Re: [Coworking] The best wireless routers for a 3500 sq. ft. space

[Alex Hillman]

Unifi access points allow for providing a separate guest network from your
main member network (if that's a priority for you), and/or you can hook
their controller software up to a Radius-compatible host for caotive
portal.

I'm not personally using either of these features, but they seem
as straightforward to set up as on any other platform I've looked at.

-Alex

On Wednesday, April 8, 2015, Kaizoku Gambare 
wrote:

> Hello, thank you for this very interesting topic.
> After reading you I am convinced that Ubiquiti is a great system and I
> think seriously to try it.
> However, I have two questions for Ubiquiti users. Does it handle captive
> portal ? If not how do you manage the guest wifi ?
>
> Best regards.
>
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Re: [Coworking] The best wireless routers for a 3500 sq. ft. space

[Coleman Hamilton]

Hey all,
more of a Meta question here.  Can anyone recommend a good IT primer?  I've 
just set up a unifi AP AC but would love to know more about getting *the 
rest of the story* in regards to hardware firewalls, switches and routers. 
 Thanks.  PS, I lucked out and Fios 500/500 is cheap in my area.  They have 
like 10 lines available IN my unit.  :)

On Tuesday, January 6, 2015 at 3:21:30 PM UTC-8, Glen Ferguson wrote:
>
> Thanks for the review Alex. It's nice to see a field report talking about 
> the pros and cons. My license with Meraki is up in June and I've already 
> started building a shopping list. Ubiquiti has been high on the list for 
> some time. I'm also looking at their routers.
>
> ---
> Glen Ferguson
> Cowork Frederick
> 122 E Patrick St
> Frederick, MD 21701-5630
> +1 (301) 732-5165
> www.coworkfrederick.com
> @CoworkFrederick 
>
> On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 1:36 PM, Alex Hillman  > wrote:
>
>> I just wanted to bump this thread by saying that back in December I 
>> hunkered down and picked up a 3 pack of the Unifi AP Pro's from Amazon. 
>>
>> It took me more time to find the drill and the move our ladder than it 
>> did to actually install them (we already had ethernet run, and a Power over 
>> Ethernet switch installed), since it was just swapping them in place of our 
>> old Ruckus APs. 
>>
>> Setting up the controller software on the same Mac Mini that runs our 
>> music server wasn't hard, though if you've never done any sort of network 
>> or web service setup it might seem a *little* confusing. Nowhere near 
>> impossible though.
>>
>> Once "adopting" the new access points to the configuration and updating 
>> the software on the access points, the controller software spent the first 
>> afternoon appearing to "tune" the network. It detected signal and channel 
>> interference, automatically choosing optimal configurations. It was 
>> actually pretty amazing to see it Just Work(tm). Within a day, the wireless 
>> was noticeably faster and more stable than it had been in a long time. 
>>
>> The only issue we've run into is that the coverage isn't as good as the 
>> Ruckus APs, so we're going to end up needing a few more of the UnifiAPs for 
>> our space. I already added one more to an especially troubled area, my 
>> guess is that we'll end up with 6-8 total devices to cover 10k square feet 
>> on 2 floors without any dead zones. The good news is that a) adding a new 
>> AP is INSANELY easy thanks to the controller software and b) the devices 
>> are really affordable. 
>>
>> Overall, I'm a very happy customer, and really appreciate Jon's 
>> recommendation to take these wireless APs for a spin. 
>>
>> Next step is that we're considering a router upgrade, and have been 
>> looking at Unifi's options for that as well given how great the APs are. :)
>>
>> Oh, and happy new year, everyone!
>>
>> -Alex
>>
>>  -- 
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>>
>
>

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Re: [Coworking] The best wireless routers for a 3500 sq. ft. space

[Glen Ferguson]

Thanks for the review Alex. It's nice to see a field report talking about
the pros and cons. My license with Meraki is up in June and I've already
started building a shopping list. Ubiquiti has been high on the list for
some time. I'm also looking at their routers.

---
Glen Ferguson
Cowork Frederick
122 E Patrick St
Frederick, MD 21701-5630
+1 (301) 732-5165
www.coworkfrederick.com
@CoworkFrederick 

On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 1:36 PM, Alex Hillman 
wrote:

