, UAP-Pro with 3X3 Mimo dual radio is hard to beat.
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Ethyriel
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Re: Ubiquiti UniFi

Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:59 pm

paco wrote:
Have 17 units covering a 100,000+ SQ-FT building for over a year now.


How's the roaming working out for you? We're a non-profit, so we get Cisco gear for dirt cheap, but haven't traditionally gotten Smartnet. We have a simple 5 AP controller based solution (can't tell you the models offhand), and a range of different controllers in the laptops. Some have Cisco extensions, some don't. Some behave well, some constantly roam to lesser quality AP's, no matter what we try.

So in short, have you had any problems with clients just saying "no, you know what, I don't like this AP with an awesome signal anymore. Let me switch to this one that I can just baaaarely see." Every time I fix one group of laptop's problems, another group starts to have them, so I've been starting to float the idea of switching to Unifi. So what's your environment like as far as client card controllers? Do you have roaming problems?

No matter what I do with the controller/radio configuration, my Intel 6205 works fine. But even where we have Intel cards elsewhere, they're the low end junk.
 
drsauced
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Re: Ubiquiti UniFi

Fri Feb 21, 2014 10:48 pm

Wow, cool. We've got 21 Unifi AP's in various flavors running in a school environment, serving about 500-700 devices. They are very stable! The regular Unifi AP's use 24v PoE, so you either use Ubiquiti's Toughswitch to power them, the supplied injectors, or a 48v-24v dongle. I don't recommend the dongle as they overheat easily (especially if kept in a tight space), but for long cable runs, it's your only option. The injectors are good for about 50' before cable losses make the AP power cycle often.

Now, the full-on AP Pro are the way to go. We have four of them in the high density areas (Cafe, concert halls, Library) and haven't had a single issue with them. The Cafe AP Pro routinely handles 100+ clients at time, on a daily basis. What is interesting is that they will push devices up to 802.11a (iPads, iPhones, tablets) when it can, saving a good bit of spectrum. The coverage is extreme, so we run them in our fairly congested environment at medium or low power. Highly recommended.

The AP LR is the odd one, it is a standard AP (24v PoE), but doesn't get you much extra coverage. We have three of these and they tend to loaf around at medium power.

The software works very well. I have 2.4.5 running on Win7 in a VM. Guest networks block mDNS (Bonjour) so devices can't see each other. If a client needs to print, they get the coveted password to the secured SSID. Roaming works flawlessly among the AP's. The exception is the AP AC, which doesn't support fast roaming. Software beta v3 does support roaming with the AP AC, but since we only have one of those, I'm not upgrading.
Calm seas never made a skilled mariner. But, sadly I'm an A's fan.
 
Ethyriel
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Re: Ubiquiti UniFi

Sat Feb 22, 2014 1:00 am

Good to know, I was thinking we could get by with the LR model in a couple key areas, and the normal model everywhere else. It sounds like the Pro is the way to go for those key areas.
 
Hz so good
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Re: Ubiquiti UniFi

Mon Feb 24, 2014 6:49 pm

*DISCLAIMER*

I've used UbiQuiti radios in Hautespot APs for CPE and P2MP purposes.

From what I've seen one their website regarding the UniFi, it's almost a no brainer to use them. Unless you have severe LOS issues, or material problems (trees/brick in the way), I'd say go for it.. Just make sure to use good lightning arrestor, properly ground them, and use a smart "remote rebootable" switch, and you should have zero problems. If you do have issues, it's probably due to the materials used in the walls, or you're getting some serious reflection off something.

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