> I just wanted to bump this thread by saying that back in December I
> hunkered down and picked up a 3 pack of the Unifi AP Pro's from Amazon.
>
> It took me more time to find the drill and the move our ladder than it did
> to actually install them (we already had ethernet run, and a Power over
> Ethernet switch installed), since it was just swapping them in place of our
> old Ruckus APs.
>
> Setting up the controller software on the same Mac Mini that runs our
> music server wasn't hard, though if you've never done any sort of network
> or web service setup it might seem a *little* confusing. Nowhere near
> impossible though.
>
> Once "adopting" the new access points to the configuration and updating
> the software on the access points, the controller software spent the first
> afternoon appearing to "tune" the network. It detected signal and channel
> interference, automatically choosing optimal configurations. It was
> actually pretty amazing to see it Just Work(tm). Within a day, the wireless
> was noticeably faster and more stable than it had been in a long time.
>
> The only issue we've run into is that the coverage isn't as good as the
> Ruckus APs, so we're going to end up needing a few more of the UnifiAPs for
> our space. I already added one more to an especially troubled area, my
> guess is that we'll end up with 6-8 total devices to cover 10k square feet
> on 2 floors without any dead zones. The good news is that a) adding a new
> AP is INSANELY easy thanks to the controller software and b) the devices
> are really affordable.
>
> Overall, I'm a very happy customer, and really appreciate Jon's
> recommendation to take these wireless APs for a spin.
>
> Next step is that we're considering a router upgrade, and have been
> looking at Unifi's options for that as well given how great the APs are. :)
>
> Oh, and happy new year, everyone!
>
> -Alex
>
>  --
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Re: [Coworking] The best wireless routers for a 3500 sq. ft. space

[Alex Hillman]

I just wanted to bump this thread by saying that back in December I 
hunkered down and picked up a 3 pack of the Unifi AP Pro's from Amazon. 

It took me more time to find the drill and the move our ladder than it did 
to actually install them (we already had ethernet run, and a Power over 
Ethernet switch installed), since it was just swapping them in place of our 
old Ruckus APs. 

Setting up the controller software on the same Mac Mini that runs our music 
server wasn't hard, though if you've never done any sort of network or web 
service setup it might seem a *little* confusing. Nowhere near impossible 
though.

Once "adopting" the new access points to the configuration and updating the 
software on the access points, the controller software spent the first 
afternoon appearing to "tune" the network. It detected signal and channel 
interference, automatically choosing optimal configurations. It was 
actually pretty amazing to see it Just Work(tm). Within a day, the wireless 
was noticeably faster and more stable than it had been in a long time. 

The only issue we've run into is that the coverage isn't as good as the 
Ruckus APs, so we're going to end up needing a few more of the UnifiAPs for 
our space. I already added one more to an especially troubled area, my 
guess is that we'll end up with 6-8 total devices to cover 10k square feet 
on 2 floors without any dead zones. The good news is that a) adding a new 
AP is INSANELY easy thanks to the controller software and b) the devices 
are really affordable. 

Overall, I'm a very happy customer, and really appreciate Jon's 
recommendation to take these wireless APs for a spin. 

Next step is that we're considering a router upgrade, and have been looking 
at Unifi's options for that as well given how great the APs are. :)

Oh, and happy new year, everyone!

-Alex

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Re: [Coworking] The best wireless routers for a 3500 sq. ft. space

[Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking]

Ok. I think I'm going to use Unify AP and buy a 3 pack.

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Re: [Coworking] The best wireless routers for a 3500 sq. ft. space

[Jacob Sayles]

No.  In general it's not a good idea to extend wifi.  Just plug everything
in to a hard line and you should be good to go.

On Tue, Dec 2, 2014 at 1:12 PM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking <
baut...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Do the UAP extend the Airport Extreme signal?
>
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Re: [Coworking] The best wireless routers for a 3500 sq. ft. space

[Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking]

Do the UAP extend the Airport Extreme signal?

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Re: [Coworking] The best wireless routers for a 3500 sq. ft. space

[Jacob Sayles]

We found a deal on a Unifi AP (2.4ghz only) and an AP Pro.  We put these on
our top floor and still have our Airport Extremes on the bottom floor.  One
of our members just sold us a UAP-AC but we haven't hooked it up yet.  We
figure we would put it in place of the 2.4ghz only AP.  Eventually we'll
replace the Airports with either the AP Pro or the AC depending on how that
guy works out for us.  I helped a space that had 2 AP Long Range access
points and I'd recommend against that.

On Tue, Dec 2, 2014 at 11:30 AM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking <
baut...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Which Unify access points are people using?
>
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Re: [Coworking] The best wireless routers for a 3500 sq. ft. space

[Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking]

Which Unify access points are people using?

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Re: [Coworking] The best wireless routers for a 3500 sq. ft. space

[Jacob Sayles]

We have been slowly switching to UniFi hardware and it has been stable and
I'm happy with he tech. I've been a fan of PFSense for a long time and have
helped a few spaces get set up with nice firewalls.  I buy refurbished
desktops on NewEgg for 1-200 and then grab a nice dual or quad Intel gbit
NIC for 2-300.

Jacob

On Tuesday, December 2, 2014, Robert Petrusz 
wrote:

> I am. :-)
>
> I am leaning towards PFSense + Ubiquiti now.
>
> Great thread!
>
> Robert
>
> On Monday, December 1, 2014 7:25:25 PM UTC-5, Craig Baute - Creative
> Density Coworking wrote:
>>
>> Are we all falling in love?
>>
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Re: [Coworking] The best wireless routers for a 3500 sq. ft. space

[Robert Petrusz]

Craig,

Thanks for posting this we are about the same size and were just about 
to try out the Asus RT-AC68U as a compliment to our Airport Extreme(s). 

I have also heard good things about Aerohive 
, but am not 
set on anything right now. We might be adding fiber soon, so its a good 
time for us to think about a more robust network setup. 

Alex: Thanks for the tip on PFSense . 

Thanks guys! 

Robert 

Bull City Coworking

On Thursday, November 20, 2014 8:09:02 PM UTC-5, Alex Hillman wrote:
>
> A) Separate your wireless access points from your router. You want a 
> single router that provides network + internet to the entire network, and 
> the wireless access points to be “dumb”, in that the wireless access points 
> only provide a wireless connection to the network.
>
> B) Its time for you to leave consumer access points behind. We kept 
> throwing Airport Extremes at the problem and still had issues, so we 
> tested…well, basically everything we could afford. *I would recommend 
> Ruckus 7962 Access Points (probably 2 of them) to cover the space.* 
> They’re pricey, especially when you buy them through a dealer, so I 
> recommend scouting eBay. I’ve had no problem finding them brand new sealed 
> in box for $600-800 each, which is around half what they retail for.
>
> C) Router choice is more about how much control you want. We use a 
> “Firebox” router running PFSense, but to be honest it can be *complicated* if 
> you don’t have experience configuring that sort of thing. At your scale, 
> once you decouple access points from your router, you could get away with 
> something on the consumer end (like a Linksys DDWRT) and just turn off the 
> wifi. It might be tempting to leave the wifi on “for another access point”, 
> but don’t. :)
>
> -Alex
>
>
> -- 
> *The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.*
>  Join the list: http://coworkingweekly.com
> Listen to the podcast: http://listen.coworkingweekly.com
>  
>  
>
> On Thu, Nov 20, 2014 at 6:15 PM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking 
> > wrote:
>
>> Creative Density is about 3500 sq. ft. in an old manson. We have two 
>> independent internet connections from Comcast and Centurylink each piping 
>> in 30+mbps each. However, people, mostly windows machines but many of them 
>> new within the last year, are having connection issues. They get on and 
>> it's working but it is fickle. Both of the connections. We have a an Asus 
>> RT-AC68U and an 2012 Apple Airport Extreme. They both should handle a lot 
>> more traffic that is passing through.
>>
>> What would you recommend? Settings? Routers? Other solutions..
>>
>> I know this topic has been discussed before but I wanted to start a new 
>> thread since these situations change throughout time.
>>  
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>
>

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Re: [Coworking] The best wireless routers for a 3500 sq. ft. space

[Alex Hillman]

A) Separate your wireless access points from your router. You want a single 
router that provides network + internet to the entire network, and the wireless 
access points to be “dumb”, in that the wireless access points only provide a 
wireless connection to the network.




B) Its time for you to leave consumer access points behind. We kept throwing 
Airport Extremes at the problem and still had issues, so we tested…well, 
basically everything we could afford. I would recommend Ruckus 7962 Access 
Points (probably 2 of them) to cover the space. They’re pricey, especially when 
you buy them through a dealer, so I recommend scouting eBay. I’ve had no 
problem finding them brand new sealed in box for $600-800 each, which is around 
half what they retail for.




C) Router choice is more about how much control you want. We use a “Firebox” 
router running PFSense, but to be honest it can be complicated if you don’t 
have experience configuring that sort of thing. At your scale, once you 
decouple access points from your router, you could get away with something on 
the consumer end (like a Linksys DDWRT) and just turn off the wifi. It might be 
tempting to leave the wifi on “for another access point”, but don’t. :)




-Alex




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On Thu, Nov 20, 2014 at 6:15 PM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking
 wrote:

> Creative Density is about 3500 sq. ft. in an old manson. We have two 
> independent internet connections from Comcast and Centurylink each piping 
> in 30+mbps each. However, people, mostly windows machines but many of them 
> new within the last year, are having connection issues. They get on and 
> it's working but it is fickle. Both of the connections. We have a an Asus 
> RT-AC68U and an 2012 Apple Airport Extreme. They both should handle a lot 
> more traffic that is passing through.
> What would you recommend? Settings? Routers? Other solutions..
> I know this topic has been discussed before but I wanted to start a new 
> thread since these situations change throughout time.
> -- 
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[Coworking] The best wireless routers for a 3500 sq. ft. space

[Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking]

Creative Density is about 3500 sq. ft. in an old manson. We have two 
independent internet connections from Comcast and Centurylink each piping 
in 30+mbps each. However, people, mostly windows machines but many of them 
new within the last year, are having connection issues. They get on and 
it's working but it is fickle. Both of the connections. We have a an Asus 
RT-AC68U and an 2012 Apple Airport Extreme. They both should handle a lot 
more traffic that is passing through.

What would you recommend? Settings? Routers? Other solutions..

I know this topic has been discussed before but I wanted to start a new 
thread since these situations change throughout time.

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